CCC
Legacy Journal: July - August 2009, Vol. 33, Issue 4
By
Elizabeth Green
“At the height of the Great Depression, America’s
young men and
public lands were in peril. Unemployed youth despaired at their prospects for
earning a living for themselves and their families. At the same time, choking
dust storms were stripping away fertile soil and fire was ravaging the
nation’s woodlands.
Creation of the Civilian Conservation
Corps in 1933 saved the nation’s youth and its
land. Thousands came to work on the Colorado Plateau, which spans parts of
Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado and contains the greatest concentration
of public lands anywhere in the nation. Nowhere would those young men encounter
greater natural beauty and greater challenges—or have a greater impact—than
in this four-state region.
Colorado was particularly suited for the CCC: only five
states exceeded its national forest acreage, and only four could top its
national park acreage. A quarter of the state’s banks had closed and
unemployment neared 25 percent. That first summer, 29 camps were created, and in
the last year of the program, the state has 42 CCC camps, the majority of them
devoted to Forest Service projects.
With Picks, Shovels & Hope
is rich with personal stories, and broad in its coverage of many of the
individual projects carried out by CCCers. It is a must-read for history buffs,
descendants of the men who served in the Civilian Conservation Corps, and anyone
who wants to be inspired by the ability of people and government to see a need
and quickly, efficiently fill it.
~More about the book and its authors~
Dr. Wayne K. Hinton
retired after teaching for 38 years at Southern Utah University. He is the
author of four books and numerous articles. He lives in Cedar City, Utah.
Elizabeth A. Green is a freelance book editor and writer. She lives near
Durango, Colorado.
With Picks, Shovels, and
Hope: The Legacy of the CCC on the Colorado Plateau by Dr. Wayne K. Hinton with
Elizabeth A Green.
Publication date: November
1, 2008 / paperback / 978-0-87842-546-4/ $30.00
8 3/8 x 7 1/2 / 304 pages /
bibliography / index / 45 color photographs / 2 maps
59 black-and-white photographs / 4 appendices
For
more information, contact Anne Iverson at anne@mtnpress.com
or (406)728-1900 ext. 131.
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