Adirondack Civilian Conservation Corps Camps: History Memories & Legacy of the CCC

By: Martin Podskoch

The Civilian Coservation Corps (CCC) was a public works program that operated from 1933 to 1942, as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. It targeted young men and veterans in relief families who had difficulty finding jobs during the Great Depression, providing unskilled manual labor related to environmental conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands.

Volunteers planted nearly 3 billion trees to help reforest America, constructed more than 800 parks nationwide, updated forest fire fighting methods, and built a network of service buildings and public roadways. In nine years, 2.5 million young men participated in restoring morale and public appreciation of the outdoors.

“Marty Podskoch records the accomplishments of the CCC camps throughout New York State, many in the Adirondacks. His interviews with CCC enrollees and their families and the marvelous photos of camp life captures the vitality of the young men who worked so hard to improve our forests, which had been ravaged by fires and lumbering. We must not forget their labors in the woodlands and state parks that continue to be enjoyed by millions today.” – Clarence Petty, Adirondack wilderness guide, CCC camp superintendent, forester, pilot, district ranger, and conservationist