34 MISC. PUBLICATION 290, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



the projects and supervises the execution of the work. For those 

 camps on State and private forest lands, supervision is carried on 

 through the State forestry departments. 



The C. C. C. program as conceived in 1933 embodied two major 

 purposes: Restoration of confidence and rebuilding physical health 

 of young men hard hit by the economic depression; and the accom- 

 plishment of this through work designed to improve the public 

 values of natural resources. The work has resulted in the protection, 

 development, and improvement of existing forests, prevention of soil 

 erosion and flood damage, the spread of knowledge of soil-erosion 

 control and good forestry measures, and the establishment of new 

 forests through protection and reforestation. The Forest Service 

 estimated that in 4 years its program was advanced 15 to 20 years 

 by the emergency conservation work. 



Accomplishments of the C. C. C. on forest lands include: 



1. Protecting the forests against fire. This involved the building of thousands 

 of miles of telephone lines, the opening up of thousands of miles of firebreaks 

 through forested areas, and the clearing of thousands of miles of roadsides and 

 trailsides as a fire-prevention measure ; the construction of many hundreds of 

 lookout towers for fire detection; and the reduction of fire hazards on more 

 than a million acres. 



2. Campaigns to control rodent destruction (important on many western 

 national forests), and against losses caused by insects and tree and plant 

 diseases, notably the gypsy moth, white-pine blister rust, and Dutch Elm disease, 

 covering millions of acres. 



3. Construction of many thousand miles of service roads and truck trails 

 through timbered areas, principally for fire protection. 



4. Forest stand improvement work completed over several million acres. 



5. About 1,675,000,000 trees planted on denuded areas or eroding lands up to 

 January 1, 1939. 



6. Improvement of national-forest ranges through revegetation, eradication 

 of poisonous and other harmful plants from many thousand acres, and con- 

 struction of reservoirs and watering places for stock, and of thousands of miles 

 of stock fence. 



7. Improvement of public campgrounds, the development of several thousand 

 wells and springs and of many lakes, ponds, and beaches, as well as the con- 

 struction of more than a thousand dams for recreational use. Of interest to 

 recreationists and of importance to wildlife are the several thousand ponds for 

 fish and birds constructed by the C. C. C. 



8. Control of erosion and destructive water flow on thousands of acres by 

 planting or revegetation of eroding areas following construction of check 

 dams and other minor engineering works in gullies. 



Other work done by the C. C. C. includes timber-estimating sur- 

 veys; construction of foot, horse, vehicle, and stock bridges; erection 

 of tool houses and boxes, and other structures necessary to national- 

 forest administration, protection, and development. 



In addition to construction work, the C. C. C. spent hundreds of 

 thousands of man-days in maintenance work on telephone lines, fire- 

 breaks, and truck trails, and as organized fire-suppression crews 

 in fighting fire. 



The training received by C. C. C. enrollees in a wide variety of 

 forest work and special techniques has resulted in the advancement 

 of many to the rank of leader, and often into positions on the super- 

 visory staffs. Following creation by the President of a new civil- 

 service rating — junior assistant to technician — several hundred for- 

 mer C. C. C. youths were appointed to this position. This move 

 represented an opportunity to ambitious and able young men to 

 advance within the corps itself. It carries a substantial raise in pay 



