Inside the Civilian Conservation Corps, the New Deal agency that employed 2.5 million men to preserve national forests

Elias ChavezJan 12, 2024, 17:10 IST

Teenage laborers in the Civilian Conservation Corps sit in a tent after a day's workCORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Biden launched the American Climate Corps to create jobs and address the climate crisis.
The program is similar to the Civilian Conservation Corps, a Depression-era work relief plan by FDR.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order to create a "New Deal-style" American Climate Corps to bring down unemployment and increase conservation efforts in America's most vulnerable areas.

Modeled after President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1933 Civilian Climate Corps, Biden's program aims to employ about 20,000 young adults. Employees of the program will build trails, plant trees, help install solar panels, and do other work to boost conservation and help prevent catastrophic wildfires.

When Roosevelt implanted the CCC, 24.9% of the workforce was unemployed. It was part of his effort to restart the economy in 100 days. Roosevelt signed the act into law on March 31, 1933, and promised to have 250,000 men employed by July 1.

To be a part of the new CCC, men had to be single, between 18 and 25, unemployed, and on relief rolls. Their wages were $30 a month, with $25 going back to their families so they could put it back into the economy.

Today, the unemployment rate is currently 3.8%, but the new plan aims to create employment opportunities that will help combat the climate crisis. The budget for the American Climate Corps is not immediately clear, but the original proposal was $10 billion before the proposal was removed from the climate bill.

In the nine-year span that the CCC was active, 2.5 million men joined and achieved historic conservation efforts. Take a look back into the camps of the Civilian Conservation Corps.

In 1933, then-President Franklin Roosevelt signed an act into law that would begin the Civilian Conservation Corps.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt Visiting a Civilian Conservation Corps Camp.Bettmann/Getty Images

Eligible men had to be between 18 and 25, single, and would be selected from a pool of men on relief rolls.

A member of the CCC enjoys a meal with other members at a camp.PhotoQuest/Getty Images

At first, a majority of the men who were employed by the CCC were white.

A Black branch of the CCC at radio code practice.Library of Congress

When Roosevelt signed the CCC into law on March 31, 1933, he promised the employment of 250,000 men by July 1 of the same year.

Men lean out the train window and wave as it leads them to a new life within the Civilian Conservation Corps.PhotoQuest/Getty Images

From mid-May to July 1, 9,000 men were being recruited per day to work with the CCC, and by July 1, the CCC had an estimated 275,000 workers.

A large group of young men enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps program.CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

The coordination of the CCC took the combined efforts of the Departments of Labor, War, Agriculture, and Interior.

A CCC camp in Olympic National Park, Washington.CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

The army provided tents, uniforms, rations, and even camp routines at the beginning of the CCC.

Young men transcribe Morse code messages on typewriters in a defense radio school.CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

The work mostly revolved around being stewards of the land they were living on.

A group portrait of CCC workers.CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

CCC employees helped build trails, cabins, and roads nationwide in more than 800 parks.

A CCC enrollee chips out a section of log for the new La Croix Guard Station.CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

The CCC also planted an estimated 3 billion trees by the end of the program.

Civilian Conservation Corps workers planting seedlings.Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The camps also held recreational activities for the men.

A boxing match during recreation hour at one of the CCC camps.Bettmann/Getty Images

Educational opportunities were also available to CCC employees.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees are instructed in mechanical theory.CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Roosevelt believed that bringing an army of the unemployed into "healthful surroundings" would help eliminate the threats of "enforced idleness."

Boys working for the Civilian Conservation Corps.CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

By the end of the CCC in 1942, 2.5 million men had served in more than 4,500 camps across the country.

A man feeds ice cream to the adopted mascot of the CCC.CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

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