• Wind Cave National Park - Two Worlds

    Wind Cave

    National Park South Dakota

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  • Elk Mountain Campground Closed

    The Elk Mountain Campground is closed and will remain closed through the summer of 2013 due to across the board budget cuts.

CCC - Changing the Nation

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Speed of the Program

  • March 31, 1933 - The Civilian Conservation Corps is created.
  • April 7, 1933 - Induction of first enrollee.
  • April 17, 1933 - Camp Roosevelt, the nation’s first CCC camp, is established in Virginia.
  • July 4, 1933 - 275,000 men are enrolled in the CCC program; 1,330 camps established.
 
1930s CCC Poster

CCC Poster

Who Participated

Men between the ages of 18 and 25, and unemployed veterans, could enlist for a period of six months with an option of extending the service to two years. They were paid $30 per month with $25 being sent home to help their families. The government furnished room, board, clothing, and tools. At its peak in 1935, the CCC employed 502,000 men in 2,514 camps. Most camps were segregated. Native Americans worked on their reservations but did not live in organized camps.

 
CCC patch

The Results

Congress abolished the CCC on June 30, 1942, as the United States entered World War II. For nine years the program kept families from starving, employed 3 million young men, and improved the country’s natural resources. Men from the Corps answered the call to war well trained, physically fit, labor skilled, and with the great CCC attitude of “We Can Take It!”, changing the nation even after the program had ended

Did You Know?

Blue Flax

Blue Flax is often considered a subspecies of the Eurasian L. perenne which is very similar.  The plant is named after Meriwether Lewis. More...