Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental MovementOxford University Press, 2007 M12 12 - 328 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
LANDSCAPE The Evolution of CCC Conservation | |
LABOR Enrollee Work and the Body Politic | |
COMMUNITY Locals and NextDoor Natures | |
NATION The Great Conservation Debate | |
PLANNING From TopDown Conservation to BottomUp | |
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Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the ... Neil M. Maher Limited preview - 2008 |
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
Agriculture Aldo Leopold American Conservation Movement American Forests April began Benefit Letters Boy Scout Foundation campgrounds CCC camps CCC conservation CCC enrollees CCC’s Civilian Conservation Corps conservation projects conservationists Coon Creek Coon Valley Corps camps Corps conservation Corps enrollees country’s Deal program demonstration areas Depression Dinosaur National Monument director early Echo Park ecological Emergency Conservation Entry 99 Environmental History explained farmers FDR and Conservation FDRL File 268 CCC Final Report Folder forestry Franklin Roosevelt Government Printing Office helped Hyde Park labor land Mountains National Park NARA National Forest National Park Service natural resources Nature’s Official File 268 percent postwar president President’s Progressive Progressive Era promoted Public Landscape quoted reforestation reorganization reprinted in Nixon Robert Fechner Roosevelt administration rural Smoky Mountains Smoky Mountains National Soil Conservation Service soil erosion Tennessee Valley timber trees U.S. Forest Service U.S. Government Printing University Press urban Washington Wilderness wildlife York young