The Civilian Conservation Corps, Part 1: The New Deal's Outdoors Restoration Program

Conservation and Reforestation in the North Country was of great importance in the beginning of the Twentieth Century, several states had their own programs to bring back forests, and the United States Forest Service was created to replant forests across the country. These programs did some good, early work, but the most important impact was made in the wake of the Great Depression.

When Franklin D. Roosevelt was innaugurated as the 32nd president in 1933 he offered up his "New Deal" to put the country back to work. One of his most successful programs was the establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps. This week I am joined by Phil Naud, a Civilian Conservation Corps historian, who speaks about the creation of the CCC, the work that they performed in Michigan, and about a special population of CCC enrollees, Military Veterans, namely those that were veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898) and the First World War (1917-1918).

In Michigan, the CCC would do great work to stimulate the regrowth of the forests that were largely destroyed during the 19th century lumber boom, and by the wildfires that followed. More than 484 million trees were planted by the CCC in Michigan alone from 1933-1942. More than 102,000 men served in the CCC in Michigan, doing everything from planting trees, fighting fires, building roads, bridges, dams, and airfields, creating or improving parks and campgrounds, and doing stream improvement, among other jobs.

Episode Corrections:

At 7:02 I mention that there are eight national forests in Michigan. This is incorrect. There are four in Michigan, eight in the Great Lakes region (Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin). The four in Michigan are: Huron National Forest and the Manistee National Forest in the Lower Peninsula (they are managed jointly as the Huron-Manistee National Forest), and the Hiawatha National Forest and the Ottawa National Forest in the Upper Peninsula. The Marquette National Forest was also established in the Upper Peninsula, bust was later merged into the Hiawatha National Forest.

At 13:19 I respond to Phil's comment about the U.S. Seantor from Michigan who suggested work that could be done. I said Vandenburg (Senator Arthur Vandenburg from Grand Rapids). It was actually Senator James Couzens from Detroit. Couzens had been an executive with the Ford Motor Company and Mayor of Detroit before he was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Additional Reading:

Carr, Ethan, Wilderness by Design: Landscape Architecture & the National Park Service. Lincoln, NE. University of Nebraska Press/Bison Books. 1998. (There is information regarding Recreational Demonstration Areas including Waterloo and Yankee Springs Recreation Areas in Michigan.)

Cohen, Stan. The Tree Army: A Pictorial History of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-42. Missoula, MT. Pictorial Histories Publishing Company. 1980.

Rosentreter, Roger L. Roosevelt's Tree Army, Michigan's Civilian Conservation Corps. Lansing, MI. Michigan Bureau of History. 1986. (It is available online at: https://www.michigan.gov/mhc/museums/hln-ccc/ccc-in-michigan)

Schueller, Mary J. The Soldiers of Poverty. Ritchfield, WI. Rustic Books. 2006. (This is the book I referenced of the enrollee going from southern Illinois to Wisconsin to Isle Royale.)

Symon, Charles A. We Can Do It! A History of the CCC in Michigan 1933-1942. Escanaba, MI. Richard's Printing. 1983.

Additional Online Information:

CCC Legacy: https://ccclegacy.org/

Higgins Lake Nursery and CCC Museum: https://www.michigan.gov/mhc/museums/hln-ccc

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