The lumber boom initially left a deeply scarred wasteland in northern Michigan, where ugly stumps replaced majestic pine, fires brought additional destruction, and attempts to farm the infertile soil ended disastrously. Yet that devastation also taught later generations the value of the land and the need for reforestation so it could continue to serve its people. When lumbering ended in the 1900s, much of Michigan had become bare land marked by abandoned sawmills and dying towns, and the beginning of the 20th century brought the start of the conservation movement in the United States, with vast forest preserves created to protect valuable natural resources. In the 1930s, extensive reforestation began as President Franklin D. Roosevelt's newly created Civilian Conservation Corps planted millions of trees across Michigan and the rest of the country in the hope that mighty forests would return. Today, the Huron-Manistee National Forests stand as living monuments to the brave forbearers of the northern Michigan woods, while Forest Service employees work to manage America's forests for the benefit of the American people and to protect precious natural resources for generations to come.