The Panhandle’s Hal Clark was indeed “A pillar among conservationists.”

The Oklahoma Conservation Commission (OCC) deeply mourns the passing of Clark, who passed away on November 23, 2020, at the age of 88.

For more than half a century, Clark managed the Clark Ranch in far northwestern Cimarron County with conservation as a priority. His pasture and rangeland management included rotational grazing, establishing permanent vegetation and controlling erosion to protect both land and water.

Clark’s education in range management coupled with his family’s history with the Dust Bowl led him to become a member of the Cimarron County Conservation District board of directors in 1966. Since that time, he dedicated more than 50 years to advancing soil stewardship. He helped develop the High Plains Five States Range Camp on his ranch to teach high school students the value of taking care of the land and hundreds of students from Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas and Oklahoma have participated.

Hal was Area 1 Commissioner of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission from June 12, 1978 to June 3, 1996. Clark and his fellow commissioners established the Blue Thumb project to provide statewide education on stream water health. He also served on Gov. Keating’s Animal Waste and Water Quality Task Force which authorized a cost-share program to help landowners install conservation practices that improved water quality and limited soil erosion. He helped the conservation district secure no-till drills and low-energy precision application nozzles for irrigation systems to change the way farming is done in the Panhandle.