WOW....the staggering number of tasks accomplished surprises readers

The amount of work accomplished by the Civilian Conservation Corps program is still a benefit to our modern culture.  The staggering number of recorded tasks is generally surprising because it is hard to imagine such a massive conservation effort in nine-years time.   

Duration of Program: April 5, 1933 to June 30, 1942

Nicknames: "Roosevelt's Tree Army", "Tree Troopers", "Soil Soldiers", "CCC", "Colossal College of Calluses"
Total Men Enrolled: 3,463,766

Juniors, Veterans and Native Americans Enrolled: 2,876,638

Territorial Enrollees: 50,000 (Estimated)

Non-Enrolled Personnel: 263,755

Average Enrollee: "18 - 19 years old, 147 pounds, 5'8 1/4" tall

Average Weight Gain of Enrollee in First 3 Months: 11.5 pounds

Well Known Actors Enrolled in CCC: Raymond Burr & Walter Matthau

Number of Illiterate Enrollees Taught to Read: More than 40,000

Average Number of Camps Operating in U.S. Per Year: 1,643

Total Number of Different Camps: 4,500

Highest Elevation of CCC Camp: 9,200 feet above sea level in Colorado

Lowest Elevation of CCC Camp: 270 feet below sea level, Death Valley, CA   Camp Locations: Every state in the Union, plus Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Total Cost: 3 billion dollars

Approximate Cost Per Enrollee Per Year for Food, Clothing, Overhead, and Allotments to Dependents: $1,000

Allotments to Dependents: $662,895,000

Number of People Directly Benefited From Enrollees' Checks: 12 to 15 million Value of Work in 1942 Dollars: 2 billion dollar

Miles of Roads Built: 125,000

Miles of Telephone Lines Strung: 89,000

Miles of Foot Trails Built: 13,100

Farmlands Benefited from Erosion Control Projects: 40 million acres

Stream and Lake Bank Protection: 154 million square yards

Range Re-vegetation: 814,000 acres

Fire fighting Days: More than 8 million

Number of Enrollees Who Died fighting Fires: 79

Overall Death Rate: 2.25 per thousand

State Parks Developed: 800

Public Campground Development: 52,000 acres

Mosquito Control: 248,000 acres

Number of Fish Stocked: 972 million

Historic Restoration: 3,980 structures

Number of Trees Planted: Between 2 and 3 billion

Number of Conservation Work Days: 7,135,000

Federal Departments Administering the Program: Agriculture, Interior, Labor, War

Total Number of Federal Government Agencies Participating in Some Capacity: 25

Unofficial Motto of the CCC: "WE CAN TAKE IT!"

SOURCES: Stan Cohen, 1980 - The Tree Army. A Pictorial History of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933 - 1942. Pictorial Histories Publishing Co. Missoula, Montana
Fred E. Leake. 1982 Roosevelt’s Tree Army: A Brief History of the Civilian Conservation Corps, National Association of CCC Alumni St. Louis, Missouri