Opposition

    The reason why historians overlook the Civilian Conservation Corps is not as strange as many think. American society is generally distrustful of the federal government. During the 1980s and 1990s, historians made outrageous claims, for example, that the Civilian Conservation Corps was a Marxist program to control the population.[1] Historians also decry that many of Roosevelt’s programs, the ones similar to the Corps, were thinly veiled attempts at socialism, which many Americans despise.[2] Another reason the Civilian Conservation Corps was ignored was due to the dawn of World War II.[3] The spending of the Corps was directed towards military buildup.[4] Thus, environmental work done during the 1930s was the least of the concerns for many, including historians.[5] By the time of World War II, the Civilian Conservation Corps was disbanded, so the government could divert money for military expenses.[6]

    Environmentalists such as Aldo Leopold, Jay Ding Darling, Benton Mackaye, and Adolph Mure were very critical of the work being done by the Corps.[7] Because of this, they would create organizations such as the Wilderness Society and the National Wildlife Federation.[8] Many of their complaints were because of the eradication of predators from farms, and the building of the roads across many parks.[9] However, Roosevelt listened to much of the criticism, and Roosevelt recruited Darling as head of the President's Committee for Wild Life Restoration along with Leopold and Ira Gabrielson.[10] These men assumed the task of preparing a plan into a new wildlife program. Mackaye would also work with the Civilian Conservation Corps with the development of the Appalachian Trail.[11] Like Mackaye, the Corps' goals were to generate income for Appalachian towns other than logging and mining to preserve natural resources and creating jobs at the same time [12].

1.Neil M. Maher, Nature's New Deal: the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement (New York, Oxford University Press, 2008), pg.107

2. Eric Gorham, “The Ambiguous Practices of the Civilian Conservation Corps”, Social History 17, no 2(1992): 229-49, www.jstor.org/stable/4286017)

3. John A Salmond, “The Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942: A New Deal Case Study (Chapter 11),” National Parks Service (U.S. Department of the Interior, January 3, 2008), https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/ccc/salmond/chap11.htm)

4. Ibid

5.Neil M. Maher, Nature's New Deal: the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement (New York, Oxford University Press, 2008), pg.6

6.Neil M. Maher, Nature's New Deal: the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement (New York, Oxford University Press, 2008), pg.211

7.Neil M. Maher, Nature's New Deal: the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement (New York, Oxford University Press, 2008), pg.211

8.Neil M. Maher, Nature's New Deal: the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement (New York, Oxford University Press, 2008), pg.211

8.Neil M. Maher, Nature's New Deal: the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement (New York, Oxford University Press, 2008), pg.211

9.Neil M. Maher, Nature's New Deal: the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement (New York, Oxford University Press, 2008), pg.198

10. Neil M. Maher, Nature's New Deal: the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement (New York, Oxford University Press, 2008), pg.174

11.Neil M. Maher, Nature's New Deal: the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement (New York, Oxford University Press, 2008), pg.189

12. Ibid