anticipation of the election. 
But the corps was so popular 
nationally and politically that 
very few camps closed. The 
program tapered off after 
1937 as the economy began 
to strengthen and closed 
entirely after World War Il 
broke out (Salmond 1967). 
The South did not fare as 
well as some other regions 
in the allocation of Corps 
Ccamps—a process based on 
the State’s ability to pick up 
the permanent costs of 
maintaining the 
improvements. In the South, 
where most of the land was 
in private hands, the owners 
were paying only about 10 
percent of the estimated 
fire-protection costs. Georgia 
had more forestry camps 
than any other Southern 
State because of the large 
acreages of land provided 
fire protection under the 
timber protective 
organizations. Camps were 
assigned to these 
organizations to build fire 
towers, Offices, firebreaks, 
and roads; to install 
telephone lines for fire 
communications; and to fight 
fires. Of course, this level of 
activity encouraged others to 
form timber protective 
organizations to receive 
42 
similar assistance. In addition 
to the camps supervised by 
the forestry organizations, 
camps were allocated to 
work on State parks and soil 
erosion and help some 
Federal agencies besides 
the Forest Service and the 
National Park Service 
(Robbins 1985). 
Exact data on the 
accomplishments of the 
Civilian Conservation Corps 
in the Southern States is not 
readily available 
(discrepancies exist in various 
reports), but in every State 
the corps provided the 
mainstay of fire-control 
activity during its existence. 
Fire towers were built (more 
than a hundred in 
Mississippi); telephone lines 
were put in place (3,600 
miles in Georgia); millions of 
trees were planted in every 
State; fires were fought by 
the thousands, absorbing 
hundreds of thousands of 
man-days; and thousands of 
miles of firebreaks, truck 
trails, and access roads 
were completed. The benefits 
in each State were great. 
The corps’ program is 
estimated to have advanced 
fire protection and forestry in 
the South from 10 to 30 
years (Merrill undated, Peirce 
