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By PAUL REICHART Dirt. You walk on it with misgivings because it sticks to your shoes and comes off on the carpet if you’re not careful. Housewives spend a good percentage of their lives scrubbing it, wiping it, mopping it, sweeping it and just plain washing it away. Madison Avenue tells us there’s nothing as nasty as dirt. Why, it even gets in your car burator. You’ve just got to go out and buy brands X, Y and Z only they can conquer dirt. And besides, they smell nice. Of course a lot of things are dirt. But, unfortunately, people don’t think of a lot of things when somebody mentions dirt...they just think of soil. You know—that stuff crabgrass grows in. And because people equate soil with dirt and vice versa soil’s developed a bad reputation. Very few people really appreciate soil for what it is—the foundation of all life. Everything depends on the soil. Its at the beginning and the end of the life cycle. Without good productive soil there would be no plants to feed the world. There would be no trees for beauty and shelter. There would be no men. For years we've been reading about the disasterous pollution of our streams. We're told it takes years to resurrect a waterway killed by abuse and neglect. But it takes nature centuries to replenish abused and neglected soil. Some of us lived during the midwest’s famous “dust bowl” crisis of the mid- 1930s. Productive farms were turned into bitter wastelands, partly due to abnormal weather conditions, but largely because of ignorance. No one seemed to understand the importance of soil conservation. It was then, in fact in early 1935, that the federal govern ment instituted the Soil Con servation Service. The new agency was formed to ‘‘develop and carry out a national soil and water conservation programs through conservation dis tricts. The service, a branch of the Department of Agriculture, was created initially to meet the needs of the stricken midwest farmers. Today the Soil Con servation Service provides service to urban and woodland developers as well. Warren County is one con servation district....as do all counties in Pennsylvania. Elsewhere, districts may en compass only part of a county or, in a few cases, more than one county. The local SCS office can be found in the basement of the courthouse. Elbert Wells, district conservationist, heads a staff comprised of Bob Cerutti, soils scientist; John Ekey, conservation technician; and Elaine Olney, conservation aid. The district itself is governed by a group of directors ap pointed by the county com missioners. The Soil Con servation Service staff is also answerable to a regional office in Clarion, a state office in Harrisburg and, of course, a federal office in Washington, D.C. Directors of the local district are George Walker (chairman), James G. Marshall, Gerald Bensink, Elmer Blystone, Allan Lindell, Robert Swanson and Walter Kibbey. Each, according to Wells, has considerable background in soils problems. Bensink, for instance, directs the local Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service. Kibbey, Blystone and Lindell are far mers. Swanson heads up Eisenhower High School's “ecolab. ’ Together with the professional staff they coor dinate a program designed to reach all facets of community development. Just last week Wells was asked to study erosion problems developing near the low-income housing site in Conewango Township. Ekey has been helping John Logan, a local merchant, develop and manage a pond in Pine Grove Township. The staff is regularly called on by the county planning commission to investigate subdivision septic capabilities. They assist farmers and woodlot owners, industrialists and highway builders— virtually everybody and anybody who is working with the soil and in need of professional help. In short, ‘The soil con servationist helps land users plan for each land unit as a whole, integrating all aspects of land use and treatment. He works on the principle that soil, water, plant and animal resources cannot be effectively used or managed separately but are interdependent and must be dealt with as a whole.” Some of the priceless in formation available through the service may keep that dream home from turning into a nightmare, Wells said. North western Pennsylvania is noted for extreme septic system limitations, he said. The SCS can help potential home builders determine whether that “ideal” property is really so ideal. Just recently the SCS finished mapping Warren County's soils. These “resource data maps”, used in conjunction with overlays, can give land owners See SOIL Page B3 Checks Drainage Elbert Wells, district conservationist, checks the drainage at a county culvert. Water conservation programs, as well as soils problem, are the concern of the Soil Conservation Service. Photos By Mel Mansfield
Newspaper Details
Warren Times Observer
Warren, Pennsylvania, US
Sat, Nov 17, 1973
Page 12
Full Page
Clipped by
Tevi R.
USA 12 Jul 2026
Other Publications Near Warren, Pennsylvania
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Warren Evening Times
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