The Politics and Civics of National Service: Lessons from the Civilian Conservation Corps, VISTA, and AmeriCorps

5. The CCC's Tools, Rules, and Targets

5 The CCC’s Tools, Rules, and Targets Like its purpose and role for government, the CCC’s tools, rules, and targets—the service work it supported, its educational goals and content, the type of participants it recruited, and its obligations and inducements— influenced its political support and viability and communicated lessons to participants and the public, in large part through policy feedback dynamics. In short, these lower-level policy elements further shaped the politics and civics of the program, which in turn influenced future policy development. As the previous chapter explained, the CCC’s design details generated much political support but were unable to overcome obstacles to long-term viability. Indeed, in some cases they contributed to the program’s end. Civically, these details reinforced the principles of reciprocity and collaboration—most strongly early on—while always emphasizing citizenship in its many variations, especially citizenship understood as work. Work and the CCC The work of the CCC provided not only environmental benefits but also civic and political benefits. Civically, the work program allowed enrollees to contribute their labor to publicly valued projects, giving them an experience of citizenship. In doing so they set an example, showing the public that even downtrodden youth could be capable citizens. Their work also demonstrated that even in the midst of the Great Depression, citizens and government could fulfill public purposes. Politically, the CCC’s work helped build broad 56 05-2380-6 ch5.indd 56 12/24/12 10:44 AM the ccc’s tools, rules, and targets 57 support: the work program’s design and justification minimized controversy, and the necessity, visibility, and quantity of the work itself maximized public and official goodwill. The focus on conservation certainly fit the president’s interest, but it also helped counter concerns about costs and competition. Regarding the CCC’s high price tag, Roosevelt stressed that “this type of work is of definite, practical value, not only through the prevention of great present financial loss, but also as a means of creating future national wealth [that] will pay dividends.”1 It was a sound investment because the nation would get more than its money’s worth. Unlike today, economic development and environmental protection on public lands were not in conflict; they were seen to go hand in hand. In part this accord was due to the nation’s specific environmental crises: when South Carolinians could see Kansas soil in the sky, the consequences were as much economic as ecological. But in part it was due to the time’s, and thus the CCC’s, expansive understanding of conservation work. The CCC not only planted trees, it built bridges and dams, laid telephone lines, and created recreation areas—all of which facilitated economic development. As a result, the CCC’s conservation focus was remarkably uncontroversial, even with business. Furthermore, the CCC could work on a massive scale because the nation’s forests and fields could absorb the labor of hundreds of thousands of workers while “not,” as the president frequently noted, “interfering with normal employment.”2 The CCC did not compete with private industry, nor did it replace professional foresters or local woodsmen. In fact, given the need for skilled, experienced supervisors, the CCC was something of a full forestry employment program. Finally, having the Interior and Agriculture departments —not the Army—run the work program appeased labor’s concerns about “regimentation.” The CCC’s work also generated widespread public support. For a public newly waking to environmental concerns—the era saw the Dust Bowl’s devastation and the founding and growth of major environmental organizations —the kind and quantity of the CCC’s work mattered.3 No discussion— no speech, article, or report—was complete without a list of accomplished work. For example, in 1937 CCC enrollees planted 365,233,500 trees, built 1,081,931 check dams, and laid more than 9,960 miles of telephone lines, and these were just three major types of work among more than 150.4 With up to half a million young men working at any one time, it would have been a very poor program indeed that did not produce significant work. Nevertheless, the quantities were impressive and were designed to impress, as were statements that the CCC had furthered state and national forest development by 05-2380-6 ch5.indd 57 12/24/12 10:44 AM 58 the civilian conservation corps ten to...