Lack of precipitation and overuse of the land led to the 1930s dustbowl
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 declared soil and water conservation a national priority. Three-fourths of the land in the U.S. is privately owned, Congress realizing this knew that only active support from landowners would guarantee the success of conservation on private land. From this soil and water conservation districts were born.
Today there are nearly 3000 conservation districts, political subdivisions of state government, created by the legislature . 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.
The Western Shasta Resource Conservation District was formed in 1957 as a special distict of the state of California. Over the past 50 years the WSRCD has grown from a small volunteer organization to a highly successful conservation district that is dedicated to the restoration and preservation of western Shasta County’s  natural resources. The WSRCD has worked in collaboration with many federal and state agencies as well as business owners and private land owners on projects that enhance Shasta Countys communities.The WSRCD is funded entirely by grants and contracts. The district encompasses approximately 1.7 million acres bounded on the east by the watershed divide between eastern and western Shasta County; the north by the Siskiyou County line; the west by the Trinity County line; and the south by the Tehama County line. The WSRCD is governed by a 7-member volunteer Board of Directors with the support of two associate directors, all local landowners and business people, appointed by the Shasta County Board of Supervisors.