Editing Civilian Conservation Corps (section)

==Founding==
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 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.<ref>John Gibbs, "Tree Planting Aids Unemployed", ''American Forests'' (April 1933) pp. 159–61.</ref> Long interested in conservation,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/ccc/salmond/chap1.htm |title=The Civilian Conservation Corps 1933–1942: a New Deal case study. |last=Salmond |first=John A. |date=2008-01-03 |website=nps.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629075038/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/ccc/salmond/chap1.htm |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=April 26, 2010 }}</ref> as president Roosevelt proposed a full-scale national program to Congress on March 21, 1933:<ref>"Message to Congress on Unemployment Relief. March 21," ''The Presidential Papers of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933'' (1938)</ref>
{{blockquote|I propose to create [the CCC] to be used in complex work, not interfering with normal employment and confining itself to forestry, 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 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 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: [[United States Department of Labor|Labor]], which recruited the young men; [[United States Department of War|War]], which operated the camps; the [[United States Department of Agriculture|Agriculture]]; and [[United States Department of the Interior|Interior]], which organized and supervised the work projects. A CCC Advisory Council was composed of a representative from each of those departments. In addition, the [[Office of Education]] and [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|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,<ref>Neil M. Meher, ''Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement'' (2009), p. 79</ref> Roosevelt chose Robert Fechner, vice president of the [[International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers]], as director of the Corps. [[William Green (labor leader)|William Green]], head of the [[American Federation of Labor]], was taken to the first camp to see that there was no job training involved beyond simple manual labor.<ref>On the CCC's formation see Frank Freidel, ''Franklin D. Roosevelt: Launching the New Deal'' (1973), pp. 255-266</ref>