I don’t know much about politics. In fact, I try to avoid the subject
completely. Yet recently, my staunch
avoidance of the topic has proven to be quite difficult. As the economy remains at a standstill, I
feel like I’m being bombarded with everyone’s own personal agenda and “quick
fix” solution to get our local, state, and federal governments back up to speed. Even my daily perusal of Facebook’s news feed
has taken a turn for the worse, as my “friends” keep posting things like, “CALL
YOUR LEGISLATORS NOW!!! OR ELSE!!!!!!” Personally,
I don’t really care whether there’s a big or small government, so long as it
works. And unfortunately, things aren’t
working quite optimally right now, to say the least. Three years after the Lehman Brothers
collapse, our nation is still in the throes of a great depression.
Currently, I’m in the middle of reading The Nature of New York – An Environmental History of the Empire State
by David Stradling. (Yes, I acknowledge
that I am an incurable dork, so please hold the comments and eye rolls!) Half a chapter of this book is dedicated to Franklin
Delano Roosevelt, the President who got our country out of the first Great
Depression. Like his cousin Teddy, FDR
had a deep respect for nature and strongly promoted environmental conservation
efforts throughout his career in public office.
However, unlike the romantic environmentalists of the 1800s who focused almost
solely on the beauty and sanctity of nature, FDR recognized the economic
benefits of conserving the nation’s soils and forests.
Photo: Many of the trees planted during the conservation era were conifers, including pine and spruce.
Roosevelt authorized the planting of millions of trees, and
would have given Johnny Appleseed a run for his money. Just on his own property in Hyde Park, NY,
Roosevelt oversaw the planting of more than half a million trees. While governor of NY, FDR advocated that scientific
forestry could help improve rural economies and rural lands. On idle upstate farmland, where soil had
become depleted and unsuitable for crops, Roosevelt encouraged the planting of
trees which could improve the soil and be used for timber years later. In 1931, just two years after the stock
market crash, New York’s state nurseries grew and distributed over 40 million
trees. That same year, Roosevelt expanded
New York State’s reforestation program with the passage of the Hewitt Act. This act approved state spending of $20
million to purchase abandoned land and replant with trees over the course of eleven
years. Roosevelt’s conservation policy
would, in his words, “not only preserve the existing forests but create new
ones.” Hundreds of thousands of acres of
abandoned farmland was purchased by New York State from failing farmers and was
planted with millions of trees.
The success of Roosevelt’s conservation programs reached
across the nation when he assumed the presidency. As part of his first hundred days in office,
he proposed the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Over the course of its nine years of existence,
the CCC hired up to 350,000 unemployed men at one time who planted trees,
created campgrounds, constructed hiking and ski trails, built dams and reworked
streams for improved fishing, and completed other public works projects across
the country. The CCE was one of the most
popular components of the New Deal, providing immediate relief for the 25%
unemployment rate and long-term benefits for the environment. Other organizations such as the Civil Works
Administration and the Works Progress Administration also hired men for a
variety of projects in natural areas.
Today, many of these trees and public projects still stand, providing
testimony to the success of Roosevelt’s conservation programs.
Photo: Today, organizations like the Nevada Conservation Corps and AmeriCorps carry-out valuable conservation work, including trail building.
In the 1930s, Franklin Delano Roosevelt believed that
planting trees could help solve the economic problems of the Great Depression,
by helping to alleviate the 25% unemployment rate. Today, at less than 10% unemployment, we are
apparently in a better situation, but there are many people out there who are
searching and searching and cannot find work.
Perhaps a new Civilian Conservation Corps is needed. So CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS NOW!!! AND TELL THEM
PLANTING TREES WILL SAVE OUR ECONOMY!! OR ELSE!!!!!! Hahaha.
All kidding aside, we need to seriously begin both planning and planting
for our future.
Photo: Recently planted trees at an urban park.
