Videos: Who Was the CCC and the SCS?

The Great Depression

It was the worst economic calamity in U.S. history. How did the “New Deal” of President Franklin Roosevelt impact Wisconsin? How did the relief effort make any difference to thousands of teenagers and young men desperately looking for work?

The CCC and SCS Come to Dane County

How did Wisconsin push itself to the front of the conservation movement in the Midwest? In large part, it was a combination of several elements that included unique farmland geography, as well as innovative advice from experts at the state’s largest university. This is how it all came together.

The Legacy of the CCC

Most of the surviving erosion control structures built by the CCC in Wisconsin are scattered and hidden among farm fields and woods. Yet, at Pope Farm Conservancy one can see close-up how one simple structure from the Great Depression days, still functions as a practical reminder of what conservation means to all of us.