Thomas C. Kennard

Thomas C. Kennard, 1897-1979, former of Franklin County, will be long remembered as one of Ohio’s first truly environmentalists. After serving for 10 years as a County Extension Agent in Noble and Vinton Counties, he worked from 1935-1942 as the Assistant Regional Conservator, USDA, and helped to develop policies and procedures for the formation and organization of Soil Conservation Districts in 5 states–Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee.

From 1942 to 1959, Kennard served Ohio as the first State Conservationist of the Soil Conservation Service and during those 17 years, he organized 87 of Ohio’s 88 Soil and Water Conservation Districts. He recruited and trained a staff of technical personnel to assist these districts and many of these trained personnel advanced to prominent agriculture positions across the Nation.