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BACA COUNTY CONSERVATION DISTRICT
P.O. Box 398
27200 Hwy 287
Springfield, CO 81073
(719) 523-4522 ext.101

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History of Baca County Conservation District:

Baca County was at the heart of the Dust Bowl. In response to that disaster, Congress passed Public Law 46 in 1935 declaring soil and water conservation and wise land use a national policy. Hugh Hammond Bennett, chief of the original Soil Conservation Service, recognized that local input was vital to the successful implementation of any agriculture agency.

In an effort to create that local connection, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wrote to all of the State Governors in 1937 recommending legislation allowing landowners to form soil and water conservation districts. The Colorado Soil Conservation Act (House Bill 258) passed on May 6, 1937. The Western Baca County Soil Erosion District and the Southeast Soil Erosion District were the first conservation districts formed in Colorado on March 5, 1938. In 1941 the Two Buttes Soil Erosion District was formed to address soil erosion and other conservation related issues. The three districts merged in 1982 to form our current conservation district: Baca County Conservation District.

Conservation districts have grown from a history of providing technical assistance to local producers with soil erosion issues, to the modern era of addressing all of the natural resource concerns. Baca County Conservation District bridges the gap between local agriculture producers and various agencies. Our liaison mission is two-fold: to get conservation on the ground and to benefit the local community.