Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental MovementOxford University Press, USA, 2008 - 316 pages The Great Depression coincided with a wave of natural disasters, including the Dust Bowl and devastating floods of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Recovering from these calamities--and preventing their reoccurrence--was a major goal of the New Deal.In Nature's New Deal, Neil M. Maher examines the history of one of Franklin D. Roosevelt's boldest and most successful experiments, the Civilian Conservation Corps, describing it as a turning point both in national politics and in the emergence of modern environmentalism. Indeed, Roosevelt addressed both the economic and environmental crises by putting Americans to work at conserving natural resources, through the Soil Conservation Service, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Civilian Conservation Corps (or CCC). The CCC created public landscapes--natural terrain altered by federal work projects--that helped environmentalism blossom after World War II, Maher notes. Millions of Americans devoted themselves to a new vision of conservation, one that went beyond the old model of simply maximizing the efficient use of natural resources, to include the promotion of human health through outdoor recreation, wilderness preservation, and ecological balance. And yet, as Maher explores the rise and development of the CCC, he also shows how the critique of its campgrounds, picnic areas, hiking trails, and motor roads frames the debate over environmentalism to this day.From the colorful life at CCC camps, to political discussions in the White House and the philosophical debates dating back to John Muir and Frederick Law Olmsted, Nature's New Deal captures a key moment in the emergence of modern environmentalism. |
Contents
New Deal Conservation | 3 |
Franklin Roosevelts Progressive Era Influences | 17 |
The Evolution of CCC Conservation | 43 |
Enrollee Work and the Body Politic | 77 |
Locals and NextDoor Natures | 115 |
The Great Conservation Debate | 151 |
Other editions - View all
Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the ... Neil M. Maher Limited preview - 2007 |
Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the ... Neil M. Maher Limited preview - 2007 |
Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the ... Neil M. Maher No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
administration Agriculture American Forests Annual areas argued Association began Benefit bodies Boy Scouts called CCC camps CCC enrollees CCC’s central changes Civilian Conservation Corps communities concerns conservation movement conservationists continued Coon Valley created Deal Department Depression director early ecological economic educational efforts enrollment Entry Environmental erosion especially explained farmers farms FDRL federal fields File Final Report Folder Forest Service forestry Franklin Roosevelt helped History human important increased influenced interest involved James John joining June labor land landscape late later Letters living located March McEntee million movement NARA National Park natural resources Office organizations outdoor percent period planning planting political president Printing Progressive projects promoted quoted recreation region reorganization Report roads Robert Fechner similar Smoky Mountains Society Soil Conservation Tennessee throughout timber tion trees United University Press urban Washington Wilderness wrote York young youths