America’s 20th-century “tree army” brought generations of citizens closer to nature’s wonders while enduring the nation’s greatest economic plight.

If the political winds are favorable, new recruits might get the chance to repeat that effort during the current health crisis.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, and the National Wildlife Federation are proposing the creation of a 21st Century Civilian Conservation Corps to conserve and restore environmentally challenged sites while putting to work people who have been idled by the covid-19 pandemic.

The REVIVE the CCC bill, sponsored by Casey, is inspired by the original Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s, which provided jobs for about 3 million unemployed men during the Great Depression. Among them were 194,500 Pennsylvania residents.

https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/civilian-conservation-corps-legacy-lives-on-in-state-parks/. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. 9/18/2021.