What is a Soil & Water Conservation District?

The Clark SWCD was commissioned  in 1942  at the request of the citizens interested in soil and water conservation, land use planning, and flood prevention. The Clark SWCD was the second district chartered in Ohio. 

What is the Clark SWCD?

The Clark Soil & Water Conservation District is a government agency which is funded by both the Clark County Commissioners and Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Conservation districts are local governmental subdivisions established under state law to carry out a program for the conservation, use and development of soil, water and related resources. Districts are resource management agencies, coordinating and implementing resource and environmental programs at the local level.

Districts work with land managers, local government agencies and other local interests in addressing resource concerns such as erosion control, flood prevention, water conservation, wetlands, water quality, nonpoint source pollution, wildlife, waste water management and community development.

As a Conservation District, we participate in implementing federal resource programs by cooperating with the US Department of Agriculture through its various agencies, the US Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and Office of Surface Mining, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency.

In addition, we also work with state conservation, natural resource, water quality and forestry agencies, and county and municipal governments.

Districts are a bridge between federal, state and local resource management agencies and local land managers, performing a variety of functions in coordinating and implementing national and state resource programs. 

History of Soil & Water Conservation Districts

The 1930s brought an ecological disaster known as the Dust Bowl. Huge black dust storms blotted out the sun and swallowed the countryside. While testifying on Capitol Hill on April 2, 1935, soil scientist Hugh Bennett threw back the room's curtains to reveal a sky blackened by dust. Congress immediately declared soil and water conservation a national policy and priority. Since about three-fourths of the land in the U.S. is privately owned, Congress realized that only active support from landowners would guarantee the success of conservation on private land. The idea for soil and water conservation districts was born.

Today there are nearly 3000 conservation districts--one in almost every county. Now expanded to serve all the conservation needs of our nation, districts educate and help local citizens conserve land, water, forests, wildlife and other natural resources.