The Civilian Conservation Corps Puts Young Men to Work
Roosevelt's Tree Army plants forests and builds parks while feeding the unemployed
Quick facts
- Created by
- Executive Order 6101, April 5, 1933
- First director
- Robert Fechner
- Work
- Firebreaks, pest control, park trails and roads
- Nickname
- Roosevelt's Tree Army
What happened
Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps by Executive Order 6101 on April 5, 1933, setting jobless young men to work on public land projects. The order appointed Robert Fechner as director of Emergency Conservation Work and drew an advisory council from the Secretaries of War, Agriculture, the Interior, and Labor. Enrollees prevented forest fires, controlled plant pests, and built and maintained trails and roads in national parks and forests. The corps gave unemployed youth food, shelter, wages, and work at the depth of the Depression while improving the environment. Over its life it enrolled millions of men and planted billions of trees, earning the nickname Roosevelt's Tree Army.
Why it matters
The CCC was among the most popular New Deal programs, turning idle young men into a conservation workforce whose dams, trails, and plantings still shape American public lands. It showed that a federal jobs program could deliver both relief and lasting public works, and it became a model later generations pointed to when arguing for national service.
How we know
The corps's creation is documented in the text of Executive Order 6101 of April 5, 1933, held by the American Presidency Project at the University of California, and its work and popularity are summarized by the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library.
Sources
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Presidency Project, University of California, Santa Barbara). Executive Order 6101: Relief of Unemployment Through the Performance of Useful Public Work · Primary source (author-declared)presidency.ucsb.edu · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Great Depression Facts · Reputable sourcefdrlibrary.org · The domain "fdrlibrary.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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