On Saturday, Sept. 24, at 7:00 p.m. at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center in Rocky Mountain National Park, join park ranger, Kristen Luetkemeier for a closer look at the Civilian Conservation Corps program in the park. President Roosevelt took action against the United States' dire economic situation by creating the Civilian Conservation Corps, which provided work and paychecks while changing the face of public lands and its participants.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, millions of Americans were unemployed. President Franklin Roosevelt promised a New Deal, and he created programs to put people to work. One such program was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). In Rocky Mountain National Park young male recruits at six camps built build roads, trails, and buildings, put out wildfires, planted trees and "managed" predators.
The American public made the CCC the most popular of all the New Deal programs. Principal benefits of an individual's enrollment in the CCC included improved physical condition, heightened morale, and increased employability. Of their pay of $30 a month, $25 went to their parents. Implicitly, the CCC also led to a greater public awareness and appreciation of the outdoors and the nation's natural resources; and the continued need for a carefully planned, comprehensive national program for the protection and development of natural resources.
This program is free and open to the public. For more information about Rocky Mountain National Park please call the park's Information Office at (970) 586-1206.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
