CCC Revisited

As the Great Depression shook the economic foundation of the United States, president Franklin Delano Roosevelt initiated a federal stimulus program called the Civilian Conservation Corps better known as, simply, the CCC. The CCC gave unemployed men across the country the opportunity to join work camps building infrastructure in newly formed national and state parks, and much of the work those men created - now some 75 years later - stands as a testiment to the power of intelligently targeted federal jobs programs. Today, a bountiful tapestry of beautifully crafted cabins, hiking trails, and mountian lookouts grace the natural landscape of of America.

Now, with millions unemployed, and a recent report indicating that one in eight Americans are receiving food stamps for sustanance, why aren't we revisiting this amazing program. Rather than extend unemployment benefits and expand the food stamp program, why not build this country? And as in the 1930's, we can train a new generation of craftsmen.

Over the next few days, I'll be posting images of the wonderful work of the CCC starting with this little dandy - a lookout structure atop Mt. Petit Jean in the Ozark foothills of Arkansas.