An Idea Whose Time has Come — Again
Around the globe, this is a period of general economic distress with localized regions of high unemployment, including what is called the “discouraged worker” or the “hidden unemployed,” those who have been unable to find work for extended periods of time. History shows us, these times are cyclic, but they always create unease within governments and societies.
This particular economic downturn has lasted long enough that the political slogans used around the world concerning jobs and economics, energy and infrastructure growth, and related environmental concerns seem almost hackneyed, if not for the continued immediacy of the global economic challenges. Three years ago, I proposed it was time to develop a comprehensive public works program tackling these challenges — and which could have had a direct impact on public and private sector wildland firefighting forces — to the leaders of U.S. land management agencies transitioning to a new federal administration. The economic malaise continues, and implementing a public works program now is the second best choice.
During the “Great Depression” of the late 1920s and 1930s, a period of severe global economic depression, there were numerous small forestry programs set up in Australia, Europe and the United States designed to relieve unemployment by sending young men to work in the forests. In 1933, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt proposed a national “jobs” program partially based on forest work principles that became the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC was not a centralized unemployment assistance or welfare program; it was designed to provide unskilled manual labor jobs and job training to young, unemployed, unmarried men from families on public assistance, and was oriented toward conservation and the development of natural resources on rural public lands.
During its lifespan of nine years, 2.5 million young men from around the nation worked in the many CCC camps where they acquired renewed self-confidence, job and organizational skills, and a salary for their labors. The CCC crews helped reforest America by planting nearly 3 billion trees while creating an estimated 800 parks nationwide. They helped update forest firefighting methods in the areas of fire prevention, pre-suppression and firefighting. They also constructed a national network of lodges, cabins and many other recreational structures, public scenic roadways, ponds and lakes, and hiking trails for public enjoyment; taught and implemented erosion control projects; participated in insect and plant disease control programs; and engaged in many wildlife conservation and restoration plans.
Of all of the work relief programs proposed by President Roosevelt, the CCC was the most popular. Besides the benefits of an individual's enrollment, the CCC also led to a greater public awareness and appreciation of the outdoors and a continued need for planned, comprehensive national programs to protect and develop natural resources. Some men trained in the CCC wildland fire program transitioned back into fire suppression or other land management programs following the end of WWII and had significant impact on our national and local programs for decades. Those that did not stay within conservation programs took their CCC leadership training into professions that provided public service to their communities in other manners.
The ramifications of such initiatives can be both immediate and long lasting. Through programs such as the “Working on Fire” group in South Africa that create critical local jobs while sharing their fire expertise internationally, and the Montana Conservation Corps here in my state, the work continues on a limited scale. There is no lack of ideas for international work to be accomplished beyond even “forestry” projects. Use your imagination. Consider fuel mitigation on public and private lands, defensible space education and retrofitting public facilities with biomass burners or other efficient green energy technologies. In my mind, the development of such programs around the world should again be a goal for providing training and employment while emphasizing natural resource programs for the long-term public benefit.
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