Date of publication in the Champaign, Ill., News-Gazette: June 6, 2006



Retiring soli scientist ends rich career


By ANNE COOK
Copyright 2006 The News-Gazette


CHAMPAIGN – When Mack Hodges started working for the Soil Conservation Service, the agency had an enormous job to do – and a powerful incentive to get it done.

"The emphasis was getting soils classified and mapped," said Hodges, who was first hired by the SCS to work at Edwardsville as a summer intern when he was a freshman at Southern University in Louisiana. "The government was using soils information as a tax base for farmers."

And almost 40 years later, as Hodges wraps up his career with the agency that's now called the Natural Resources Conservation Service, soil productivity is still part of the formula that determines taxes on land. Soil scientists like Hodges have mapped land all over the United States, identifying more than 600 soil types in Illinois alone.

Results of their work were thick books showing soils, shelved in each county Soil and Water Conservation District office, with copies of all in the state office. But computer technology changed all that: Most counties in most states now have digital maps and soil scientists everywhere had to change the way they recorded their work.

"We've come full circle, from books to CDs," Hodge said.

He said computers have made such a huge change in his business, he remembers the first one installed in the state office. "It was an ATT 6300 with 10 megabytes of hard drive, and we thought it would take care of everything," Hodges said.

But they've always had limitations, he said. "We get more done with less paperwork, but we can't replace the ground troops," Hodges said. "You need to get out to see what's on the land."

Hodges' interest in soils comes naturally: He grew up on a northeastern Louisiana farm where his family planted cotton, corn and soybeans and raised livestock. At Southern University, he majored in agronomy, but during summers training with the SCS in Illinois, he focused on soils. When he graduated from Southern in 1970, he applied to the agency for a job.

"They brought me back to Illinois," he said. "I started in Ogle County, but six months later, I was drafted and I ended up on a mountain in North Korea with the 8th Army instead of Vietnam. The war was winding down, and I ended up serving 18 months and six days. "

He moved into the Champaign state office in 1989 to be assistant soil scientist. In 1994, after streamlining started by then- U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Madigan, the agency changed its name to Natural Resources Conservation Service.

"When you thought about the SCS, you thought about controlling erosion, but we work on all natural resources here," he said. "We have engineers, forestry, agronomists and many other experts. Nothing really changed but the name, and it's better."

Agency experts and field workers are now updating the original soils maps. Hodges is in charge of a database called the National Soils Identification System.

"We work with people like students working on doctorates and consultants from other states who might be considering land purchases for farming or for housing or commercial development who want to know more about soils in specific areas," he said.

After he retires June 30, Hodges will spend more time with his wife of 30 years, Connie, their daughter, Sherraun, an Eastern Illinois University graduates and sons Cory, a Millikin graduate and Reggie, who left Ball State University just before he completed his degree to play professional football as a punter for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Hodges will continue working at his part-time job at Wal-Mart. Appropriately, he works in the Garden Center.

And he's also going to continue coaching for the Special Olympics. Hodges' sport is power lifting; he's won honors participating himself and he trains youngsters for competition.

"He's trained Illinois athletes for the World Games and he's really great with them," said Georgeann Kulton, area Special Olympics director. "He just walked in my office the other day, and because of all his volunteer hours, he's going to get a donation from Wal Mart for us. He's a good coach and a good guy."

Bill Gradle, state conservationist, said Hodges has been an asset to the state.

"He's professional, he gets the job done, he contributes to the community, and he has a fantastic family," Gradle said. "He's been an outstanding employee."

Hodges cheerfully admits he's a little touchy about one professional point.

"Don't call it dirt," he said. "That's what you sweep off the kitchen floor."





©2006 The News-Gazette