FORT GEORGE WRIGHT DISTRICT CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS ANNUAL

1938-39
(excerpt)

The St. Joe National Forest
Ray R. Fitting, Supervisor
The St. Joe National Forest is located in the northern part of Idaho in Shoshone, Benewah, Latah, and a small portion of Clearwater Counties. It comprises most of the St. Joe and St. Maries River Drainage is as well as part of the Little North Fork of the Clearwater and the head of the Palouse River, making of an area of about 1,400,000 acres under this administration.

The Civilian Conservation Corps has contributed materially to the improvement, development, and administration of this vast area. During the past five and one-half years since the organization of the CCC's they have accomplished the following project:

ROADS
Since 1933 the CCC organization has gone a long way toward accomplishing many of these sorely needed transportation facilities. Four hundred and eighty-seven miles of road have been constructed, so located as to open up the previously inaccessible areas. Roads of varying standards have been constructed ranging from gravel motor ways 20 feet in width to minor 14-foot truck roads which traverse portions of the interior forest region where travel is light. As might be expected due to the rough broken terrain traversed by these roads, hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of solid rock and common material were involved in this construction program. The clearance of the right-of-way for this mileage, for the most part, was a tremendous task involving as it did, the clearing of the right-of-way and removal of stumps through heavy stands of timber.

BRIDGES
The transportation system has required the building of 14 steel and reinforced concrete bridges of lengths ranging from comparatively small size structures to bridges spanning the larger streams requiring a length of 300 feet to 500 feet and of such character as to present difficult construction problems.

RECREATION
Numerous public campgrounds in camping spots have been constructed ranging from one-car camp spots to improved public campgrounds furnished with water supply, sanitary system, fireplaces, tables, and swimming pool, that will accommodate several hundred vacationists at a time. Thousands of people from the Inland Empire have availed themselves of these opportunities during the past couple of years. During the past summer approximately 27,000 people visited the Forest spending from one to several days enjoying wonderful camping opportunities and scenery.

BLISTER RUST CONTROL
The Civilian Conservation Corps has contributed immeasurably in the fight against the spread of the white pine blister rust menace. During the past five years well over 200,000 acres of white pine timber land have been successfully worked. The reduction of the disease in affected areas and prevention of spread to additional acreage represents savings of millions of dollars in forest values. In white pine areas where the blister rust disease is allowed to spread uncontrolled, the rust kills millions of white pine seedlings and young growth annually which, if protected, are the foundation of our future forest crop of white pine, one of the most valuable of timber species.

FIRE CONTROL
The 1,400, 000 acres administered by the fire control organization require the construction and maintenance of adequate improvements. Annually hundreds of miles a telephone lines, trails, etc., must be put in serviceable condition. Towers, lookout houses, and administrative buildings must be maintained. The CCC organization program of work for the forest provides for a much of this to be accomplished by use of these workers. Annually needed replacements or new construction projects it can be accomplished are incorporated in the work plans.

Throughout the past five years the Civilian Conservation Corps has rendered a valuable service in fire control. The camps, located as they have been, made it possible to use men in maintaining lookout stations, patrols, small crews; and large fires have been manned in whole or in part by enrollees. This service has required thousands of man-days being spent by enrollees in fighting forest fires. To estimate with any degree of accuracy what the fire losses would have been had the CCC not been immediately available is impossible; but it is obvious that the savings represented by preventing destruction of timber, wildlife, and other resources, is great. The immediate presence of the CCC's on the ground when a fire starts is of inestimable value in holding losses to a minimum.

HAZARD REDUCTION AND REFORESTATION
Hazard reduction and stand improvement may have been accomplished on approximately 3,500 acres of area that had been treated in blocks. Treatment of areas in this manner involves the cutting and removal of dead trees and logs which greatly reduces the possibility of fire starting and makes control much easier, as well as placing the area in a productive state. In addition, a great many miles of roadside clean-up have been accomplished. Reforestation of areas that in years past have been entirely denuded of tree growth by repeated burning have been benefited to the extent of planting approximately 15,000, 000 trees of the more valuable commercial species native to this region.

BEAUTY BAY WORK PROJECT
The work outlined for Camp F-182 during the fall and winter months consists of four major projects and six lesser ones. The four most important ones are roadside clean-up on the Lake Divide road number 439. Highway 10, the Fernan Ranger Station, and the Beauty Creek road. The lesser projects are the Wolf Lodge stand improvement, the Coeur d'Alene Mountain campground, pruning on the South Fork Cedar Creek Trail, and telephone line construction and maintenance....

The second most important project is the Fernan Ranger Station work. During the fall and winter months, this job has used one complete crew, and has taken 1,476 man-days in helping to build a new Forestry office and storage warehouse. On roadside clean-up, 4.4 miles was completed with 1,319 man-days.

WORLEY WORK PROJECT
The control of erosion is a national problem. Many millions of acres of land in United States which were once used for crop production are now wasteland because the rich topsoil has been removed as result of erosion. If this is allowed to continue, the major portion of our agricultural land may become as barren as some parts of China. By conserving our soil we are conserving the nation's food supply. The Soil Conservation Service is given this responsibility, and CCC camps are cooperating in the performance of this work.

This camp is working on an 85,000-acre area in the Rock Creek drainage. The work has been completed on 19,622 acres, and work has been planned on 7,000 more acres for the coming year. More than a hundred farmers are now cooperating with the Soil Conservation Service in this area.

A summary of the work which will be done by the camp includes: building dams; grading gully banks by machine and hand labor, developing springs for stock watering, removing and rebuilding fences, improving timber stands, seeding, and planting trees. Some of the work which we are assisting the farmers with, is quite expensive, both to the farmer and to the government.

MARBLE CREEK WORK PROJECT
When Company 257 arrived in its new camp at Marble Creek, Idaho, it started to work on the Donkey Creek Bridge under the supervision of Ben Bates, camp superintendent. Amazing progress was made on this project, and it was finished by Nov. 26, 1937.

Another project which engaged Company 257 was the widening of the Marble Creek road for the prevention of forest fires and for better road travel. Another project which is engaged in almost continuously is the gathering of wood which is the only available fuel for the camp buildings.

The main project which is not yet been completed is the Saint Joe River Road. The road is to be twenty-five feet wide, built on a water grade 10 feet above the high water mark. This road when completed will open a vast country that has heretofore been inaccessible to the general public. The road is being built under the Bureau of Public Roads for the use of the forest administration and for the general public. Great progress has so far been made on the road.

CHACOLET COMPANY HISTORY, CO. 1995
The history of Company 1995 began with the organization of Company 245 at Camp Dix, New Jersey, in May, 1933. In June, the company arrived at Kooskia, Idaho. From this location, it moved to Faniff, just below Avery. May, 1934, saw the company at Collins, near Bovill, Idaho. The company was then selected to commence improvement on the only state park in Idaho; and in October, 1934, under command of Lt. Joseph F. Delaney, the company moved to Chacolet, Idaho, its present location. In May, 1935, the company was changed from the Second to the Ninth Corps, and the number became 1995.

Company administration, mess, recreational, and educational facilities are second to none. Cooperation among all concerned has been the best at all times. The morale of the enrolled men has been and is superior, and the spirit of cooperative endeavor has been a tradition in the camp.

CHACOLET WORK PROJECT
Camp SP-1, Heyburn State Park, is located in Idaho's only state-owned park. The National Park Service, cooperating with the Idaho Department of Public Works, began operation in the park October 8, 1934, shortly after the camp had been built. Cleanup and road and trail construction, erecting recreational facilities, and the building of the power line into the camp were some of the first projects.

During the past year, much has been done in the way of opening up the wonders of the park region to the general public. A pipeline was laid across the lake to Rocky Point for the convenience of picnickers early in the year. During the summer, construction of a picnic and camping area was started on the hill above Chacolet Lake. Roadways were built throughout the area: and tables, benches, stoves, running water, and latrines were installed.

In April, 1938, the St. Joe River flooded. Company 1995 was instrumental in helping many families to move their possessions out of the stricken area.

September, 1938, was the month of fires. The men of Company 1995 were called out on one fire after another, but much valuable timberland was conserved through the efforts of the men of the company.

HESS WORK PROJECT
Company 1204 moved from Red Ives to Fall Creek, Camp Hess, 17 miles northeast of Saint Maries on the Saint Joe River Nov. 1, 1938, to start its most important job, the construction of the largest bridge ever attempted by a CCC company and the building of nine miles of new highway.

The bridge will span the Milwaukee Railroad and the Saint Joe River, a distance of 530 feet with six spans, having the greatest load capacity of any bridge in Idaho. It will have four major piers, the highest more than 60 feet. The floor of the bridge will be 32 feet high, and the concrete roadway will be 20 feet wide. The cost will be well over $100, 000. When completed, the bridge will contain more than 13,000 yards of concrete requiring 7,800 yards of cement (12 carloads), 1,300 yards of gravel, 700 yards of sand (20 carloads), 100,000 feet of form lumber, 114,407 pounds (57 tons) of reinforced steel, and 250 tons of structural steel.

The new road will join the Saint Joe-Avery and the Calder-Saint Maries roads across the new bridge, reducing the distance from Saint Maries to Avery about 15 miles. It will require nearly two years to complete the project.

ST. JOE RIVER WORK PROJECT, Company 1239
Building the road from Avery up the Saint Joe River has been the main work project for every company that has been located on the river above the north fork.

In their road building, Company 1239 had used tons of dynamite to move the many rock cliffs. Concrete bridges have been placed over Bird, Eagle, and Quartz Creeks, and several culverts have been placed on other creeks. Trail maintenance, the building of a new trail, construction of the suspension bridge at Turner Flats, and cutting firewood for the camp have been other projects.

At present, the men are working on improvements at the Avery Ranger station which include the construction of the retaining wall, an entrance road, remodeling of the office, and general landscaping of the ground. On the Saint Joe River from Turner Flats toward Avery, the men are lowering the road around Skookum Bluff from 15 to 20 feet, widening the traveled portion to18 feet, and graveling the surface.

A side camp has been established at Avery to complete the work project up Fish Book Creek which consists of the making of a 20-foot road for about 12 miles, including the construction of a tunnel 420 feet long, and the building of a 125-foot girder bridge.

VETERANS COMPANY HISTORY
Company 2936, VCCC, from its inception on June 13, 1935, has been located at Usk, Washington. As its home has been permanent, its personnel and overhead have been stable. Capt. John Smith, Inf-Res., has been in command since October 12, 1936, having been preceded by Capt. Raymond C. Alexander and Capt. Wilbur P. Burritt. Contract Surgeon Harry B. Wilkinson arrived March 27, 1937, to relieve Lt. Louis A. Ling, Med-Res. Educational Adviser David T. Logg has been with the company since his assignment on April 9, 1937.

Company 2936 has received superior ratings on camp inspections since April, 1937, and it has received commendations from prominent visitors. Major improvements during the past two years include: equipping and enlarging the recreation hall, modernizing equipment for kitchen and wood shop, landscaping, a four-star printed publication, "The Ponderosa Veteran", athletic and recreational facilities improved, and a library building.

KALISPELL CREEK COMPANY HISTORY, Co. 281
Company 281, one of the first companies organized at Camp Dix, New Jersey, in 1933, is known as one of the most traveled companies. Before finding a permanent home at Kalispell Creek Camp, 42 miles north of Priest River, Idaho, Company 281 traveled from Coast to Coast three times in ranged from Southern California to the snow-capped mountains of Glacier Park, Montana.

At Kalispell Creek, Company 281 found a home of which the members are justly proud.

... every effort has been made to make the camp a comfortable and pleasant place. Sidewalks were laid out, lawns were planted, a new school building was erected and equipped, the recreation hall was improved, and innumerable other improvements were made.

The baseball team pounded its way to the district championship in 1938. Boxing, too, has been an active sport, and two of the district winners were from Company 281. Company dances are given in Priest River each month, and the excellent manner in which they are conducted is a credit to the company.

KALISPELL CREEK WORK PROJECT
Due to intensive logging operations in the Priest Lake area, a forest fire destroyed miles of valuable forest. Company 281 was designated to cut the snags, replant, and control blister rust in this area.

During the year 1938, the members of Company 281, made up of young men from New York and New Jersey, accomplish the following: 575,00 trees planted; 50 acres of white pine seeding; 8,250 acres of blister rust eradication; 17 forest fires controlled; 90 acres of road right-of-way cleared and burned; 12 miles of roadside snagged; 38 miles of road maintained; 70 miles of trail maintained; 1,100 cords of wood cut; and 2,500 telephone poles cut and treated.

By accomplishing this work, the Priest River area has been changed from a desolate waste of miles of dead snags to a vast garden of vigorous white pine, yellow pine, spruce, and cedar. The dividends of this investment, in money value, will not come to this generation. But to the children and the grandchildren of those who did this fine piece of work, it will be a heritage of millions of dollars of good commercial timber, streams well-stocked with trout, and game in abundance.