CIVIL CONSERVATION CORPS (1933 - 1942)
"I propose to create a Civilian Conservation Corps to be used in simple work...More important, however, than the material gains will be the moral and spiritual value of such work." -Franklin Roosevelt
For about 10 years, this program gave jobs to over 3 million men who were responsible for maintaining forests and parks, planting trees, building flood barriers, fighting fires, and maintaining roads and trails (Civilian Conservation Corps).
For about 10 years, this program gave jobs to over 3 million men who were responsible for maintaining forests and parks, planting trees, building flood barriers, fighting fires, and maintaining roads and trails (Civilian Conservation Corps).
MAIN ACCOMPLISHMENTS (from the CCC Legacy)
- Nearly Three Billion trees were planted to help reforest America
- Modern tenets of conservation are an outgrowth of the conservation work begun by the CCC.
- Forest fire fighting methods were developed under the CCC program to meet the needs of controlling wild fires that kept the land from healing and naturally restoring the watersheds.
- The modern service corps movement in America today is founded on the Corps concept of the CCC. Nurtured by CCC alumni and their supporters, modern conservation corps are expanding and contributing to American youth and culture ("CCC Legacy Home").
- Constructed public roadways and buildings. Today citizens still drive on roadways built by the men of the CCC. Vast expanses of public land are connected through scenic byways and fire trails. Lodges, cabins, picnic pavilions, and many other recreational structures still stand as a testament to the craftsmanship and design of the CCC program. One of the most recognizable examples of a scenic road in the central eastern United States is the Blue Ridge Parkway and Shenandoah National Park.
- Soil conservation was taught to private citizen as well as implemented on government land. The dust bowl of the Great Plains hampered agricultural output for many years.
- The development of the infrastructure of the outdoor recreational system is attributed to the CCC program. Most state park systems we started through the CCC program with an estimated 800 parks constructed across the nation. The National Parks and the National Forest systems received great benefit and still proclaim the vast legacy of CCC labor ("CCC Legacy Home").
- Built and operated fish hatcheries which replenished the species killed by unfavorable conservation practices.
- Reintroduced wildlife to depleted area. In many areas wildlife was hard hit due to the devastation of their habitat. Some camps we involved in research and many more were tasked with the reintroduction and monitoring of wildlife.
- Military style camp life developed citizens that supported the WWII manpower effort.
- The boys supported their families by earning $30 monthly through the distribution of a $25 financial allotment to home.
- Advanced the standard of living in surrounding communities due to the infusion of revenue amounting to as much as $5,000 a month ("CCC Legacy Home").
LEAST IMPACTED:
Black workers were least impacted by the CCC. Even though there was a 'nondiscriminatory policy' which prohibited discrimination and harassment in employment due to race, color, national or ethnic origin, age, gender, status, etc (Civilian Conservation Corps). The CCC failed to give a equal amount of employment opportunities as that of young, white men. However, even with all of the discrimination 10% of blacks participated in this movement by 1936.
OVERALL
The CCC was a success! It gave millions of job opportunities to those who were drastically affected by the Great Depression Era as well as the CCC was a huge step up towards the "getting back to normal" state that America was literally and physically hit with during the Dust Bowl. This program was one of the "better" programs and proudly had a better outcome in the New Deal Era and overall was successful for America (Brinkley).
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*Bibliography is under "More" in the "Bibliography" section.*