Book on the work of the CCC in Indiana – The History of the Indiana State Forests

PIKE STATE FOREST BARN
Photo: Glory-June Greiff
© All Rights Reserved

The History of the Indiana State Forests

Edited by Ronald V. Morris and Glory-June Greiff | Photography by Glory-June Greiff
 
Most states have a department of natural resources, but the structure and hierarchy varies from state to state. In addition to state parks, fish and wildlife areas, recreation areas, and nature preserves–whose missions all differ–Indiana boasts fourteen state forests, most of which were created or developed or improved by the CCC (and the WPA, in some cases). Indeed, only two of our present forests entered the system after the New Deal period. In addition, there are several former state forests that have become something else (two have been upgraded into state parks); all are still public land.  All are discussed in a new book from Ball State University, The History of the Indiana State Forests, available through MT Publishing.
 
Indiana’s state forests were developed in the 1930s by the CCC, usually from played-out farms or on terrain that had proven too difficult for agriculture. While the state parks’ primary mission was preservation of “pristine” lands (or what was perceived as such) and recreation suitable for same, that of state forests, in dire need of reclamation when acquired, was to serve as tree reserves, plantations, and places for silviculture experimentation. Once established, though, the forests were going to be there for awhile, so the Department of Conservation added a secondary recreational mission and oversaw the building of picnic groves and shelters in portions of the forests, the work done by the CCC. This was, of course, in addition to the more typical work of “Roosevelt’s Tree Army,” which involved planting thousands of trees and constructing earthen dams to impound lakes on these properties for flood control and wildlife conservation. Most of the structures are still in place and in more recent years have at last come to be appreciated. A few have been listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
 

OVEN SHELTER - JACKSON-WASHINGTON STATE FOREST IN
Photo: Glory-June Greiff © All Rights Reserved

 
 
The book is lavishly illustrated with color photographs of many of these New Deal projects, while telling the story of the CCC companies that built them within the larger context of the forests’ establishment and use over time. Edited by Dr. Ronald Morris and public historian Glory-June Greiff, who oversaw the research and writing, the book is the first effort at a comprehensive history of Indiana state forests. Greiff, a long time photographer, provided most of the recent images of the New Deal gems; she had previously documented them for the Indiana DNR’s Division of Historic Preservation in the 1990s.
 
 

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