Kenneth Fooks
Kenneth Fooks
West Valley - Maricopa County
Inducted in 2018
Kenneth G. Fooks spent a lifetime in the field of soil conservation. Born in 1900 at the turn of the last century, he started working on the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1930 as a supervisor. His assignment was to build small conservation projects in the Midwest with untrained civilians from Chicago.
Fooks was one of the first people employed by the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) to “awaken public concern for the problems of soil conservation.” He implemented the teachings of Hugh Hammond Bennett, “the father of conservation.” Kenneth was eventually hired to manage an SCS rural district in Southern Illinois in the 1940s.
According to his son, Fooks finally managed to convince one of the largest farmers to plant in contours around the hills instead of up and down as they always had. A record crop resulted in all of the farmers coming on board the following year “with dramatic results in production and soil conservation.”
When the Fooks family moved to Chandler in 1962, Kenneth became the new Soil Conservation Service’s Chandler Work Unit Supervisor. He developed a close relationship with the farmers and ranchers in the East Valley, working to meet the needs of the agricultural families in the area. That year, the Food and Drug Administration Act authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to cooperate with local units of the government in the development of a plan to conserve and develop the area and resources, both human and natural. The Secretary then directed the Soil Conservation Service to assist local sponsoring organizations in the development of their plans, and in carrying out their plan. Kenneth Fooks was named chairman of the Hohokam Resource Conservation and Development Project.
The object of the Resources Conservation Act (RCA) and the project was the development and protection of all natural resources through improving the quality and quantity of water, proper land use, controlled flooding, watershed treatment, improved wildlife habitat and to control pollution. It included developing the economic potential to provide sufficient income for bettering housing, utilities, health care, education and other facilities that satisfy the basic human needs, provide a satisfying cultural, historical and recreational environment.
Working with Congressman John Rhodes and the Salt River Project, new flood control projects came to fruition in the East Valley. Fooks was one of the original advocates for retaining water on site, eventually leading to the requirement for all cities to require water retention areas for development.
Fook’s leadership helped provide needed soil surveys, land leveling, watershed planning, and flood control to the growing East Valley farming and ranching community. He was a leader in getting local farmers and ranchers to implement new conservation techniques on projects that contributed to the overall quality of the watershed for the region.
Affiliations
Hohokam Resource Conservation and Development Project - Chairman
Awards
Arizona Governor’s “Soil Conservationist of the Year” – 1975
