The Bureau of Soils and Erosion in the U. S.: An Opportunity Missed?.

Soil conservation, specifically soil erosion, stands out as an issue of national magnitude inexplicably left out of consideration by the USDA Bureau of Soils (BoS) and its precursor agencies until the late 1920s. 

In 1894, USDA Assistant Secretary Charles Dabney pushed a focus on the problem of “washed soils” involving several of the scientific Divisions within the USDA. However, his protégé Milton Whitney, Chief of the BoS, never fully supported erosion investigation. Indeed, Whitney’s dogmatic championing of his more unorthodox views, and his iron-handed rule of the BoS were major deterrents to the Bureau’s addressing this critical national need.

Nonetheless, there was sporadic movement in this direction. Field men in the developing soil survey made some early erosion observations. In particular, soon to be head of the soil survey, Jay Bonsteel, explicitly identified soil erosion as the cause of “worn-out” soils, in Tompkins County, NY and made the case for soil conservation as early as 1905.

Noted geologist and conservationist W J McGee was appointed to the BoS in 1907 as Expert in Charge of Soil Erosion Investigations.  Soon thereafter, widespread national attention for conservation culminated with the 1908 Governor’s Conference on the Conservation of Natural Resources at the White House with McGee as one of its driving forces. Although this seems to have placed erosion officially on the Bureau’s agenda, Whitney would marginalize soil erosion as an issue and direct the BoS to investigations farther and farther from the agricultural mainstream. McGee’s 1911 bulletin on soil erosion in had little impact within or outside USDA, and his death in 1912 curtailed any sustained efforts in this direction.

Investigation of soil erosion in the BoS remained sporadic until soil erosion stations were mandated by Congress in 1928.