Young workers - jobless in the midst of a devastating economic quagmire - were paid by the government to build roads, trails and shelters in a park near Tucson.
So it was about 75 years ago with the Civilian Conservation Corps - a Depression-era jobs and public-works program that some say should be revived to help the nation dig out of the current recession.
Three public presentations next month offer a short course on the CCC in our area.
The programs, titled "The CCC and Its Impact on Saguaro National Park," will be presented at the park's unit west of Tucson by seasonal park ranger Philip Brown.
"The CCC provided work for young men at the park from 1933 to 1941," as the Great Depression ravaged the nation's economy, Brown said. "At the same time, it did something for the natural resources in the country, which were in a pretty sad state.
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"Here, it was an opportunity to make a usable public park at a time when the economy wouldn't have allowed that," Brown said. He noted that the site was a county park at the time of the work and later became part of Saguaro National Park.
The CCC workers built roads, trails and five picnic areas with ramadas, fire pits, tables and restrooms at the park. They also constructed check dams, four windmills and water catchments for wildlife.
"Three of those windmills have been refurbished and are still used," Brown said, adding that the restroom buildings remain intact but are not in use. "It was unskilled labor, and we're still using some of this stuff 75 years later."
Brown said the workers - young men ages 17 to 24 - worked regular five-day weeks and made $30 a month. They received room and board at a site in the park known as Camp Pima.
"Something along the CCC lines could be useful today," Brown said. "If Congress got behind it, there's always conservation and infrastructure work to do."
He called the CCC "one of the most successful government programs of all time."
"When people talk about government programs, you usually get mixed reactions," Brown said. "But when you refer to the CCC, people have good memories of it. They talk about how their grandpa helped build that structure all those years ago."
Contact reporter Doug Kreutz at dkreutz@azstarnet.com or at 573-4192.
