Two hundred young men from Detroit arrive at an isolated spot in Chippewa County and set up Camp Raco—Michigan's first Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) facility. Within months, dozens of similar camps open across northern Michigan. One of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's most popular New Deal relief programs, the CCC is a massive conservation program that employs tens of thousands of young men all across the nation. The CCC revitalizes Michigan's state park system, establishes Isle Royale National Park and builds campgrounds in Michigan's national forests. All will benefit the state as tourism becomes one of its main economic resources. Michigan enrollees also send home $20 million of their monthly salaries and acquire invaluable training that will make their transition to military service in World War II easier. When the program ends in 1942, over 100,000 Michigan men will have served in the CCC. Their accomplishments will include: planting over 484 million seedlings (more than twice the number in any other state), expending 140,000 man-days in fighting forest fires, placing 150 million fish in rivers and lakes, and constructing 7,000 miles of truck trails, 504 buildings and 222 bridges.

Michigan Historical Center, Department of History, Arts and Libraries
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