1933
FDR Creates Civilian Conservation Corps
On this day in 1933, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt establishes the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), an innovative
federally funded organization that put thousands of Americans to work during
the Great Depression on projects with environmental benefits.
In 1932, FDR took America’s political helm
during the country’s worst economic crisis, declaring a “government worthy of
its name must make a fitting response” to the suffering of the unemployed. He
implemented the CCC a little over one month into his presidency as part of his
administration’s “New Deal” plan for social and economic progress. The CCC
reflected FDR’s deep commitment to environmental conservation. He waxed poetic
when lobbying for the its passage, declaring “the forests are the lungs of our
land [which] purify our air and give fresh strength to our people.”
The CCC, also known as “Roosevelt’s Tree
Army,” was open to unemployed, unmarried U.S. male citizens between the ages of
18 and 26. All recruits had to be healthy and were expected to perform hard
physical labor. Blacks were placed in de-facto segregated camps, although
administrators denied the practice of discrimination. Enlistment in the program
was for a minimum of 6 months; many re-enlisted after their first term.
Participants were paid $30 a month and often given supplemental basic and
vocational education while they served. Under the guidance of the Departments
of the Interior and Agriculture, CCC employees fought forest fires, planted
trees, cleared and maintained access roads, re-seeded grazing lands and
implemented soil-erosion controls. They built wildlife refuges, fish-rearing
facilities, water storage basins and animal shelters. To encourage citizens to
get out and enjoy America’s natural resources, FDR authorized the CCC to build
bridges and campground facilities. From 1933 to 1942, the CCC employed over 3
million men.
Of Roosevelt’s many New Deal policies, the CCC
is considered by many to be one of the most enduring and successful. It
provided the model for future state and federal conservation programs. In 1942,
Congress discontinued appropriations for the CCC, diverting the desperately
needed funds to the effort to win World War II.