Hard Work and a Good Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Minnesota

8: Preserving Soil, Water, and Traditions

109 T he men and boys of the ccc did much to conserve parks and forests in Minnesota. But their work protecting and preserving the state’s soil, water, and traditions was just as important.Through soil conservation programs, ccc enrollees kept wind and water from carrying away the state’s rich dirt. Enrollees also conducted drought relief programs and monitored wildlife that used the state’s precious water resources. Finally, through several unique projects of the ccc-id, enrollees preserved and celebrated important facets of the state’s Native American cultures and traditions. Work started first to protect the land itself, stemming the tide of erosion. Soil erosion was one of the most severe conservation problems in the United States in the ccc’s early years. Photographs of huge clouds of topsoil blowing off fields are some of the most remembered and easily identified images of the Great Depression.They gave rise to the term Dust Bowl; the first of these great dust storms occurred on May 11,1934.Although Minnesota was not one of the Dust Bowl states, it suffered from water and wind erosion, which led to serious topsoil losses.Approximately 46 percent of the state’s total land area was affected by erosion,including the Minnesota River valley and much southern Minnesota farmland. Worst hit was the Driftless Area of southeastern Minnesota : Houston,Fillmore,Winona,Olmsted,Wabasha,and Goodhue counties. Other areas, such as Rice County, were also heavily affected.1 8: PRESERVING SOIL, WATER, AND TRADITIONS In April 1933, before any ccc soil erosion camps were established, work started on two model terracing projects in Houston and Winona counties. Both projects were designed to teach area farmers how to use soil conservation techniques.H.B.Roe,from the Institute ofAgriculture at the University of Minnesota,directed the projects,working with extension agents for each county.2 The state’s first soil erosion camps were set up later that spring. From those camps, ccc members went to work on flood and erosion control programs to stabilize farmland and encourage long-term productivity in southeastern counties. Work projects were overseen by the U.S. Forest Service, the Department ofAgriculture at the University of Minnesota, the doc Drainage and Water Division, and the Minnesota Highway Department.Enrollees in the Caledonia and Houston camps,for example,worked on erosion control on farms and along highways, attempting, in part, to slow runoff filling lakes Winona and Como with silt. Those in other camps established at that time—Red Wing,Wabasha,Winona, Preston, Chatfield, and Rochester—did similar work.These first soil erosion camps were temporary,and enrollees lived in tents.When autumn came, they closed and their enrollees were transferred elsewhere.3 Initially,all Minnesota’s ccc soil erosion camps were temporary.But a visit from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Rochester, Minnesota, on August 8, 1934—at which he received dozens of requests from area farmers for new soil conservation demonstration projects—helped spotlight the importance of soil erosion conservation work in the state. When Roosevelt visited Rochester, his honor guard was made up of ccc enrollees from area soil conservation camps.Claude Darst described the day: Roosevelt dedicated some things in Rochester....They drilled us pretty hard. We rode in trucks [from the camps] with no canopy over the top, just benches. It was on the hottest day of the year. I was put right opposite where Roosevelt was with his convertible. I must have stood there for an hour in the sun, as close as you and I are now. He had a big smile for everybody .Terrific showman. He was the“man of the hour.” When it was all over, we had to ride clear back to Houston in that hot sun. It’s one of those days I am proud of. I was there for it.4 110 the work of the ccc As farmland blew or flooded away, people began to understand the need for effective soil conservation. Editorial cartoons published by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service helped spread the message. In 1935, just months after Roosevelt’s visit, soil erosion came under the direction of the new Soil Conservation Service (scs) and camps like the one Claude Darst served at became permanent. Throughout the administrative changes from the ses to the scs,the ccc continued its work,guided by the soil conservation principles of national and state...