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| A New Deal For Wildlife: The Story of the Civilian Conservation Corps | ||
Civilian Conservation Corps Workers at Patuxent NWR, Maryland
"Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources." (FDR's First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933)
It was one of the bleakest periods in American history. Nearly 17 million Americans were out of work, the economy was in shambles, and many farmers had lost their livelihoods. Vast stretches of the American landscape had been denuded of vegetation resulting in legendary Dust Bowl conditions. On a much smaller scale, the Bureau of Biological Survey, a fledgling agency in the Department of Agriculture, was struggling to survive years of neglect and a changing mission.
Yet, through a series of events coinciding with the inauguration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932, the nation's and bureau's fortunes would take dramatic turns for the better. The bureau (to be merged with the Bureau of Fisheries in 1940 to become the Fish and Wildlife Service) would soon start its journey towards becoming a key protector of our nation's wildlife and wild areas.
Not since the first decade of the 20th Century had conservation issues been debated so widely as during FDR's first term in office. His election in 1932 ushered in a series of innovative New Deal programs to help Americans cope with the Great Depression and conserve our threatened natural and cultural legacies. Within the first 100 days of entering office, FDR signed the Emergency Conservation Work Act authorizing the establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The CCC was intended to put millions of young men to work on reforestation, soil erosion prevention, flood control and related projects. Until its termination in 1942 at the outbreak of World War II, CCC workers would contribute millions of hours of labor improving national wildlife refuges, fish hatcheries, national forests, and national parks. Nearly 60 years after its termination, we can still appreciate the CCC's handiwork in helping to restore our natural resources.
The CCC's Wildlife Improvement Program
Prior to FDR's administration, refuges had been acquired through executive orders and by acts of Congress, yet the bureau had never received adequate funding and support to realize the full potential of these areas. Recognizing that bold action was needed, the President appointed the Committee on Wild-Life Restoration in 1934, directing it to prepare a plan to restore America's dwindling wildlife populations. The committee recommended far-reaching changes for improving habitat for waterfowl, upland game, mammals, and song birds, including the acquisition of millions of acres of sub-marginal lands for habitat improvement and appropriations of $50 million, in part, to restore these lands.. Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling, a member of the committee, was appointed Chief of the Biological Survey in March 1934 and charged with overseeing this new plan. It didn't take long for "Ding" to realize the potential benefits of using funding generated by the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act of 1934 and the CCC to help implement his new program.
The CCC was a refuge manager's dream come true. But, refuges associated with a CCC camp were initially overwhelmed with an influx of labor and equipment and it took some time to match this energetic source of help with needed work The primary objectives of CCC camps associated with the Biological Survey and later the Fish and Wildlife Service were the improvement of wildlife habitat and construction of refuge administrative facilities and infrastructure. By 1942, 53 refuges had benefited directly from this work. Work centered on constructing dams and dikes, planting vegetation and millions of trees, stabilizing stream banks, and erecting numerous buildings, fire towers, telephone lines and support facilities. In addition to FWS managed areas, CCC enrollees also enhanced wildlife habitat on national forests, Indian reservations, and public lands. In 1939, the CCC reported that Biological Survey camps alone had moved over 4.1 million cubic yards of dirt to build levees, dikes and jetties and built 97 water control structures during the first five years of the program. The CCC also reported that all of its camps had stocked over 460 million fish throughout the United States!
The CCC's impact on the FWS was summed up by Director Ira Gabrielson in 1943. Gabrielson noted that "at first the event did not seem of great interest to wildlife conservationists, but it was another of those happenings which none considered epochal at the time but which later have brought about startling results."