<p>Looks at the loss and exploitation of American farmland and stresses the need for such soil-saving techniques as crop rotations and contour and no-till cropping</p>

Farmland or Wasteland: A Time to Choose

Sampson, R. Neil

Business & Money

Rodale Pr

Public programs for private forestry: A reader on programs and options

Science & Math

Nature & Ecology

American Forest

For Love of the Land: A History of the National Association of Conservation Districts

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Natl Assn Conservation Dist

From checking mountain snow depth in Idaho to designing a soil conservation system in Alaska while, at the same time, dealing with local and national conservation politics — the stories told here by Neil and Rob Sampson help us experience what is happening on our American lands. In the 1960s, Neil found one winter’s Western snow samples rich with radiation as a result of China’s above-ground testing of nuclear devices. During Rob’s four years as an Alaskan conservationist, he visited over 50 Native Villages in remote areas to explore ways to plan their future on the land in an era of climate-change. In Oregon, Rob got in during the infancy of forming watershed councils that could plan for endangered salmon and steelhead. Neil worked with a Washington, D.C. coalition that helped environmentalists understand agricultural land and water issues. He was also asked to join a team helping farmers in West Africa’s The Gambia develop a productive agriculture that could feed an increasing population, the beginning of his international consulting. Both Rob and Neil not only have great stories to tell, but have developed a big-picture overview of the challenges facing American agricultural lands and waters. Committed to Conservation lets us join them in their experiences and discoveries.

Committed to Conservation: 50 Years of Work to Help Protect America?s Soil and Water

Sampson, Robert W.

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Mapping Wildfire Hazards and Risks

<p>Develop accurate computer models to determine wildfire risks and controlled-burn benefits!Although scientists now recognize that fire is essential to many ecosystems, the ecological and political issues of managing wildfire continue to be vexing. Mapping Wildfire Hazards and Risks offers multiple perspectives on using a Geographic Information System (GIS) for more effective wildfire management. This innovative technology is the ideal tool to organize and display all the information available, so authorities can make informed judgments based on all the facts.Because the authors are not merely theorizing but discussing the GIS they are actually building and using, Mapping Wildfire Hazards and Risks offers practical ideas and perspectives, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>specific information on the modeling approach and kinds of data utilized </li>
<li>valuable discussions of the social and environmental factors included in the model </li>
<li>techniques for predicting the effects of wildfire on neighborhoods, soil erosion, sedimentation, and air quality </li>
<li>predictions of long-term ecosystem recovery given wildfires of different sizes and intensities </li>
<li>maps, charts, tables, and formulas to make the process of building a GIS understandable and accessible</li>
</ul>Mapping Wildfire Hazards and Risks is a compilation of the ideas of federal and state agencies, universities, and non-governmental organizations on how to rank and prioritize forested watershed areas that are in need of prescribed fire. This book provides the essential information for deciding how to set priorities for wildfire management that might reduce risks or lower future damages.

Atkinson, R. Dwight

Lewis, Joe W.

Biological Sciences

CRC-Press

In the spring of 1935, the skies of New York and Washington, D.C., were darkened by windblown soils from farms of Texas and Oklahoma. Congressmen could taste the grit in their mouths as they listened to Hugh Hammond Bennett testify about the need for a national soil conservation program.  Conservation districts, local units of government designed to guide soil and water conservation work, led the action to get soil erosion under control. For Love of the Land tells the story of their founding, recounting how they built a national organization, the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD), to represent them in the fight for a sound national conservation program.  For Love of the Land also describes the people whose bold ideas sparked the conservation movement. The characters are strong: Hugh Bennett, charismatic leader of the Soil Conservation Service; E. C. "Mac" McArthur, the dedicated first president of NACD from South Carolina who didn't see why World War II equipment shouldn't go to conservation districts; Water Davis, the burly Texas rancher who tackled conservation with the same energy that he used to organize his timber, cotton, cattle, and grain holdings.  Additionally, this book provides a track record of the accomplishments -- and the unfinished agenda -- of the conservation movement in this country. Keeping soil on the land, and out of our waters, is a goal everyone agrees upon. But how to get that job done is another matter. Should the federal government mandate erosion and pollution control standards? Who should set the priorities for resource conservation work? What happens when the goals of environmentalists conflict with the economic needs of farmers? Author R. Neil Sampson introduces us to the complex array of conservation programs that have grown as our national answer to those questions.  Woven into the texture of the book are the many quieter achievements of NACD: the founding and growth of its conservation awards programs, its weekly newsletter, Ladies Auxiliary, and the programs that reach out to districts with needed services to get conservation on the land and protect the nation's waters.  This book provides an inside look at how the soil and water conservation programs and policies in the United States were developed, and why they work as they do. About the Author R. Neil Sampson operates a natural resource consulting firm in Alexandria, Virginia. He was executive vice president of the National Association of Conservation Districts from 1978 to 1984. A native of Idaho, he has degrees in agronomy from the University of Idaho and public administration from Harvard University. He is the author of Farmland or Wasteland: A Time to Choose and With One Voice: The National Association of Conservation Districts. He has also published dozens of book chapters, professional papers, and popular articles about natural resource concerns and policy issues.

Wheatmark, Inc.

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Books by Sampson, R. Neil