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The Montana Conservation Corps Celebrates the Spirit of the CCC
If you’ve ever been to Montana, even just passing
through, you know its beauty. Majestic mountains, clean rivers, lush valleys,
and wide open sky, big enough for even the largest imagination to wander. For a
long time, much of this beauty was accessible to a limited few who had the
skills to harness it. That changed when the CCC came here in the 1930s. Many of
the natural resources we enjoy in Montana are accessible to all of us through
the sweat equity of the CCC. One of the first CCC projects in Montana was the
transformation of the Lewis The legacy of the CCC’s was revived at the Caverns in
the early 1990’s when Montana Conservation Corps members spent a winter
underground. Young corpsmembers, now men and women, spent months restoring the
trail through the caverns, crawling out with five gallon buckets filled with
crumbling asphalt, and carrying in the water and cement to lay a new trail – a
project that lived up to the reputation for rigor and quality of the CCC’ers.
MCC crews have also constructed cabins in the campground, and dug in over 9
miles of trail – an endeavor that continues this summer with teenagers from
local communities. Another legacy left by the CCC is Camp Paxson in Lolo
National Forest. The Montana Conservation Corps maintains strong ties to
both of these CCC legacies through annual service projects. Each year, incoming
members of the Montana Conservation Corps begin their commitment to a season of
service by completing a restoration project at Camp Paxson during their first
week of orientation. In that first week alone, MCC members complete more than
1600 hours of service at the camp. This experience helps grounds today’s
conservation corps members in the traditions and stories of our CCC mentors. Tools in hand, members carry on the CCC tradition building
trails, restoring Building upon the spirit of the CCC, the Montana
Conservation Corps teaches the rewards of service and instills values that carry
throughout life. The MCC seeks to achieve its mission by fulfilling two
complimentary goals of member development – empowering young people with the
skills, values and confidence to be leaders, stewards of the land, and engaged
citizens – and project completion – performing service projects which have a
lasting and beneficial impact on our natural environment and communities. |
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At
first glance, the connection between the Civilian Conservation Corps and the
Montana Conservation Corps might seem obvious: long hours of hard work with
modest wages in the name of conservation. But that would just be scratching the
surface. Beneath that is the story of how the tools that were used to shape
America have become the tools that shape the lives of young people throughout
Montana – how finding purpose through service can transform a country, one
person at a time.
and Clark Caverns. Located 19 miles west of Three Forks, it is Montana’s first
State Park. More than 200 pairs of CCC hands worked on the project using pick
axes, explosives, and pulaskis. They built trails, roads, a visitor’s center,
widened passages, laid electrical cable, cleared guano, and painstakingly
chiseled steps into the limestone by hand. The CCC Boys also explored the cave
system extensively, and discovered, amongst other things, the Paradise Room.
Because of this, visitors today can explore the caves along a one-way path,
avoiding the potentially strenuous hike back up.
Originally a Boy Scout tent camp, demand for better facilities grew, and the CCC
was called in to get the job done. The Corps built a central dining hall, 15
sleeping cabins, two bathhouses, and caretaker facilities out of larch trees.
Native stones were used to construct interior fireplaces. Since then, Paxson has
been used as a smoke jumper training facility, as well as a meeting place for
reunions, weddings, and other community events. Paxson is now home to the
Missoula Children’s Theater’s summer camps.
buildings, and planting trees. And, like members of the CCC, they live and work
with fellow crew members for months at a time. Bonds are formed, boundaries are
pushed, and limits are tested. Often this experience leads to unexpected
personal growth that is carried forward throughout life. Alumnus Mark Genito
sums up his experience this way, “I believe the only certain happiness in life
is to live for others. This idea of contentment through service is one of the
many things I learned during this epic chapter of my life. And it is the one
thing I hope above all, remains a driving theme in every chapter in my life
still to be written.”