Roosevelt's Forest Army · Episode 6 of 14 · 19 min
How the CCC Fought the Dust Bowl
As the Great Plains blew away, the CCC became the muscle behind the fight to hold the soil, building roughly 6.6 million check dams and a thousand-mile wall of trees. The episode shows conservation turning into disaster response and sending federal crews onto private farms, along with the limits of the fix.
Who's who
- Hugh Hammond BennettSoil scientist called the father of soil conservation
- Franklin D. Roosevelt+28 more episodesPresident who authored the Shelterbelt idea
Where it happens
- Great Plains+2 more episodesRegion devastated by drought and wind erosion
- Nebraska+1 more episodeWhere the Black Sunday storm formed
Timeline
- September 1933Bennett named director of the Soil Erosion Service
- July 1934Roosevelt initiates the Great Plains Shelterbelt project
- April 14, 1935Black Sunday dust storm sweeps south
- April 27, 1935Congress creates the Soil Conservation Service
- 1942About 220 million Shelterbelt trees planted
Still debated
How much credit belongs to conservation work versus returning rain is debated. The Shelterbelt's long-run agricultural benefit is still studied, and using public labor on private farmland raised a lasting question.
← PreviousWhy CCC Trails and Stonework Still Look New 90 Years LaterNext →How the CCC Invented the American Outdoor Weekend
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