Centennial Mini-Histories of the Forest Service

In 1933, the Forest Service's fortunes zigzagged. An first, the Forest Service's February in-house Service Bulletin announced that the fiscal year 1934 appropriation for the Forest Service had been reduced by 50 percent compared with 1932. Later in the same year, as the agency was preparing to tighten its belt and reduce programs, newly elected President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), on March 21, 1933—only days after being inaugurated—proposed measures to "relieve stress, to build men, to accomplish constructive results in our vast Federal, State, and private forest properties." On April 4, 1933, by executive order, he established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and forest managers suddenly found themselves with unprecedented numbers of workers for forestry projects. What had been taken away with one hand was returned with the other.

With the creation of the CCC, the Forest Service gained a new, urgent workload and workforce. In looking for gainful work for unemployed young men, the President opted to direct this new Federal program toward conservation projects. The focus of the CCC work on national conservation efforts especially in forestry, was partly the result of the Forest Service's continued concern with forest depletion in the years before the onset of the Great Depression in 1929.

Forest Service Chief Robert Young Stuart (1883-1933) began his administration (1928 to 1933) the year significant forestry legislation, the McSweeney McNary Forestry Research Act, was passed. This act authorized a program of research in forestry and range management and provided for a national inventory of timber resources. In also authorized the establishing of 11 regional experiment stations by the Forest Service. Earle Hart Clapp (1877-1970), who served as the head of Research from the time it became a separate area of the Forest Service in 1915 until he was appointed Associate Chief in 1935, is credited with drafting the 1928 act. Research Chief Clapp had prepared for his role of fostering forestry by having served in 1920 as primary author of the Report on Senate Resolution 311, known as the "Capper Report" after Kansas Senator Arthur Capper, an early sponsor of the report, depicting forest depletion as a major national problem. The report recommended resolving this threat to forest reserves by coordinating national, State, and private forestry efforts to ensure future supplies of timber. Later, in 1933, Forest Service Research helped prepare the National plan for American forestry: report on Senate Resolution 175, known as the "Copeland Report." The Copeland Report reviewed the current status of U.S. forests and forestry and concluded that to better protect the future of the national timber supply, Federal—State control over forestry on private lands was required. The plan was rejected by Congress. Despite the political fallout over the issue of control of private forest lands, the report kept the issue of forest conservation before the public. The public was also understandably concerned about conservation of natural resources. During the Dust Bowl days of the 1930's, the human consequences of deforestation, soil erosion, and other harmful impacts to the landscape made obvious the need to protect natural resources.

The first CCC cadre enlisted on April 10, 1933 and moved into "Camp Roosevelt" (near Luray, VA) on the George Washington National Forest 8 days later. The next 9 years were extremely busy for the Forest Service. The majority of the 1,300 CCC camps established during the life of the program (1933-1942) were located on national forests. (The remainder of the camps were based on other Federal or State lands.) This new task added to the workload, and although the agency met the challenge, Chief Stuart plunged from his office window to his death on October 23, 1933. The reasons why are disputed. But whether his death was accident or suicide, it is clear that the demands of the job contributed; and it can be said that he was killed by overwork.

Ferdinand Augustus Silcox (1882-1939) took over as Chief of the Forest Service (1933-1939) in time to involve the agency in another major job creation and conservation project. The Prairie States Forestry Project, started in 1935, by executive order of President Roosevelt, was designed to reduce drought, protect crops and livestock, and provide employment. Given responsibility for the project until 1942, the Forest Service supervised the planting of 217 million trees on more than 30,000 ranches and farms from North Dakota to Texas. The job was then turned over to the Soil Conservation Service.

The years of the Great Depression, a time of challenge to the socioeconomic fabric of the Nation, were also a time of resurgence of conservation activism following the earlier period of 1890 to 1920. Of the many positive conservation actions taken during the 1930's and early 1940's, the one most widely known and remembered with pride is the work of the CCC. The program mixed natural resource conservation with social rehabilitation, giving employment to idle young men in conservation projects such as reforestation, while they lived in camps administered by the U.S. Army. Because they were relieved of much of the programs' administrative burden, State and Federal foresters were free to focus solely on supervising conservation projects. CCC youth, thanks to the employment of teachers, were given a chance to complete their education while they learned vocational and social skills. Regional and racial prejudices sometimes flared and progress was uneven in attempts to extend the CCC opportunity to all citizens. Over time the national program was expanded to include war veterans and local experienced men, and area programs were created to enroll African-Americans, Native Americans, and Mexican-Americans. The bulk of enrollees were young men over 18 who were unemployed and agreed to serve for 6 months (maximum stay was 2 years) for a cash allowance of $30 a month.

By the late 1930's, private employment opportunities began to climb and enrollment in the CCC declined, leading to the demise of the program in 1942, with World War II further eroding the candidate pool. The growing economy also helped undermine a proposal to expand the CCC program to include young women.

By the time the CCC was terminated after 9 years, 2.5 million youth had served in it. During its lifespan, over 2 billion trees were planned, 122,000 miles of road built, and 6 million erosion check dams constructed, to name only a few of the activities of "Roosevelt's Forest Army." The Forest Service, in particular, owes the CCC'ers an especially large debt because many of our national forest campgrounds, fire towers, rustic office buildings, and trails were built by their labor. Because of the popular image of the CCC, the program served as a model for later youth and conservation programs such as the Job Corps (1964) and the Young Adult Conservation Corps (1977), which have continued the legacy of the Forest Service: caring for the land and serving the people.

Reference

Droze, Wilmon H. 1977 Trees, prairies, and people: a history of tree planting in the Plains States. Denton: Texas Woman's University.