Chapter Four:
Contributions

Black veteran enrollee and historical reconstruction work at Colonial National Monument.
Courtesy of the National Archives.

The CCC program presented a number of new opportunities for the Park Service in park conservation and development. CCC contributions in national and state parks were many and varied.

FIRE FIGHTING

When the ECW was established in 1933, the greatest threat to the parks was forest fires. Prior to that time the National Park Service had lacked sufficient fire-fighting personnel to contain fires and had been unable to fully implement fire protection programs within the parks. During the first year of ECW operation, enrollees began constructing firebreaks, removing deadwood, conducting other fire prevention activities, and erecting telephone lines in parks. These measures were credited for reducing forest fire losses by a total of 1,600 acres in the first nine months of 1933. [1]

On August 17, 1933, Director Fechner set a precedent for using ECW workers in local and national emergencies when he authorized ECW units to fight fires in Craig, Montana. [2] The following year refinements were made to fire-fighting programs, with specific groups of enrollees selected for fire protection training. In Glacier National Park each of the camps had a "flying squad" of 15 men and a fully equipped light truck ready for instant response in case of fire. This first crew was backed up by a 100-man squad in case the fire could not be contained by the "flying squads." Other parks had their own fire protection plans and training measures that utilized the ECW enrollees in combating forest fires. [3]

During 1935 the NPS Branch of Forestry began to publish circulars on various aspects of fire fighting and forest conservation to provide guidance on these matters to ECW supervisors. In an effort to improve administration of the fire protection program, Director Cammerer assigned a fire protection engineer to the branch to better coordinate the fire hazard reduction program and implement safety regulations and measures for the protection and prevention of accidents among the enrollees. The camps not only suppressed fires on NPS lands, but cooperated with federal and state officials in suppressing fires on lands adjacent to NPS areas. [4]

A major change in training for the fire-fighting program occurred in 1936 when the Branch of Forestry requested that the ECW regional offices send a detailed description of each of the parks' fire-fighting program to the Washington Office so that it could be evaluated and a more effective training program developed At Gettysburg National Military Park, the park conducted a fire class with the enrollees at Great Smoky Mountains National Park before the fire season. After the training, one camp in the park was designated to maintain the fire-fighting apparatus. In this camp enrollees were taught to operate the fire engine and act as hosemen. Yosemite, Yellowstone, Glacier, and Sequoia national parks gave fire suppression training to all enrollees, but designated small groups of up to 15 men as the primary fire-fighting teams. These small groups would be sent first; if they failed to suppress the fire, other enrollees would be called. The most spectacular fire fighting activity in 1936 occurred at Isle Royale, where 1,600 ECW youths were credited with saving part of the island's timber from a fire that destroyed more than 33,000 acres. [5]

The Isle Royale fire prompted changes in the Park Service fire prevention program in 1937. Each CCC camp was to have one day of fire-fighting training every month of the fire season, with one man from each camp selected to be responsible for all phases of fire protection training. The increased training for the fire protection program was directly attributed to a sharp reduction in acreage burned in national parks. In the period from January 1 through September 30, 1937, the acreage burned in national park areas amounted to 90 percent less than for the same period in 1936. [6] In 1937 the CCC continued doing tree conservation work, fire fighting, and fire prevention work. These projects were funded almost entirely with CCC funds. The most dramatic fire-fighting incident that year was on the eastern boundary of Yellowstone National Park in the Shoshone National Forest. Forest Service enrollees were assisted by 125 NPS enrollees from Yellowstone National Park in fighting the blaze. The Blackwater Canyon fire resulted in 15 men being burned to death and another 40 being taken to the hospital. While none of these were NPS enrollees, the incident caused the superintendent of Yellowstone to request that CCC enrollees be given even more extensive fire-fighting training. [7]

Partly because of the Blackwater Canyon fire, the fire-fighting training program was intensified during 1938, with fire-fighting schools established on a nationwide basis. The CCC enrollees learned fire-fighting methods and techniques, proper use of fire-fighting implements, and personal safety and discipline on the fire line. These training schools were held jointly, when feasible, between the Park Service and the Forest Service, first in the south and later in eastern, midwestern, and western park areas. [8]

The Park Service's dependency on the CCC and its funds was evident in the fire protection and other forest preservation programs. In both these areas the Park Service received regular appropriations, but these funds, in most cases, were not even enough to maintain essential services, and CCC funds were used to supplement and expand these programs. After 1939, as a result of continuing CCC program reductions and redirection to national defense programs, the National Park Service faced austerity and was forced to dramatically reduce park programs. [9]

INSECT AND FUNGUS CONTROL

The year before the enactment of the ECW legislation in 1933, Director Albright had asked the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee for emergency funding of up to $5 million for a five-year program to combat various species of pine beetles in Yellowstone, Yosemite, Sequoia, and other western parks, which threatened the destruction of the various pines. He felt that even this measure might not be sufficient to save the trees. Another menace to the forests in the western parks was the white-pine blister rust coming into the United States from Canada. [10]

Infestations of mountain pine and bark beetles were brought under control by ECW workers at Sequoia National Park, Crater Lake National Monument, and portions of Yosemite National Park in 1933. At Yosemite, however, the superintendent opposed the Ribes eradication program as a means of controlling white-pine blister rust. He believed that the removal of currant and gooseberry bushes might eventually do more harm than good to the park's ecosystem, and he wanted research conducted on the interrelationship between these shrubs and other plants and wildlife in the forest. In other parks, the Ribes eradication program continued as the major way to halt the spread of blister rust. [11]

During 1936 a specially authorized tree-preservation crew was established to travel in eastern historical and military parks, monuments, and cemeteries doing pruning, spraying, feeding, and other conservation work. The NPS officials had the ECW enrollees carry out the bulk of insect control projects because no other funds had been appropriated for insect control since the program began. At Morristown National Historical Park, the Park Service instituted an experiment where an autogiro was used to spray trees with insecticide in forested areas. Due to lack of sufficient funding, the itinerant tree preservation crew that had worked throughout the eastern states was discontinued in 1937. [12]

In 1939 the blister rust control program was reduced due to lack of CCC funds, despite the fact that after six years of effort on both the east and west coasts the pine forests of the national parks remained threatened by the disease. Park Service Director Cammerer stated that he still considered blister rust disease the second greatest forest protection problem. [13]

RESOURCE CONSERVATION VS. PARK DEVELOPMENT

During the first year's administration of the state parks program, Park Service officials found that the newly appointed state park officials were permitting development in state and county parks that the Park Service saw as intrusive on park resources and difficult to maintain. In addition, states submitted proposals for expensive accommodations and extensive road construction projects to the NPS. The Park Service believed that these plans could have detrimental impacts upon the wildlife and natural features of the park and so many of these proposals were turned down. The NPS state park officials were warned that if they continued making these types of proposals their camps would be relocated. [14]

In May 1933 Director Albright issued a warning to the superintendents and state park officials that the ECW work should keep certain restrictions in mind. The removal of underbrush and ground cover should be done only to the extent that the habitat of small birds and mammals was not destroyed. Also, no exotic vegetation was to be introduced in the parks and no artificial landscaping was to be done in natural areas. Director Albright further stressed that any fire truck roads or trails should not be built if these actions would damage wilderness areas. He admitted that the emergency conservation work could prove harmful to wildlife and suggested that if the park officials had any questions on the matter they should contact the NPS Wildlife Division for guidance. [15]

In the first year of the ECW program, truck trails were constructed to provide access to park areas in case of fire. After the original trails were constructed, the standards were changed, resulting in improvements to the trails to the point that primitive areas were being opened to general visitation. Director Cammerer was concerned enough about the potential overdevelopment of park areas that he disapproved five major trail projects in the summer of 1934. In this regard, Cammerer had received a number of complaints concerning road development at Acadia National Park and ordered an investigation of the matter. [16]

Director Fechner maintained that the ECW had no damaging effects on parks and forests. During a 1935 radio broadcast, he explained:

There is something I would like to stress and that is that on every project in which the CCC is engaged, the greatest of care has been exercised to prevent any injury to the scenic beauty of the national and State parks and monuments. Native materials only have been used in the planting of trees and shrubs and natural conditions have been maintained so far as consistent with the use of the developed areas. [17]

Not everyone was as confident as Director Fechner that the ECW preserved the natural environment. In an address to the National Park Service Conference of State Park Authorities, Secretary of the Interior Ickes stressed the need to preserve the natural scenery and wilderness in park areas and voiced concern over park overdevelopment. He commented:

The recreational needs of the country are one of the major problems of the country. It seems to me there is a clear distinction between what we are trying to do and ought to do in our National Parks and what we ought to do in at least the State and local parks.

As Mr. Cammerer so well said, our National Parks, so far as possible, ought to be kept in their natural state. There were inferences in his remarks which perhaps you did not get. I am not in favor of building any more roads in the National Parks than we have to build; I am not in favor of doing anything along the lines of so-called improvements that we do not have to do. This is an automobile age. But I do not have a great deal of patience with people whose idea of enjoying nature is dashing along the hard road at fifty or sixty miles an hour. I am not willing that our beautiful areas should be opened up to people who are either too old to walk, as I am, or too lazy to walk, as a great many young people are who ought to be ashamed of themselves. I do not happen to favor the scarring of the wonderful mountainside just so that we can say we have a skyline drive. It sounds poetical, but it may be creating a natural atrocity.

Mr. Cammerer is quite right. I would not agree to put in a lake where there should not be a lake, merely to have a lake. An artificial lake is not a lake, after all. It is all right in a State park. But that is a different sort of thing. It is out of place in a wilderness area. So long as I am Secretary of the Interior and have anything to say about the parks, I am going to use all of the influence I have to keep parks just as far as possible in their natural state.

Your State Parks are a different problem. They are more recreational than wilderness areas. Some of them, especially those that are near big areas of population, ought to be available for people who need exercise and recreation. . . .

As to our State Parks, I think they are doing a great deal for recreation in keeping people outdoors who live in crowded areas. I think if they are near centers of population they ought to be largely recreational. [18]

Before the address by Secretary Ickes, Director Cammerer had emphasized that in Park Service areas the creation of lakes and other landscape modifications should only be done when research proved that these features were at one time part of the natural scene. Cammerer further pointed out that the cleanup of park areas should only be done to the extent that adequate ground cover for birds and wildlife remained undisturbed. The Department of the Interior's Manual on Emergency Conservation Work stated that native species of plants were to be used--except for lawns, military parks, and cemeteries where exotic grass seed was acceptable. Exotic plants were not to be used for erosion control except when already present or when special permission was obtained from the Washington Office. Adhering to this policy at Yosemite and Sequoia national parks, revegetation was done by sowing seeds of native flowers along roads and by transplanting small plants of native species. That same year, however, work at New Found Gap in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park included the construction of formal flower beds by the parking areas and a man-made entrance to the proposed Mammoth Cave National Park. [19]

In 1936 Leonard Wing charged, in the American Forests magazine, that the ECW work in the forests and parklands endangered wildlife. He found that in woodland areas the "cleanup" program had removed necessary forage. He also believed that the revegetation program could introduce species that might be harmful to wildlife. Although the Park Service never formally commented on these charges, some superintendents believed that the technical staff who supervised ECW work should be better trained in conservation measures and that the ECW program was leading to park overdevelopment. [20]

In 1938 Ovid Butler, secretary of the American Forestry Association, expressed concern to CCC Director Fechner that the activities undertaken were much more diverse than just the conservation of natural resources. Butler advocated that the CCC program return to concentrating on strict conservation measures. These same concerns were expressed by Park Service officials and resulted in a reemphasis of the NPS policy of not introducing anything artificial into natural areas and carefully monitoring CCC projects to prevent park overdevelopment. Despite these good intentions, as the CCC program was being reduced in 1939 the Park Service found it increasingly difficult even to carry out conservation programs. [21]

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

The rapid growth of the ECW program during its early years posed a number of problems for Park Service superintendents. They believed that the Park Service did not have enough experienced technicians to effectively monitor the work, and thus protect wildlife and avoid undue disturbance of the natural scene. Even with experienced technicians, unforeseen problems could arise. [22]

The very size and the scope of the ECW work added to the difficulty of properly protecting the pristine nature of some park lands. Park Service Wildlife Division technicians, project supervisors, and superintendents would sometimes disagree on the impact that a project would have on park wildlife. In these cases, the matter would be referred to the Washington Office for resolution, but while the issue was being decided, work would continue in the parks, sometimes resulting in damage to the natural environment. At other times, ECW work would be undertaken without any consultation with park naturalists as to what effect the work would have on the park's natural environment. These problems continued throughout the period of ECW/CCC work. [23]

During 1934 the conservation work program increased. More landscaping was done in park areas. In Lassen Volcanic National Park this consisted of seeding and sodding, constructing trails around the park's volcanic peak, removing old buildings, and maintaining roads. Also, work began on wildlife investigations and conservation programs. The Park Service in August of 1934 began using ECW funds to hire people with technical backgrounds to conduct scientific investigations and supervise ECW projects involving conservation. [24]

In 1935 the Wildlife Division, to keep up with the increased demand for their services, hired 24 biologists, foresters, geologists, and natural science specialists as temporary ECW employees. To carry out the work of the Wildlife Division more efficiently, the country was divided into east and west regions with the western divisional boundary formed by the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The western region was further divided into three subregions--the Pacific Northwest, the Pacific Coast area, and the Southwest. From the commencement of the ECW program until the end of 1935, this enlarged staff undertook studies in Mesa Verde, Yosemite, Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Wind Cave, Great Smoky Mountains, Mammoth Cave, Shenandoah, and Grand Canyon national parks, and Lava Beds, Death Valley, and Mount Olympus national monuments. The work ranged from constructing vegetation maps to various biological studies of birds, fish, and mammals. [25]

In 1935 the Washington Office permanent staff expressed concern over the quality of work being produced by the newly hired ECW technicians. In an attempt to improve supervision and quality control, Conrad Wirth directed that all correspondence of the new staff members be reviewed by supervisory personnel. Further, those ECW technicians in field areas were required to send in monthly reports on their work. These reports were to be sent to Washington where they would be given to appropriate professionals to evaluate. [26]

During 1936 the Wildlife Division had 23 people working on ECW projects. Also in 1936, 21 geologists were hired (using ECW funds) to develop preservation programs for geological features in national parks and monuments, prepare interpretive material, select trail locations, furnish technical advice concerning engineering geology, and perform geological research. The geologists prepared more than 35 geological reports on existing or proposed NPS areas and 284 geological summaries of these areas. This group also provided interpretive and exhibit construction work at Dinosaur National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and Fossil Cycad National Monument, and established a Park Service policy to prevent overdevelopment of caves. [27] During 1938, the Wildlife Division was forced to curtail its programs and reduce staff by 17 people as part of the nationwide CCC reduction. Later funding reductions caused even greater curtailment of the program. [28]

ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL WORK

The CCC not only had an impact on conservation programs in natural areas, but also played an important role in the development of historical and archeological work. When the ECW began, NPS officials thought primarily of using the enrollees on park development and nature conservation projects. However, in the summer of 1933 the War Department transferred 11 national military parks, 11 national cemeteries, 10 national battlefields, 10 national monuments, three memorials, and two national parks to the Park Service, and this increased the magnitude of work to be accomplished. To staff, maintain, and develop these new areas, the NPS used the various emergency relief programs and funds. [29]

Some park officials were concerned about the ability of ECW workers to accomplish archeological and historical projects, as was the War Department. In a letter to CCC Director Fechner, General Douglas MacArthur commented:

It must be borne in mind that the development of these parks has for its purpose the restoration of the battle fields and preserving historic locations, monuments and sites of battle. Consequently, such work as is done must be performed with this in view, in order that the trench system and other historic points may not be destroyed but retained in their present condition or restored to the condition they were in at the time of the battle. In other words, the Emergency Conservation Work to be performed must be in accordance with the plan of restoration already determined by the Commissions and approved by the Secretary of War. [30]

Despite these concerns, the Park Service embarked on a bold experiment using ECW funds to hire students with backgrounds in history and archeology to act as technical supervisors and researchers in the park and monument areas. At Morristown National Historical Park, the ECW enrollees began their 1933 work by clearing underbrush and doing fire protection work; then they did historical research to determine chain of ownership and archeological investigation to uncover data for planning historic restoration. Historical technicians were also used as interpretive guides. [31]

In 1934 ECW enrollees were given training in archeology and lectures on history before being put to work on cultural resource projects. In an address to a conference of park superintendents, NPS Chief Historian Verne Chatelain requested that before beginning work in historical areas superintendents consult with the historical technicians and the Washington Office to assure the best protection for the historical/cultural resources. Starting that year the historical technicians also wrote interpretive materials for the parks and planned park development. [32]

Historical and archeological projects were initiated in 1934 in many parks, including Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Colonial National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park, Petersburg National Battlefield, Shiloh National Military Park, Vicksburg National Military Park, and Morristown National Historical Park. At Grand Canyon National Park the ECW enrollees were trained to do archeological excavations for Indian artifacts. After excavation, these relics were cleaned, restored, and placed on display. In military parks, the enrollees restored rifle-pits, rebuilt earthworks, excavated for relics, and readied these artifacts for display. Battlefields were also restored, and portions of ammunition dumps, soldiers' huts, dummy gun emplacements, and other items of military interest were reconstructed. The NPS policy was that restoration work would be limited to only those structures necessary to show the significance of the park. For example, the reconstruction of an entire fort would not be permitted, whereas portions might be reconstructed . At Colonial National Monument a major archeological excavation project was undertaken to conduct research on Jamestown. So much restoration and reconstruction work was undertaken at Colonial National Monument that a shop was established to make reproductions of colonial furniture and military equipment. Later, this shop constructed replica furnishings for other national and state park areas. It was hoped that this work would prepare the enrollees for carpentry jobs outside the ECW. [33]

In 1935 ECW Director Fechner praised the archeological work being done by enrollees at Morristown National Historical Park and the underwater archeological work at Colonial National Monument (salvaging two sunken British Revolutionary War frigates in the waters off Yorktown). He further commended the ECW for outstanding erosion control work at Vicksburg National Military Park, which helped preserve the site of Fort Nogales (Fort Hill), many monuments, and the historic battlefield topography. During that year enrollees undertook the reconstruction of historic siege lines at Colonial National Monument. To reduce the cost of maintenance for the reconstruction work, enrollees experimented with concrete made to resemble wood for wooden members of gun platforms and other features. [34]

The increasing historical and archeological program brought on by the transfer of War Department areas to the National Park Service and the need to better administer the cultural resources programs resulted in the formation of the Branch of Historic Sites and Buildings on July 1, 1935. The new branch relied on ECW funds to hire staff and carry out administrative responsibilities. A major concern of the Park Service director was that, with the rapid expansion of the cultural resources program, historical and archeological projects would be undertaken without adequate professional supervision. This situation was partially alleviated the next year when only people who passed civil service examinations were given permanent field positions in history and archeology. [35]

In 1937 the CCC was used for numerous reconstruction projects. At Ocmulgee National Monument, the enrollees reconstructed an Indian council chamber in a hollow earthen mound. The "Sunken Road" and "Blood Pond" at Shiloh National Military Park were restored. In July a Navajo Indian CCC mobile unit under the supervision of an archeologist was formed under a joint program by the Park Service and the Indian Service. The unit performed stabilization work on pre-Columbian ruins in Chaco Canyon, Navajo, Tonto, Wupatki, Aztec Ruins, Montezuma Castle, and Gran Quivira national monuments. Also, archeological work was completed at Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Hopewell Village National Historic Site during that year. The CCC restored historic structures at Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Fort Donelson National Military Park. At Gettysburg National Military Park the enrollees tore down 500 miles of modern fencing and replaced it with that more appropriate to the Civil War period. They also reconstructed some of the battle fortifications and 25 miles of stone wall. This work was accomplished in conjunction with the 75th anniversary celebrations of the battle in 1938. Approximately 50 CCC youths were employed to help the historian guides accommodate the crowds expected for the celebration. [36]

CCC Director Fechner, in a speech to the American Planning and Civic Association in 1938, commented on the cultural resource program in the National Park Service in the following manner:

Great impetus has also been given to national interest in the preservation and restoration of archeologic monuments and historic areas under the control of the National Park Service by the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Heretofore practically all archeological work was left to private interest and initiative but now some of the most valuable work that is being carried on is being supervised by the National Park Service and the work done by the camps. [37]

During 1938 the CCC camps continued to work on archeological and historical projects in national park areas. With the acquisition of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the Park Service placed two CCC camps to work excavating and cleaning the canal, restoring some of the historical features along the canal, and developing it for public recreation. Park Service officials felt responsible not only for restoration work within park areas, but also for work done outside of their jurisdiction. In 1939 Acting Director Demaray telegraphed the Forest Service that a qualified ethnologist should be provided to supervise work on their totem pole repair and restoration project in Alaska; at a minimum, said Demaray, a photographic record should be made before and after the restoration on each totem pole. And in 1940 the predominantly black camp at Colonial National Historical Park received praise from the Park Service director for its archeological and historical reconstruction at that park. [38]

The next two years saw a reduction in the number of CCC camps and an increasing amount of enrollees' time was devoted to national defense training and work. By 1940 the Navajo mobile unit had been reduced to 10 men, and some thought was given to replacing the Indians with white enrollees. But Park Service officials decided that only Indians could satisfactorily do the stabilization work. Nonetheless, the unit was shortly disbanded. Other archeological and historical projects were continued and new projects were undertaken at Saratoga National Historical Park and Hopewell Village National Historic Site. CCC participation in these archeological and historical projects came to an end shortly after the United States' entry into World War II. The loss of CCC funding made it difficult for many parks to adequately preserve and protect the cultural resources under their care. [39]

During the existence of the CCC the enrollees were used for research, restoration, reconstruction, and interpretation at many park areas. The National Park Service, using ECW/CCC funds, hired technicians to help plan and supervise the cultural resource work. Some of these people ultimately made a career of the National Park Service, thus creating a legacy beyond the material accomplishments of the program. Portions of the historical and archeological work of the CCC within the national parks and state parks have recently come under criticism for being harmful to the park's resources and producing inaccurate reconstructions. Still, the program often produced exemplary work and set precedents for future archeological and historical work.

DEVELOPMENT OF RECREATIONAL DEMONSTRATION AREAS

The CCC program greatly expanded the role of the National Park Service in the field of recreation. From the start, recreational development had been permitted in state park areas. In the spring of 1933 President Roosevelt authorized the federal government agencies to cooperate with the states in the development of regional recreational areas. In January 1934 Park Service officials held a conference with state park officials to discuss the expansion of recreational facilities in state park areas. This conference helped establish the agenda and regulations for the ECW in state park areas. The NPS became further involved in recreational issues when the president in June 1934 established the National Resource Board and the Park Service was assigned the task of assembling information on recreational needs for the entire country. The results of this research were to be used in establishing recreational demonstration areas-- submarginal lands purchased with Federal Emergency Relief Administration funds and developed by the ECW under the direction of the National Park Service. In 1935 the recreational needs studies were completed in 48 states, and work had begun on 58 projects involving 827,120 acres. [40]

On April 30, 1935, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 7028 which transferred the land purchase authority from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration to the Department of Agriculture's Resettlement Administration. As part of this arrangement, the recreational demonstration lands were to be acquired by the Resettlement Administration and developed by the Park Service. The majority of these areas were to become state, county, or city parks, with a few considered for retention by the federal government. The philosophy behind the recreational demonstration projects was to provide outdoor recreation for low-income groups. An attempt was made to locate the areas near urban centers; however, a small number of projects were designed to extend Park Service areas such as Acadia National Park, Shenandoah National Park, Kings Mountain National Military Park, Badlands National Monument, White Sands National Monument, and Blue Ridge Parkway. [41]

On August 1 , 1936, the National Park Service assumed complete responsibility from the Resettlement Administration for the development of recreational demonstration areas. The Department of the Interior next sought permission to assume land acquisition authority, which was granted by executive order on November 14, 1936. These recreational demonstration areas included development at Big Bend and Cape Hatteras state parks, which became Big Bend National Park and Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The National Park Service and Bureau of Reclamation cooperated on recreation development projects behind Boulder Dam, which later became Lake Mead National Recreation Area. [42]

The work involved in recreational demonstration areas included conservation of water, soil, forests, and wildlife resources, and creation of public recreational facilities such as roads, trails, dams, cabins, park structures, swimming pools, and picnicking and camping facilities. In Sequoia, Yosemite, Mount Rainier, General Grant, Rocky Mountain, Crater Lake, and Lassen Volcanic national parks, the CCC helped to start and develop winter sports facilities. [43]

Recreation work in NPS areas continued in 1937. In the western parks the CCC worked on ski jumps, ski trails, ski runs, ice skating rinks, and toboggan runs; in eastern parks, campsites for trailers were opened in such places as Shenandoah National Park. The main thrust of recreational development was done in state parks and recreational demonstration areas.

By 1938 one of the more unusual recreational projects was underway at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Here CCC enrollees conducted archeological and paleontological salvage projects in the area to be flooded by Boulder Dam. The CCC created a series of temporary beaches at Hemenway Wash within Lake Mead Recreation Area, which had to be rebuilt over the years as the reservoir filled. Once the lake reached its maximum level, permanent beach facilities were constructed and the area was landscaped with trees, grass, and flowers. In conjunction with this project, the CCC constructed a landing field in Boulder City so the public could take scenic flights over the lake. Other recreational facilities included bathhouses, floating boat docks, trap shooting areas, and horse and hiking trails. [44]

Also by 1938 the CCC work in constructing winter sports facilities had resulted in an increase in visitation of three to four times the 1933 level in some national parks. Since park staffs found it difficult to maintain these facilities, this task became the responsibility of the CCC. [45] Robert Fechner commented on the program:

New facilities or at least greatly increased facilities for sports and especially for winter sports have resulted from Civilian Conservation Corps work. Today many of the National Parks offer an attractive winter sports program that compares favorably with the best that Europe has to offer. [46]

Besides the winter sports program, the CCC continued to work on trails, campgrounds, picnic areas, and other recreational facilities inside and outside national park areas. Some of the recreational demonstration areas were added to the national park system. These areas included today's Catoctin Mountain Park, Prince William Forest Park, and land adjacent to Manassas National Battlefield Park and Hopewell Village National Historic Site. With the termination of the CCC program, the National Park Service sought to dispose of the remaining recreation demonstration areas. The final dispersal of these sites to federal, state, county, or local governments was not completed until after World War 11. [47]

Enrollees clearing timber area near Beltsville, Maryland, May 1940.
Courtesy of the National Archives.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

During the early months of the ECW the enrollees began designing and building exhibits for use in the parks. One such exhibit on prehistoric America depicting pueblo ruins in the Southwest was placed on public display in the lobby of the Department of the Interior. Geologists were hired as technical assistants to help design geological exhibits. [48] The period also saw the beginning of such projects as the landscaping of the highway from Ellsworth to Bar Harbor, Maine, at Acadia National Park. A reservoir construction project at Jackson Lake, Wyoming, in Grand Teton National Park, resulted in raising the lake's water level and killing 3,194 acres of timber, which had detracted from the scenic value of the park. ECW enrollees accomplished the herculean task of removing the dead trees from the lakeshore. Another project singled out for praise involved soil stabilization work at Vicksburg National Military Park, which permitted the restoration of many of the battlefield features. [49]

In the summer of 1935 the Park Service used ECW and other emergency relief funds to build an exhibit and participate in the California Pacific International Exposition at San Diego, California. The exhibit contained dioramas , motion pictures , and still-photograph enlargements showing scenes of CCC work in the national parks and monuments. CCC enrollees operated a model laboratory in the natural history museum building and set up a model CCC camp adjacent to the federal building. A detachment of 50 enrollees at the camp demonstrated typical conservation activities such as tree planting and trail building. [50]

New CCC camps were opened in the Virgin Islands and at the proposed Isle Royale National Park in Michigan in 1935. Administration of these camps was entirely under the Park Service. The Isle Royale camp posed several challenges, including the necessity of its being supplied by boat. The first camp at Isle Royale was established in August 1935 and remained in operation for only a few months. The next year a reduced crew of 90 CCC enrollees maintained the camp throughout the winter months on the island. [51]

CCC work in 1935 continued to be the same as in the previous years. The NPS Washington Office recommended that specific tasks were better suited for the winter months--such as firebreak construction, vista clearing, campground and picnic area cleaning, and a few other types of forestry work. The office further warned that extensive and intensive forestry projects should not be undertaken, to thus avoid park overdevelopment. Director Fechner warned the Park Service not to use CCC enrollees on projects which would place them in competition with the labor market. [52]

The CCC continued an assortment of work assignments into 1936. One task involved the cleanup of summer CCC camps when the youths moved to winter camps, and vice versa. In general, summer camps were usually closed in October and reoccupied in May or June. One unique job project in 1936 was the construction of a permanent footpath across Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park so that tourists could better view the geysers and hot pools. At Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park six enrollees were trained in bookbinding, while at Glacier National Park CCC enrollees cut down fire-killed timber and sent it by train to the Blackfeet, Ft. Peck, and Turtle Mountain Indian reservations to be used by the Indian Service to build homes and community structures. Also during 1936, Conrad Wirth obtained permission from Director Fechner to have the CCC and the Public Works Administration jointly work on the construction of the Santa Fe, New Mexico, Park Service regional office. [53]

On August 17, 1937, Cape Hatteras National Seashore became the first seashore in the national park system. Starting in 1933 the CCC was involved in a number of projects here. One project was the reestablishment of beach sand dunes that had been overgrazed by cattle and threatened by wind and wave erosion. The new dunes were created by erecting fences and bulldozing sand over them. This eventually resulted in the creation of a vegetation community behind the dunes and temporarily halted natural seashore dynamics--a problem that still faces park administrators. [54]

The work carried out by the CCC in 1937 included the draining of swamps near Fredericksted, St. Croix Island, in the Virgin Islands, which were vast breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Territorial Governor Lawrence Cramer praised the work of the CCC in improving the health of the island. CCC enrollees also did flood relief work along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. In the West, CCC workers from the Lake Mead camps conducted winter rescues in Nevada. In prior years the CCC had operated tree nurseries in Yellowstone and Sequoia National Parks to provide seedlings for planting programs throughout the West. In 1937 two other nurseries were opened in Mesa Verde National Park and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Unusual projects for the year included the development of ski trails and shelters in Hawaii National Park. [55]

The CCC rendered valuable assistance to victims of the Florida tornado and Virginia hurricane of 1933; the blizzards of 1936-1937 in Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah; the New York floods of 1937; and the New England hurricane of 1938. [56] A number of special projects were undertaken in 1938 by the CCC. Enrollees assigned to Gettysburg National Military Park completed various tasks to prepare the park for the 75th anniversary commemoration of the battle. In the proposed Big Bend National Park, CCC workers collected 500 plant specimens, which were mounted, labeled, and presented to the Mexican government. A transmountain telephone line of 450 miles was installed in Glacier National Park. [57]

CCC work for 1939 included the ongoing construction of NPS regional headquarters in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The building was simulated adobe done in Colonial Spanish, Mexican, and North American motifs. The enrollees used small cones from sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park as models for the iron doorknobs. The CCC also landscaped the hotel grounds at McKinley Park Station in Mount McKinley National Park in Alaska and constructed the Frijoles Lodge at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico (to be operated by a private concessioner). At Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, a 350-seat amphitheater was constructed. [58]

During 1940 CCC work continued to be curtailed because of falling enrollment. The Park Service used the few remaining CCC camps in areas designated for high priority development, including Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, Saratoga National Historical Park, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. At Saratoga National Historical Park, the CCC removed nonhistoric fences and farm structures from the park area. On the Blue Ridge Parkway, the CCC developed recreational parks adjacent to the parkway. CCC enrollees further planted and maintained a garden of maize, pumpkin, and beans as part of an archeological experiment on the agriculture of prehistoric people at Chaco Canyon National Monument. [59]