Civilian Conservation Corps

The Civilian Conservation Corps emerged during the Great Depression after Franklin Delano Roosevelt, elected president in November 1932, sought to fight soil erosion and declining timber resources while reducing unemployment. By June 29, 1933, the Forest Service had 529 CCC camps approved, and the Emergency Conservation Work Act of 1933 became the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937, leading to the recruitment of thousands of young men throughout the country. On National Forest lands, the CCC played a vital role in conservation, restoration, and construction. In the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, the first enrollees came from Milwaukee, and before the CCC disbanded in 1942 the forest was home to 44 camps. The Medford area had 3 camps: Camp Perkinstown, Camp Mondeaux River, and Camp Jump River. CCC men built campground and administrative sites, carried out reforestation work, and planted millions of red pine and jack pine seedlings under Forest Service supervision. The crew stationed at Camp Perkinstown built the Medford Administrative site between 1934 and 1936.

Medford, Wisconsin · United States