Near the center of the ninety-thousand-acre Coon Creek Watershed, the nation's first large-scale demonstration of soil and water conservation began after the area was selected in October 1933 by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, then the Soil Erosion Service. Technicians of the S.C.S. and the University of Wisconsin combined their knowledge with the experience of local farm leaders to establish a pattern of land use that became prevalent throughout the Midwest. Planned practices included improvement of woodlands, wildlife habitat, and pastures, better rotations and fertilization, strip cropping, terracing, and control of gully and stream bank erosion. The result stood as a tribute to the wisdom, courage, and foresight of the farm families who adopted modern conservation farming methods there.