The End of the Civilian Conservation Corps

More About the CCC

• Introduction to the CCC
• Organization of the CCC
• Who Were the Men of the CCC?
• CCC Camps in Utah
• CCC Work Projects
• A Day in the Life of an Enrollee
• 1989 CCC Reunion
• The CCC: Then and Now

With World War II looming on the horizon in the closing years of the 1930s, the CCC underwent changes. This included budget cuts, the building of new camps on military bases, a decline in enrollment, increases in national defense projects, and the introduction of military training without weapons in the camps. When the United States officially entered the war in December 1941, almost all CCC efforts were stopped unless they directly assisted with the war effort. Congress quickly reappropriated the funds from the program and the formally terminated the Civilian Conservation Corps on June 30, 1942.

In Zion, all personnel and projects were terminated and disbanded the first few days of July 1942. The end of the CCC resulted in a sudden decrease of personnel to complete maintenance and conservation projects throughout the National Park Service. Many of the CCC projects interrupted by the war would not be completed until the 1950s and 1960s.

 

ZION 15652n: The Superintendent’s Annual Report from 1942 discusses the termination of the CCC program in Zion and highlights the work that was accomplished in the last year of the program.

 

ZION 7832: After the end of the CCC program, the area where Camp NP-4 stood was leveled and turned into the Watchman residential area for National Park Service staff, pictured in this 1966 photo.