DEP Commissioner Believes—

Conservation Corps Could Create Jobs

HARTFORD — Have you ever hiked the trail to the top of Kent Falls State Park? Gone for a swim at Squantz Pond or Chatfield Hollow State Park? Spent a hot summer day at Hammonasset Beach State Park?

You may not be aware, but if you have been a visitor to one of those parks — or to dozens of others in the state park system — you have had a firsthand look at work performed by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The Civilian Conservation Corps, known as the CCC, was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression. The CCC was President Roosevelt’s response to the need to put young men to work and to tackle environmental conservation projects in a nation that had been ravaged by soil erosion and deforestation.

From 1933 to 1942, almost 3.5 million young men aged 17 to 21 served in the CCC. They signed up for six-month stints, lived in military-style camps, and were paid $1 a day. The projects they completed were the foundation of the national and state park system as it is known today.

Here in Connecticut, there were 22 CCC camps. Young men at these camps were put to work in state parks and forests, building trails, roads, fire towers, recreation areas, picnic shelters, and planting trees and fighting fires.

And according to Connecticut’s Environmental Protection Commissioner, the time has now come to take a page from the marvelous history of the CCC and establish a modern-day Connecticut Conservation Corps.

“In the troubled times we now face, we can build on the legacy of young men who literally changed the face our nation and state,” said Gina McCarthy, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection in a recent release. “In her budget address February 4, Governor Rell proposed $7.5 million in funding to establish the Connecticut Conservation Corps. She also asked the legislature to work with her to craft a formal and final plan so we can put this program in place by July 1.”

With a Connecticut Conservation Corps, Ms McCarthy believes the state can provide much-needed jobs and paychecks for its citizens.

“In return we can tackle important environmental conservation projects, starting with our own state parks, state forests, and beaches,” she said. “There is also the chance to broaden this mission and use the CCC to address modern-day problems by focusing on energy conservation and weatherization initiatives.”

There are more than 130 state parks and forests throughout the state encompassing thousands of acres. The conservation corps will build off the efforts of volunteers that have long assisted the Department of Environmental Protection in maintaining and improving these lands.

“The men and women who participate in the Connecticut Conservation Corps will be our partners in making these public lands as spectacular and inviting as ever,” Ms McCarthy said. “This experience will provide them with an opportunity to enhance their skills while enriching our park and forest system.”

She added that the DEP shares Gov Rell’s belief that the state can create a Connecticut Conservation Corps of the 21st Century that will go down in history as a practical, humane, and common sense response to the current economic downturn.