Reflecti ons from History and Faith: The Civilian Conservation Corps - A proud heritage and continuing legacy

By Jeff Olson

During my career in natural resources inventory and conservation, I covered untold miles and acres over a variety of lands and waters and in all seasons of the year. In this memorable journey, I saw first-hand not only some of man’s neglect of our natural resources but also much of his stewardship in providing restoration, preservation and productivity to those resources.

This journey also included many historical sites which represent some of America’s rich conservation heritage. Among these are the remnants of Civilian Conservation Corps camps which are subtle but stirring reminders of a very consequential era of our history.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the federal government under President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration implemented programs to improve the nations fledgling economy. One of these was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Also called, “Roosevelt’s Tree Army,” “Tree Troopers,” “Soil Soldiers,” and the “Three-Cs Boys,” the CCC was the result of Senate Bill S.598 which was signed into law on March 31, 1933, by the President under the authority of the Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) Act as part of his New Deal program.

Ninety years ago this week (and at this publication), April 5, 1933, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6101 which officially established the CCC as an agency and provided for its administration. The CCC provided employment for young unmarried men from families on public relief roles while at the same time addressing the nation’s natural resource conservation needs.

Enrollees also included veterans of World War I, Native Americans and African Americans.

Local experienced men, called “LEMs,” were chosen to provide the needed expertise in specific fields, particularly those areas related to conservation and construction.

CCC jobs were directly related to the conservation and development of nat- ural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state and local governments.

To participate, young men had to be in good health and between the ages of 18 and 26, though it was later expanded from 17 to 28. Enlistment was for a duration of six months, although many re-enlisted after their allotted time was up. Camps were set up in all states, as well as in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

CCC companies were typically housed in 40-man barracks. Camps resembled small villages and included bathhouses, electric lighting plants, kitchens, storage, infirmaries, recreation halls (later, educational buildings), a softball or baseball diamond, and sometimes a football field.

Cash allowances were $30 a month, and mandatory allotment checks of $25 were sent back to families of the men. Of the $5 each man kept, $1 went into the company fund, and they could buy $1 worth of coupons (20 at five cents each) for the canteen. Promising young men showing more potential were promoted to assistant leaders and leaders at $36 and $45 respectively. The workload was eight hours a day, five days a week.

The camps were supervised by reserve officers from the U.S. Army. CCC workers performed over 100 types of work, including planting trees, fighting forest fires, disease and insect control, wildlife habitat improvement, forest improvement, erosion control, constructing roads and trails, development of recreational facilities in national, state, county and metropolitan parks, building dams to control flooding and observation towers for forest fire detection, running telephone lines and carrying out emergency work which saved countless lives and much property threatened by flooding. The CCC also offered members courses that ranged from basic literacy to first aid to vocational skills and college-level courses, usually taken on their own time.

Maximum enrollment in the CCC peaked at over 500,000 in over 2,600 camps in 1935 and during the life of the program over 2.5 million men participated. CCC work was administered by several federal agencies, including the National Park Service, Soil Conservation Service and the U.S. Forest Service. The Forest Service administered more than 50% of all public work projects for the CCC. It was the most rapid peacetime mobilization in American history.

CCC accomplishments included planting nearly 3 billion trees, constructing more than 3,470 fire towers, building 28,000 miles of hiking trails, 97,000 miles of fire roads and 47,000 bridges, completing tens of millions of acres of erosion control work, and establishing more than 800 new state parks.

In addition to all of this and other work, the CCC provided a greater public awareness and appreciation of the great outdoors and America’s natural resources. After nine years and three million enrollees, the CCC was dissolved by Congress on July 1, 1942, primarily to redirect much needed resources toward World War II. Many of the enrollees subsequently entered the war.

In our own back yard, on the Ouachita National Forest, the first CCC camp in the state of Arkansas was established in Polk County at Eagleton and the first campsite occupied in the state was at Crystal Springs. By the mid-1930s, there were up to 64 camps in Arkansas, employing 13,000 men and we still enjoy the fruits of their labor in recreation areas and campgrounds such as Shady Lake, Bard Springs, Charlton, Collier Springs, Iron Springs, and Cedar Lake; and picnic areas, hiking trails, and scenic overlooks such as Sugar Creek Vista (pictured); and Arkansas state parks such as Devil’s Den, Petit Jean, Lake Catherine, Mount Nebo, and Crowley’s Ridge. Vestiges of other CCC achievements are still with us today, and much of their workmanship is still in operation to the benefit of our enjoyment and the continuation of a proud heritage.

So, on our next trip to the national forest, state park or other place where the CCC left a part of its enduring legacy, what do you say we pause for a moment and remember with gratitude and respect those young Americans who gave much of their prime to make the beauty of God’s creation a more special place for you and I and our families to enjoy, care for, and pass on to future generations.