Fifty years before CRP was established, strong winds blew dry, unprotected soil into huge clouds, ruining crops and pastures in the southern Great Plains. The term Dust Bowl aptly described the scene, as ongoing dust storms destroyed people's livelihoods and lives.

Guymon, in Texas County, Oklahoma, was once at the center of the Dust Bowl. Today, the town is surrounded by soil-conserving CRP grasses, forbs, and legumes mixed with the sights and sounds of wildlife.

"CRP keeps my roads from blowing shut with snow," observed Texas County resident Jimmie Draper. "And I can enjoy everything from quail, pheasant, deer, and antelope." Pilot Bill Haar added, "There were times that landing in Guymon was like flying through smoke, the dirt was blowing so bad. Those days are now few and far between. I attribute the better air conditions to CRP."

By planting erosion-preventing practices on 510,000 cropland acres, CRP participants in the Oklahoma Panhandle have calmed the Dust Bowl.

Texas County, Oklahoma, homestead and field struck by the 1930s Dust Bowl.

Now it's a very different scene in Texas County, as a doe and fawn find refuge among native CRP grass and Maximillian sunflowers.

Coble Farm, Felt, Oklahoma, 1935.

CRP surrounding Coble Farm today.

Antelope grazing Texas County native grass CRP.

Sand plum bushes establishing on CRP in Texas County.

A 1930s dust storm rolls in Beaver County.

A prescribed burn on established CRP in Beaver County, Oklahoma, through volunteer management cost-share.

A manufactured wildlife guzzler on CRP in Grant County, Oklahoma.

A homemade wildlife guzzler on CRP in Texas County, Oklahoma.