Howard Finnell

Henry Howard Finnell (1894 to 1960) was an American agronomist and erosion specialist who pioneered methods for combating soil erosion during the Dust Bowl. Born in Hinds County, Mississippi, he grew up in Indian Territory, graduated from Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1917 and directed the Panhandle A and M Experiment Station from 1923 to 1934. His studies of efficient water use on the semi-arid southern Great Plains, such as terracing and contour plowing, were largely ignored until the drought of the 1930s. In 1934 the federal Soil Erosion Service put him in charge of the Dalhart Wind Erosion Control Project, and from 1935 he headed the Soil Conservation Service Region Six office, responsible for conservation across the whole Dust Bowl. By May 1936 nearly 40,000 farmers had adopted his methods. He stayed regional director until 1942 and kept studying wind erosion and land use for the government until he retired in 1959.