Civilian Conservation Corps​ Protected National Forests; See Photos

• Biden launched the American Climate Corps to create jobs and address the climate crisis. 
• The program is similar to the Civilian Conservation Corps, a Depression-era work relief plan by FDR. 
• The CCC employed over 2.5 million men in the nine years it existed and planted 3 billion trees. 

President Joe Biden signed an executive order to create a “New Deal-style” American Climate Corps to bring down unemployment and increase conservation efforts in America’s most vulnerable areas. 

Modeled after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1933 Civilian Climate Corps, Biden’s program aims to employ about 20,000 young adults. Employees of the program will build trails, plant trees, help install solar panels, and do other work to boost conservation and help prevent catastrophic wildfires.

When Roosevelt implanted the CCC, 24.9% of the workforce was unemployed. It was part of his effort to restart the economy in 100 days. Roosevelt signed the act into law on March 31, 1933, and promised to have 250,000 men employed by July 1.

To be a part of the new CCC, men had to be single, between 18 and 25, unemployed, and on relief rolls. Their wages were $30 a month, with $25 going back to their families so they could put it back into the economy.

Today, the unemployment rate is currently 3.8%, but the new plan aims to create employment opportunities that will help combat the climate crisis. The budget for the American Climate Corps is not immediately clear, but the original proposal was $10 billion before the proposal was removed from the climate bill.  

In the nine-year span that the CCC was active, 2.5 million men joined and achieved historic conservation efforts. Take a look back into the camps of the Civilian Conservation Corps.