Cover Page MENU     Contents     Acknowledgements     Brief History of the CCC      NPS Role     NPS Camps     Contributions     Overall Accomplishments     Appendix     Bibliography		The Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Park Service, 1933-1942: An Administrative History Chapter Two: The National Park Service Role NATIONAL PARKS AND STATE PARKS PROGRAMS: ECW Land Rental or Purchase Authority With the commencement of the ECW program, a problem arose in NPS areas as to whether or not private lands could be purchased using ECW funds to adequately protect park resources. The question was perplexing enough to have United States Attorney General Homer S. Cummings halt a land purchase at Great Smoky Mountains National Park made with ECW funds. President Roosevelt resolved the difficulty on December 28, 1933, by issuing an executive order that permitted the Park Service to purchase private lands using ECW funds. The executive order specifically mentioned Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Colonial National Monument, and the proposed Shenandoah National Park and Mammoth Cave National Park as areas in which land purchases were permissible. In addition to these park areas, the National Park Service later purchased land in the proposed areas of Isle Royale National Park, Big Bend National Park, Everglades National Park, and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Director Cammerer commented: [15] It has long been the policy of Congress not to appropriate Federal funds for the purchase of lands for the National Park system. Therefore nearly all of our parks and monuments have been established on Federal lands, or on lands which are donated to the Federal Government without cost. There have recently been a few exceptions to this procedure in which Emergency funds have been used to purchase minor portions of national park areas still in private ownership. [16] To further facilitate the ECW, President Roosevelt issued two executive orders in 1934 which authorized the expenditure of funds to purchase lands for conservation work. The National Park Service used this authorization to acquire additional lands for national parks and state parks projects. [17] NEXT> 1936 Consolidation Program
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