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95-640: At an elevation of 1,331 feet (406 m) the ridge is the site of a 68 feet (21 m) high fire lookout tower built by the New Jersey Forest Fire Service . The mountain was depicted in an 1850 painting by Jasper Francis Cropsey , an American landscape artist of the Hudson River School . This Passaic County, New Jersey state location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Fire lookout tower A fire lookout tower , fire tower , or lookout tower

190-422: A denuded tree and sat on a 2 ft × 2 ft (0.61 m × 0.61 m) platform chair atop that tree. An old fishing boat was once dragged to the top of a high hill and used as a fire lookout tower. Very little is known about the horse-mounted fire lookout, but they, too, rode the ridges patrolling the forest for smoke. Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps ( CCC )

285-400: A device known as an Osborne Fire Finder , and call for wildfire suppression crews. Lookouts also report weather changes and plot the location of lightning strikes during storms. The location of the strike is monitored for a period of days afterwards, in case of ignition. A typical fire lookout tower consists of a small room, known as a cab, atop a large steel or wooden tower. Historically,

380-483: A dual-authority supervisory staff: firstly, Department of War personnel or Reserve officers (until July 1, 1939), a "company commander" and junior officer, who were responsible for overall camp operation, logistics, education and training; and secondly, ten to fourteen technical service civilians, including a camp "superintendent" and "foreman", employed by either the Departments of Interior or Agriculture, responsible for

475-542: A few of the Maritime Provinces . Nova Scotia decommissioned the last of its 32 fire towers in 2015 and had them torn down by a contractor. The first fire lookout tower was built to the plans of Forstmeister Walter Seitz between 1890 and 1900, located in the "Muskauer Forst" near Weißwasser . Warnings were transmitted by light signal. For transmission of location, Seitz divided the forest area into so-called "Jagen", numbered areas, with that number to be transmitted to

570-433: A majority of which were non-farm; 45% came from urban areas. Level of education for the enrollee averaged 3% illiterate; 38% had less than eight years of school; 48% did not complete high school; and 11% were high school graduates. At the time of entry, 70% of enrollees were malnourished and poorly clothed. Few had work experience beyond occasional odd jobs. Peace was maintained by the threat of "dishonorable discharge". "This

665-548: A person watching the forest for wildfire can be an effective and cheap fire control measure. The history of fire lookout towers predates the United States Forest Service , founded in 1905. Many townships, private lumber companies, and State Forestry organizations operated fire lookout towers on their own accord. The Great Fire of 1910 , also known as the Big Blowup, burned 3,000,000 acres (12,000 km ) through

760-577: A ruling that Reserve officers on CCC duty had to have the same housing and subsistence benefits as Regular officers, President Roosevelt directed that all Reservists be relieved from CCC duty effective 1 July 1939. The changeover was complete by September 1939, but it was a change largely in name only because many of the Reservists merely took off their uniforms and continued their jobs with the CCC as civilians, albeit with lower pay. The Army found numerous benefits in

855-420: A sentinel in the forest attracting lost or injured hikers, that make their way to the tower knowing they can get help. In some locations around the country, fire lookout towers can be rented by public visitors that obtain a permit. These locations provide a unique experience for the camper, and in some rental locations, the check out time is enforced when the fire lookout operator returns for duty, and takes over

950-506: A strong work ethic, strengthen their leadership skills, and learn how to take personal responsibility for their actions. VYCC Crews work at VT State Parks, U.S. Forest Service Campgrounds, in local communities, and throughout the state's backcountry. The VYCC has also given aid to a similar program in North Carolina, which is currently in its infancy. The Youth Conservation Corps is a youth conservation program present in federal lands around

1045-615: A terrestrial version for forest fire smoke detection was developed by DLR and IQ Wireless . Currently, about 200 of these sensors are installed around Germany, while similar systems have been deployed in other European countries, Mexico, Kazakhstan and the USA. Several Canadian provinces have fire lookout towers. Dorset, Ontario 's Scenic Tower was built on site of former fire lookout tower (1922-1962). Many fire lookout towers are simply cabs that have been fitted to large railroad water tank towers that are 30 to 60 feet (9 to 20 m) high. One of

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1140-630: Is a social enterprise , based in Netherlands, that has taken its inspiration from the Civilian Conservation Corps in running a permanent youth training program, supported by veterans , to manage ocean areas and carry out underwater landscape restoration. Unemployed youths are trained up as Sea Rangers during a bootcamp and subsequently offered full-time employment to manage and regenerate Marine Protected Areas and aid ocean conservation . The Sea Ranger Service works in close cooperation with

1235-410: Is a tower that provides housing and protection for a person known as a " fire lookout ", whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness . It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or other high vantage point to maximize viewing distance and range, known as view shed . From this vantage point the fire lookout can see smoke that may develop, determine the location by using

1330-708: Is a non-profit employment, job training, and education organization with locations across the United States including Arizona Conservation Corps in Tucson and Flagstaff, Arizona ; Conservation Corps New Mexico in Las Cruces, New Mexico ; Southwest Conservation Corps in Durango and Salida, Colorado ; and Southeast Conservation Corps in Chattanooga, Tennessee . Conservation Legacy also operates an AmeriCorps VISTA team serving to improve

1425-642: Is a sub-agency of the Washington State Department of Ecology. It employs men and women 18 to 25 years old in a program to protect and enhance Washington's natural resources. WCC is a part of the AmeriCorps program. The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC) is a non-profit, youth service and education organization that hires Corps Members, aged 16–24, to work on high-priority conservation projects in Vermont. Through these work projects, Corps Members develop

1520-473: Is a training station; we're going to leave morally and physically fit to lick 'Old Man Depression,'" boasted the newsletter, Happy Days, of a North Carolina camp. Because of the power of conservative Solid South white Democrats in Congress, who insisted on racial segregation, most New Deal programs were racially segregated; African American and white people rarely worked alongside each other. At this time, all

1615-561: Is an American YouthWorks program which allows youth, ages 17 to 28, to contribute to the restoration and preservation of parks and public lands in Texas. The only conservation corps in Texas, TxcC is a nonprofit corporation based in Austin, Texas , which serves the entire state. Their work ranges from disaster relief to trail building to habitat restoration. TxCC has done projects in national, state, and city parks. The Washington Conservation Corps (WCC)

1710-729: The Adirondack Forest Preserve and Catskill Park , have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places . During the Edo period in Japan fire lookout towers ( 火の見櫓 , Hinomi-yagura ) housed the fire fighting team of town ( 町火消 , Machi-bi-keshi ) . Usually the fire lookout tower was built near a fire station ( 番屋 , Ban-ya ) , and was equipped with a ladder, lookout platform, and an alarm bell ( 半鐘 , Hanshō ) ( ja ). From these towers watchmen could observe

1805-641: The Brown Company which owned over 400,000 acres of timberland, set up a series of effective forest-fire lookout towers, possibly the first in the nation, and by 1917 helped establish a forest-fire insurance company. In 1933, during the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt formed the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), consisting of young men and veterans of World War I. It

1900-581: The California Conservation Corps . This program had many similar characteristics - residential centers, high expectations for participation, and emphasis on hard work on public lands. Young adults from different backgrounds were recruited for a term of one year. Corps members attended a training session called the Corpsmember Orientation Motivation Education and Training (COMET) program before being assigned to one of

1995-560: The Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 , on April 8, 1935, which included continued funding for the CCC program through March 31, 1937. The age limit was expanded to 17–28 to include more men. April 1, 1935, to March 31, 1936, was the period of greatest activity and work accomplished by the CCC program. Enrollment peaked at 505,782 in about 2,900 camps by August 31, 1935, followed by a reduction to 350,000 enrollees in 2,019 camps by June 30, 1936. During this period

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2090-529: The Gloucester tree in Australia, added a permanent platform to the tree by building a wooden or, later, metal structure at the top of the tree, with metal spikes hammered into the trunk to form a spiral ladder. These 'platform trees' were often equipped with telephones, fire finder tables, seats and guy-wires . There are many different types of lookouts. In the early days, the fire lookout operator simply climbed

2185-532: The National Association of Service and Conservation Corps (NASCC), works to expand and enhance corps-type programs throughout the country. The Corps Network began in 1985 when the nation's first 24 Corps directors banded together to secure an advocate at the federal level and a repository of information on how best to start and manage a corps. Early financial assistance from the Ford , Hewlett and Mott Foundations

2280-646: The Office of Education and Veterans Administration participated in the program. To overcome opposition from labor unions, which wanted no training programs started when so many of their members were unemployed, Roosevelt chose Robert Fechner, vice president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers , as director of the Corps. William Green , head of the American Federation of Labor ,

2375-530: The Western Defense Command 's Enemy Alien Control Program, as well as Axis prisoners of war . Most of the Japanese American internment camps were built by the people held there. After the CCC disbanded, the federal agencies responsible for public lands organized their own seasonal fire crews, modeled after the CCC. These have performed a firefighting function formerly done by the CCC and provided

2470-651: The Works Progress Administration also had some responsibilities. About 5,000 reserve officers serving in the camps were affected, as they were transferred to federal Civil Service , and military ranks and titles were eliminated. Despite the loss of overt military leadership in the camps by July 1940, with war underway in Europe and Asia, the government directed an increasing number of CCC projects to resources for national defense. It developed infrastructure for military training facilities and forest protection. By 1940

2565-506: The attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Roosevelt administration directed all federal programs to emphasize the war effort. Most CCC work, except for wildland firefighting, was shifted onto U.S. military bases to help with construction. The CCC disbanded one year earlier than planned, as the 77th United States Congress ceased funding it. Operations were formally concluded at the end of

2660-460: The fire lookout operator often receives hundreds of forest visitors during a weekend and provides a needed “pre-fire suppression” message, supported by handouts from the " Smokey Bear ", or " Woodsy Owl " education campaigns. This educational information is often distributed to young hikers that make their way up to the fire lookout tower. In this aspect, the towers are remote way stations and interpretive centers. The fire lookout tower also acts as

2755-640: The CCC forces contributed to disaster relief following 1937 floods in New York, Vermont, and the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys, and response and clean-up after the 1938 hurricane in New England . In 1939 Congress ended the independent status of the CCC, transferring it to the control of the Federal Security Agency . The National Youth Administration , U.S. Employment Service , the Office of Education , and

2850-767: The CCC program on May 11, 1933, to include work opportunities for veterans. Veteran qualifications differed from the junior enrollee; one needed to be certified by the Veterans Administration by an application. They could be any age, and married or single as long as they were in need of work. Veterans were generally assigned to entire veteran camps. Enrollees were eligible for the following "rated" positions to help with camp administration: senior leader, mess steward, storekeeper and two cooks; assistant leader, company clerk, assistant educational advisor and three second cooks. These men received additional pay ranging from $ 36 to $ 45 per month depending on their rating. Each CCC camp

2945-456: The CCC provided an ideology of manly outdoor work to counter the Depression, as well as cash to help the family budget. Through a regime of heavy manual labor, civic and political education, and an all-male living and working environment, the CCC tried to build "better men" who would be economically independent and self-reliant. By 1939, there was a shift in the ideal from the hardy manual worker to

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3040-477: The CCC was a new experiment in operations for a federal government agency. The order directed that the program be supervised jointly by four government departments: Labor , which recruited the young men; War , which operated the camps; the Agriculture ; and Interior , which organized and supervised the work projects. A CCC Advisory Council was composed of a representative from each of those departments. In addition,

3135-457: The CCC was affecting military readiness. Only 575 Organized Reserve officers initially received orders for CCC duty. CCC tours were initially six months long, but were later lengthened to one year. In July 1933, the War Department ordered that Regular Army officers assigned as instructors with ROTC and Organized Reserve units be returned to their former duties. By the end of September 1933,

3230-502: The CCC was no longer wholly a relief agency, was rapidly losing its non-military character, and it was becoming a system for work-training, as its ranks had become increasingly younger and inexperienced. Although the CCC was probably the most popular New Deal program, it never was authorized as a permanent agency. The program was reduced in scale as the Depression waned and employment opportunities improved. After conscription began in 1940 , fewer eligible young men were available. Following

3325-456: The Corps was not possible. Enrollees worked 40 hours per week over five days, sometimes including Saturdays if poor weather dictated. In return they received $ 30 per month (equivalent to $ 710 in 2023) with a compulsory allotment of $ 25 (about equivalent to $ 590 in 2023) sent to a family dependent, as well as housing, food, clothing, and medical care. Following the second Bonus Army march on Washington, D.C., President Roosevelt amended

3420-536: The Deputy Director of the Corporate Eco Forum (CEF) founded by M. R. Rangaswami , and their team of strategic advisors have reimagined the federal Civilian Conservation Corps program of the 1930s as a private, locally governed, national social franchise. The goal of this recently established CCCUSA is to enroll a million young people annually, building a core set of values in each enrollee, who will then become

3515-616: The Indians' own undertaking". Educational programs trained participants in gardening, stock raising, safety, native arts, and some academic subjects. IECW differed from other CCC activities in that it explicitly trained men in skills to be carpenters, truck drivers, radio operators, mechanics, surveyors, and technicians. With the passage of the National Defense Vocational Training Act of 1941 , enrollees began participating in defense-oriented training. The government paid for

3610-588: The Labor-Federal Security Appropriation Act (56 Stat. 569) on July 2, 1942, and virtually completed on June 30, 1943. Liquidation appropriations for the CCC continued through April 20, 1948. Some former CCC sites in good condition were reactivated from 1941 to 1947 as Civilian Public Service camps where conscientious objectors performed "work of national importance" as an alternative to military service. Other camps were used to hold Japanese , German and Italian Americans interned under

3705-476: The Local Experienced Men (LEM) program. The typical CCC enrollee was a U.S. citizen, unmarried, unemployed male, 18–25 years of age. Normally his family was on local relief. Each enrollee volunteered and, upon passing a physical exam and/or a period of conditioning, was required to serve a minimum six-month period, with the option to serve as many as four periods, or up to two years if employment outside

3800-583: The U.S. Midwest and South, but a few are in the mountainous West. In the northeast, all of the towers in the Adirondack Mountains and most in the Catskills were Aermotor towers erected between 1916 and 1921. The typical cab of an Aermoter had a 7 by 7 feet (2.1 by 2.1 m) cab with a fire locating device mounted in the center. Access was by way of a trap door in the floor. Ground cabs are still known as "towers" even though there may be no such tower under

3895-468: The cab for the day shift. Fire lookout towers are an important part of American history and several organizations have been founded to save, rebuild, restore, and operate fire lookout towers. Starting in 2002, traditional fire watch was replaced by "FireWatch", optical sensors located on old lookout towers or mobile phone masts. Based on a system developed by the DLR for analyzing gases and particles in space,

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3990-436: The cab. These towers can be one, two or three stories tall with foundations made of natural stone or concrete. These towers vary greatly in size, but many are simple wooden or steel tower cabs that were constructed using the same plans, sans the tower. The simplest kind consist of a ladder to a suitable height. Such trees could have platforms on the ground next to them for maps and a fire finder. A more elaborate version, such as

4085-697: The camps. Director Fechner refused to appoint Black adults to any supervisory positions except that of education director in the all-Black camps. The CCC operated a separate division for members of federally recognized tribes : the "Indian Emergency Conservation Work Division" (IECW or CCC-ID). Native men from reservations worked on roads, bridges, clinics, shelters, and other public works near their reservations . Although they were organized as groups classified as camps, no permanent camps were established for Native Americans. Instead, organized groups moved with their families from project to project and were provided with an additional rental allowance. The CCC often provided

4180-564: The catalyst in their own communities and states to create a more civil society and stronger nation. The CCC program became a model for the creation of team-based national service youth conservation programs such as the Student Conservation Association (SCA). The SCA, founded in 1959, is a nonprofit organization that offers conservation internships and summer trail crew opportunities to more than 4,000 people each year. In 1976, Governor of California Jerry Brown established

4275-554: The chance to lead large numbers of enlisted men. Future Chief of Staff of the Army General George C. Marshall "embraced" the CCC, unlike many of his brother officers. An implicit goal of the CCC was to restore morale in an era of 25% unemployment for all men and much higher rates for poorly educated teenagers. Jeffrey Suzik argues in "'Building Better Men': The CCC Boy and the Changing Social Ideal of Manliness" that

4370-730: The city. He received a patent for this system in 1902. Seitz traveled to the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition for a presentation of his idea in the USA. As wood had been a key building material in Russia for centuries, urban fires were a constant threat to the towns and cities. To address that issue, in the early 19th century a program was launched to construct fire stations equipped with lookout towers called kalancha , overlooking mostly low-rise quarters. Watchmen standing vigil there could signal other stations as well as their own using simple signals. Surviving towers are often local landmarks. Fire towers are still in use in Australia, particularly in

4465-442: The classes and after students completed courses and passed a competency test, guaranteed automatic employment in defense work. A total of 85,000 Native Americans were enrolled in this training. This proved valuable social capital for the 24,000 alumni who later served in the military and the 40,000 who left the reservations for city jobs supporting the war effort. Responding to public demand to alleviate unemployment, Congress approved

4560-567: The country. The program gives youth aged 13–17 the opportunity to participate in conservation projects in a team setting. YCC programs are available in land managed by the National Park Service, the Forest Service, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Projects can last up to 10 weeks and typically run over the summer. Some YCC programs are residential, meaning the participants are given housing on

4655-537: The country. While earlier lookouts used tall trees and high peaks with tents for shelters, by 1911 permanent cabins and cupolas were being constructed on mountaintops. Beginning in 1910, the New Hampshire Timberlands Owners Association, a fire protection group, was formed and soon after, similar organizations were set up in Maine and Vermont. A leader of these efforts, W.R. Brown , an officer of

4750-551: The development of job and life skills by conservation and community service work. The Montana Conservation Corps (MCC) is a non-profit organization with a mission to equip young people with the skills and values to be vigorous citizens who improve their communities and environment. Collectively, MCC crews contribute more than 90,000 work hours each year. The MCC was established in 1991 by Montana 's Human Resource Development Councils in Billings , Bozeman and Kalispell . Originally, it

4845-659: The director of the CCC-ID, both based the program on Indian self-rule and the restoration of tribal lands, governments, and cultures. The next year, Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 , which ended allotments and helped preserve tribal lands, and encouraged tribes to re-establish self-government. Collier said of the CCC-Indian Division, "no previous undertaking in Indian Service has so largely been

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4940-467: The entire town, and in the event of a fire they would ring the alarm bell, calling up firemen and warning town residents. In some towns the bells were also used to mark the time. While the fire lookout towers remained fully equipped into the Shōwa period , they were later replaced by telephone and radio broadcasting systems in many cities. Like the United States, fire towers were built across Canada to protect

5035-972: The environment and economies of historic mining communities in the American West and Appalachia . Conservation Legacy also hosts the Environmental Stewards Program - providing internships with federal, state, municipal and NGO land management agencies nationwide. Conservation Legacy formed as a merger of the Southwest Youth Corps, San Luis Valley Youth Corps, The Youth Corps of Southern Arizona, and Coconino Rural Environmental Corps. Conservation Legacy engages young adults ages 14 to 26 and U.S. military veterans of all ages in personal and professional development experiences involving conservation projects on public lands. Corp members live, work, and learn in teams of six to eight for terms of service ranging from 3 months to 1 year. The Sea Ranger Service

5130-462: The federal fiscal year on June 30, 1942. The end of the CCC program and closing of the camps involved arrangements to leave the incomplete work projects in the best possible state, the separation of about 1,800 appointed employees, the transfer of CCC property to the War and Navy Departments and other agencies, and the preparation of final accountability records. Liquidation of the CCC was ordered by Congress by

5225-514: The fire is to be managed. The more modern policy is to "manage fire", not simply to suppress it. Fire lookout towers provide a reduction in time of fire detection to time of fire management assessment. Idaho had the most known lookout sites (966); 196 of them still exist, with roughly 60 staffed each summer. Kansas is the only U.S. state that has never had a lookout. A number of fire lookout tower stations, including many in New York State near

5320-448: The first few weeks of operation, CCC camps in the North were integrated . By July 1935, however, all camps in the United States were segregated. Enrollment peaked at the end of 1935, when there were 500,000 men in 2,600 camps in operation in every state. All received equal pay and housing. Black leaders lobbied to secure leadership roles. Adult white men held the major leadership roles in all

5415-418: The following morning." To prevent and suppress fires, the U.S. Forest Service made another rule that townships, corporations and States would bear the cost of contracting fire suppression services, because at the time there was not the large Forest Service Fire Department that exists today. As a result of the above rules, early fire detection and suppression became a priority. Towers began to be built across

5510-509: The highly trained citizen soldier ready for war. The legislation and mobilization of the program occurred quite rapidly. Roosevelt made his request to Congress on March 21, 1933; the legislation was submitted to Congress the same day; Congress passed it by voice vote on March 31; Roosevelt signed it the same day, then issued an executive order on April 5 creating the agency, appointing Fechner its director, and assigning War Department corps area commanders to begin enrollment. The first CCC enrollee

5605-404: The land they work on. Projects may necessitate youth to camp in backcountry settings in order to work on trails or campsites. Most require youth to commute daily or house youth for only a few days a week. Youth are typically paid for their work. YCC programs contribute to the maintenance of public lands and instill a value for hard work and the outdoors in those who participate. Conservation Legacy

5700-749: The last wooden fire lookout towers in Southern California was the South Mount Hawkins Fire Lookout, in the Angeles National Forest. A civilian effort is underway to rebuild the tower after its loss in the Curve Fire of September 2002. The typical cab of a wooden tower can be from 10 ft × 10 ft (3.0 m × 3.0 m) to 14 ft × 14 ft (4.3 m × 4.3 m) Steel towers can vary in size and height. They are very sturdy, but tend to sway in

5795-489: The lists of the unemployed to improve our existing reforestation areas." In its first year alone, more than 25,000 unemployed New Yorkers were active in its paid conservation work. Long interested in conservation, as president Roosevelt proposed a full-scale national program to Congress on March 21, 1933: I propose to create [the CCC] to be used in complex work, not interfering with normal employment and confining itself to forestry,

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5890-691: The men at work and in the barracks. The CCC performed 300 types of work projects in nine approved general classifications: The responses to this seven-month experimental conservation program were enthusiastic. On October 1, 1933, Director Fechner was directed to arrange for the second period of enrollment. By January 1934, 300,000 men were enrolled. In July 1934, this cap was increased by 50,000 to include men from Midwest states that had been affected by drought. The temporary tent camps had also developed to include wooden barracks. An education program had been established, emphasizing job training and literacy. Approximately 55% of enrollees were from rural communities,

5985-541: The mountainous regions of the south-eastern states. Victoria 's Forest Fire Management operates 72 towers across the state during the fire season with towers being constructed as recently as 2016. Jimna Fire Tower in Southeastern Queensland is the tallest fire tower in the country, at 47 meters above the ground, and is included on the state heritage register. Today hundreds of towers are still in service with paid-staff and/or volunteer citizens. In some areas,

6080-405: The national forests and other government properties. The Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) Act was introduced to Congress the same day and enacted by voice vote on March 31. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6101 on April 5, 1933, which established the CCC organization and appointed a director, Robert Fechner , a former labor union official who served until 1939. The organization and administration of

6175-415: The number of Regular officers on CCC duty had dropped to about 2,000 and the number of Reservists had increased to 2,200. By June 1934, only 400 Regular officers remained on CCC duty, and by October, Reserve officers had assumed command of almost all CCC companies and sub-districts. Effective on 1 January 1938, the War Department limited the number of Regular officers assigned to CCC duty to only 117. Due to

6270-679: The only paid work, as many reservations were in remote rural areas. Enrollees had to be between the ages of 17 and 35. During 1933, about half the male heads of households on the Sioux reservations in South Dakota were employed by the CCC-ID. With grants from the Public Works Administration (PWA), the Indian Division built schools and conducted a road-building program in and around many reservations to improve infrastructure. The mission

6365-436: The particular fieldwork. Also included in camp operation were several non-technical supervisor LEMs, who provided knowledge of the work at hand, "lay of the land," and paternal guidance for inexperienced enrollees. Enrollees were organized into work detail units called "sections" of 25 men each, according to the barracks they resided in. Each section had an enrollee "senior leader" and "assistant leader" who were accountable for

6460-403: The period after World War II. Present-day corps are national, state, and local programs that engage primarily youth and young adults (ages 16–25) in community service, training, and educational activities. The nation's approximately 113 corps programs operate in 41 of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. During 2004, they enrolled more than 23,000 young people. The Corps Network, known originally as

6555-412: The prevention of soil erosion, flood control, and similar projects. I call your attention to the fact 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. He promised this law would provide 250,000 young men with meals, housing, workwear , and medical care in exchange for their work in

6650-493: The program, helping them weather the Great Depression. By 1942, with World War II raging and the draft in effect, the need for work relief declined, and Congress voted to close the program. As governor of New York , Franklin D. Roosevelt had run a similar program on a much smaller scale, known as the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration (TERA). It was started in early 1932 to "use men from

6745-651: The program. Through the CCC, the Regular Army could assess the leadership performance of both Regular and Reserve officers. In mobilizing, clothing, feeding, and controlling thousands of men, the CCC provided lessons which the Army used in developing its wartime mobilization plans for training camps. When the draft began in 1940, the policy was to make CCC alumni corporals and sergeants. The CCC also provided command experience to Reserve officers, who normally interacted almost exclusively with other officers during training and did not have

6840-477: The public response to the CCC program was overwhelmingly popular. A Gallup poll of April 18, 1936, asked: "Are you in favor of the CCC camps?"; 82% of respondents said "yes", including 92% of Democrats and 67% of Republicans . On June 28, 1937, the Civilian Conservation Corps was legally established and transferred from its original designation as the Emergency Conservation Work program. Funding

6935-429: The remaining fire lookout towers, but in several environments, the technology failed. Fires detected from space are already too large to make accurate assessments for control. Cell phones in wilderness areas still suffer from lack of signal. Today, some fire lookout towers remain in service, because having human eyes being able to detect smoke and call in the fire report allows fire management officials to decide early how

7030-438: The same sort of outdoor work experience for young people. Approximately 47 young men have died while in this line of duty. In several cities where CCC workers worked, statues were erected to commemorate them. The CCC program was never officially terminated. Congress provided funding for closing the remaining camps in 1942 with the equipment being reallocated. It became a model for conservation programs that were implemented in

7125-495: The spring of 1933 to administer the CCC. The troops were pulled from just about every source possible, but usually from the Army’s combat regiments and battalions, and Army instructors on duty with ROTC , Organized Reserve , and National Guard organizations. In at least one case each, district personnel were drawn from an engineer regiment and an Air Corps group. MacArthur soon said that the number of Regular Army personnel assigned to

7220-462: The states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The smoke from this fire drifted across the entire country to Washington D.C. — both physically and politically — and it challenged the five-year-old Forest Service to address new policies regarding fire suppression, and the fire did much to create the modern system of fire rules, organizations, and policies. One of the rules as a result of the 1910 fire stated "all fires must be extinguished by 10 a.m.

7315-466: The states of the South had passed legislation imposing racial segregation and, since the turn of the century, laws and constitutional provisions that disenfranchised most African Americans ; they were excluded from formal politics. Because of discrimination by white officials at the local and state levels, African Americans in the South did not receive as many benefits as white people from New Deal programs. In

7410-517: The time claimed an individual's enrollment in the CCC led to improved physical condition, heightened morale, and increased employability . The CCC also led to a greater public awareness and appreciation of the outdoors and the nation's natural resources, and the continued need for a carefully planned, comprehensive national program for the protection and development of natural resources. The CCC operated separate programs for veterans and Native Americans. Approximately 15,000 Native Americans took part in

7505-628: The tops of tall trees have also been used to mount permanent platforms. Sometimes natural rock may be used to create a lower platform. In cases where the terrain makes a tower unnecessary, the structure is known as a ground cab . Ground cabs are called towers , even if they don't sit on a tower. Towers gained popularity in the early 1900s, and fires were reported using telephones, carrier pigeons and heliographs . Although many fire lookout towers have fallen into disrepair from neglect, abandonment and declining budgets, some fire service personnel have made efforts to preserve older fire towers, arguing that

7600-477: The valuable trees for the forestry industry. Most towers were built in the early 1920s to 1950s and were a mix of wood and steel structures. A total of 325 towers dotted the landscape of Ontario in the 1960s, and today approx. 156 towers span the province, but only a handful of towers remained in use after the 1970s. They are still in use in British Columbia , Alberta , Saskatchewan , Manitoba , Ontario and

7695-671: The various centers. Project work is also similar to the original CCC of the 1930s - work on public forests, state and federal parks. The Nevada Conservation Corps is a non-profit organization that partners with public land management agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, United States Forest Service, National Park Service, and Nevada State Parks to complete conservation and restoration projects throughout Nevada. Conservation work includes fuel reductions through thinning , constructing and maintaining trails, invasive species removal, and performing biological surveys. The Nevada Conservation Corps

7790-474: The wind more than wooden towers. The typical cab of a steel tower can be from 10 ft × 10 ft (3.0 m × 3.0 m) to 14 ft × 14 ft (4.3 m × 4.3 m) The Aermotor Company , originally of Chicago, Illinois, was the first and lead manufacturer of steel fire towers from the 1910s to the mid-1920s. These towers have very small cabs, as the towers are based on Aermotor windmill towers . These towers are often found in

7885-472: Was 300,000. Through the course of its nine years in operation, three million young men took part in the CCC, which provided them with shelter, clothing, and food, together with a monthly wage of $ 30 (equivalent to $ 706 in 2023), $ 25 of which (equivalent to $ 588 in 2023) had to be sent home to their families. The American public made the CCC the most popular of all the New Deal programs. Sources written at

7980-473: Was a summer program for disadvantaged youth, although it has grown into an AmeriCorps-sponsored non-profit organization with six regional offices that serve Montana, Idaho , Wyoming , North Dakota , and South Dakota . All regions also offer Montana YES (Youth Engaged in Service) summer programs for teenagers who are 14 to 17 years old. Established in 1995, Environmental Corps, now Texas Conservation Corps (TxCC),

8075-420: Was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal that supplied manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state, and local governments. The CCC

8170-539: Was created through the Great Basin Institute and is part of the AmeriCorps program. Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa provides environmental stewardship and service-learning opportunities to youth and young adults while accomplishing conservation, natural resource management projects and emergency response work through its Young Adult Program and the Summer Youth Program. These programs emphasize

8265-528: Was critical to establishing the association. Similar active programs in the United States are: the National Civilian Community Corps , part of the AmeriCorps program, a team-based national service program in which young adults ages 18–26 spend 10 months working for non-profit and government organizations; and the Civilian Conservation Corps, USA, (CCCUSA) managed by its president, Thomas Hark, in 2016. Hark, his co-founder Mike Rama, currently

8360-571: Was designed to supply jobs for young men and to relieve families who had difficulty finding jobs during the Great Depression in the United States . There was eventually a smaller counterpart program for unemployed women called the She-She-She Camps , which were championed by Eleanor Roosevelt . Robert Fechner was the first director of this agency, succeeded by James McEntee following Fechner's death. The largest enrollment at any one time

8455-403: Was during this time that the CCC set about building fire lookout towers, and access roads to those towers. The U.S. Forest Service took great advantage of the CCC workforce and initiated a massive program of construction projects, including fire lookout towers. In California alone, some 250 lookout towers and cabs were built by CCC workers between 1933 and 1942. The heyday of fire lookout towers

8550-480: Was extended for three more years by Public Law No. 163, 75th Congress , effective July 1, 1937. Congress changed the age limits to 17–23 years old and changed the requirement that enrollees be on relief to "not regularly in attendance at school, or possessing full-time employment." The 1937 law mandated the inclusion of vocational and academic training for a minimum of 10 hours per week. Students in school were allowed to enroll during summer vacation. During this period,

8645-587: Was from 1930 through 1950. During World War II, the Aircraft Warning Service was established, operating from mid-1941 to mid-1944. Fire lookouts were assigned additional duty as Enemy Aircraft Spotters, especially on the West Coast of the United States. From the 1960s through the 1990s the towers took a back seat to new technology, aircraft, and improvements in radios. The promise of space satellite fire detection and modern cell phones tried to compete with

8740-556: Was located in the area of particular conservation work to be performed and organized around a complement of up to 200 civilian enrollees in a designated numbered "company" unit. The CCC camp was a temporary community in itself, structured to have barracks (initially Army tents) for 50 enrollees each, officer/technical staff quarters, medical dispensary, mess hall, recreation hall, educational building, lavatory and showers, technical/administrative offices, tool room/blacksmith shop and motor pool garages. The company organization of each camp had

8835-587: Was selected April 8, and lists of unemployed men were subsequently supplied by state and local welfare and relief agencies for immediate enrollment. On April 17, the first camp, NF-1, Camp Roosevelt , was established at George Washington National Forest near Luray, Virginia . On June 18, the first of 161 soil erosion control camps was opened in Clayton, Alabama . By July 1, 1933, there were 1,463 working camps with 250,000 junior enrollees 18–25 years of age; 28,000 veterans; 14,000 Native Americans ; and 25,000 adults in

8930-546: Was taken to the first camp to see that there was no job training involved beyond simple manual labor. Officers from the U.S. Army were in charge of the camps, but there was no military training. The Chief of Staff of the United States Army , General Douglas MacArthur , was placed in charge of the program. Initially, about 3,800 of the Regular Army 's 13,000 officers and 4,600 of its 120,000 enlisted men were assigned in

9025-435: Was to reduce erosion and improve the value of Indian lands. Crews built dams of many types on creeks, then sowed grass on the eroded areas from which the damming material had been taken. They built roads and planted shelter-belts on federal lands. The steady income helped participants regain self-respect, and many used the funds to improve their lives. John Collier , the federal Commissioner of Indian Affairs and Daniel Murphy,

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