Senate Joint Resolution 42
Whereas the Civilian
Conservation Corps, commonly known as the CCC, was an independent federal
agency that deserves recognition for its lasting contribution to natural
resources conservation and infrastructure improvements on public lands in the
United States and for its outstanding success in providing employment and
training to thousands of Americans; and
Whereas March 31, 2008,
is the 75th anniversary of the signing by President Franklin D. Roosevelt of
the law historically known as the Emergency Conservation Work Act, a precursor
to the 1937 law that established the CCC; and
Whereas between 1933 and
1942 the CCC provided employment and vocational training in the conservation
and development of natural resources, the protection of forests and the
construction and maintenance of military reservations to more than 3 million
men, including unemployed youths, more than 250,000 veterans of the
Spanish-American War and World War I and more than 80,000 Native Americans; and
Whereas the CCC
coordinated a mobilization of men, material and transportation on a scale never
previously known in a time of peace; and
Whereas the CCC managed
more than 4,500 camps in the then 48 states and
Whereas the CCC left a
legacy of natural resources conservation and infrastructure improvements that
included more than 3 billion new trees, 46,854 bridges, 3,980 restored
historical structures, 800 state parks, 3,462 improved beaches, 405,037 signs,
markers and monuments, 8,045 wells and pump houses and 63,256 other structures;
and
Whereas the benefits of
many CCC projects are still enjoyed by Americans today in national and state
parks and forests and other public lands, including the United States National
Arboretum in the District of Columbia, Bandelier National Monument in New
Mexico, Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee,
Yosemite National Park in California, Acadia National Park in Maine, Rocky Mountain
National Park in Colorado, Vicksburg National Military Park in Mississippi and,
in Oregon, Crater Lake National Park, Silver Creek Falls State Park, Oregon
Caves National Monument and the Tillamook Burn Rehabilitation; and
Whereas the CCC provided
a foundation of self-confidence, responsibility, discipline, cooperation,
communication and leadership for its participants through education, training
and hard work, and participants made many lasting friendships in the CCC; and
Whereas the CCC
demonstrated the commitment of the United States to the conservation of land,
water and other natural resources nationally and to leadership on public
conservation efforts globally; and
Whereas the conservation
of
Be It Resolved by the Legislative
Assembly of the State of
That we, the members of
the Seventy-fourth Legislative Assembly, in special legislative session
assembled, join in designating March 31 of each year as Oregon Civilian
Conservation Corps Day; and be it further
Resolved, That the
members of the Seventy-fourth Legislative Assembly, in special legislative
session assembled, call on the people of the State of
Filed in the office of Secretary State February 22, 2008
__________