Conquest of the Land through 7000 years

A wonderful personal report by Dr. Walter Clay Lowdermilk detailing historical soil erosion over the history of the world has been re-published by the USDA. See this link

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ecs/agecol/conquest.html

He covers soil erosion from the beginnings of post-flood civilization in Mesopotamia to current (1930's) catastrophes such as the Dust Bowl . He ends the paper with the "Eleventh Commandment"

Thou shalt inherit the Holy Earth as a faithful steward, conserving its resources and productivity from generation to generation. Thou shalt safeguard thy fields from soil erosion, thy living waters from drying up, thy forests from desolation, and protect thy hills from overgrazing by thy herds, that thy descendants may have abundance forever. If any shall fail in this stewardship of the land thy fruitful fields shall become sterile stony ground and wasting gullies, and thy descendants shall decrease and live in poverty or perish from off the face of the earth.