Cotton County Conservation District Honors Jack Hudman

June 21, 2012

Ben Pollard, OCC assistant director (right) presented Jack Hudman with a Legislative Citation from Sen. Don Barrington and a Conservation Commendation from OCC in recognition of his 50 years of service on the Cotton County Conservation District board of directors.

Cotton County Conservation District honored board member Jack Hudman for 50 years of service on April 12, 2011. The district held a reception in Hudman’s honor in the meeting room named in his honor at the district office. Jack was presented with a 50-year service pin from the National Association of Conservation Districts. Ben Pollard, assistant director of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, also presented Hudman with a Conservation Commendation from OCC and a Legislative Citation sponsored by state Sen. Don Barrington.

Hudman served as president of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts in 1974-1975 and was inducted into the Oklahoma Conservation Hall of Fame in 1990. His late wife Joy Hudman was inducted posthumously into the Hall of Fame as a Conservation Friend in 1998 for her active involvment in the OACD Auxiliary.

The following is excerpted from a talk Hudman gave to district directors at a training session in the 1990s:

**Jack Hudman, Cotton County Conservation District board member since 1961, stands in front of his portrait in the meeting room named in his honor at the district office.**

“From the beginning of time, man has been dependent upon the soil. Soil is different things to different people. To the geologist, it is the barrier between himself and the material he is trying to study. To a small child, soil is mud pies and fun. To the Mother it is the stuff that is tracked on her clean floors. To the builder, it serves as the foundation for his structures. To the ecologist, soil is a pollutant. Seafarers and astronauts have knelt and kissed it when separated from it for a period of time. To a farmer, soil is a precious mixtures of minerals, organic matter, air and water on which life depends. It is the medium through which he produces food and fiber for himself and the world.

“The conservation movement was conceived in the darkness of the Dust Bowl and was born in Oklahoma in the Dirty Thirties. We were nurtured by a partnership of federal, state and local governments working hand in hand with landowners. We have had some growing pains, scrapes, bruises, and set backs. But because of them, we have become stronger and are reaching puberty still changing with many challenges and opportunities facing us. You–this—group, I challenge you now to be prepared to chart the course and steer the wheel, taking the conservation movement into the next century and to Keep The Faith!”