CCC veterans tell compelling stories of their experiences planting trees, fighting fires, building state parks, and reclaiming pastureland in this collective history of the CCC in Minnesota. The Civilian Conservation Corps–born out of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal at the height of the Great Depression–supplied jobs to more than 77,000 Minnesotans in need. Their work left a lasting legacy, visible today in Minnesota’s thriving forests, state park amenities, and soil conservation practices.

Hundreds of interviews complement oral historian Barbara Sommer’s lively text with personal accounts that animate the history of the CCC in Minnesota as camps were created and projects tackled throughout the state. The boys look back–often fondly–at this program, which, for many, was their introduction to the workforce and to life away from home.