New Deal Accomplishment: 80,000 miles and 2.1 million acres of wildfire fuel reduction

Above: Members of CCC Company 3859, stationed at Camp F-199 ("Camp Concow"), Butte County, California, ca. 1938. This company consisted of young men from Oklahoma who carried out a very large number of firefighting and fire pre-suppression work--e.g., truck trails and firebreak maintenance--in the Golden State. See bottom of blog post for photo credit.

Above: CCC Company 3859 at work on the Ponderosa Firebreak, at Concow, California, ca. 1938. See bottom of blog post for photo credit.

Above: Company 3859 burning brush in Butte County, California, ca. 1938. See bottom of blog post for photo credit.

Above: Triple Cs, in the Sacramento District, Ninth Corps Area, ca. 1938. See bottom of blog post for photo credit.

Above: Members of CCC Company 1216, Camp BR-36 ("Camp Lovelock"), Lovelock, Nevada,  "clearing roadside," ca. 1938. Before arriving in Nevada, this company engaged in "timber cleaning and building fire breaks throughout the Great Smoky Mountains." See bottom of blog post for photo and quote credit.

Above: Much fire hazard reduction work was carried out on Native lands by American Indians enrolled in the CCC ("IECW," or "Indian Emergency Conservation Work," was an early name for the CCC-Indian Division). Photos from: U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Indians at Work, December 15, 1933, p. 20.

Above: Other New Deal agencies, such as the WPA, also engaged in wildfire fuel reduction projects. This newspaper excerpt is from the Herald and News (Randolph, Vermont), May 4, 1939, p. 1. Image from newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Reducing Risk, Reducing Cost

Between 1933 and 1942, enrollees in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) carried out fire hazard reduction work (today, we call it "wildfire fuel reduction") on 2.1 million acres of land, and also along 80,000 miles of roadway (source).

This work included the removal of dead and fallen trees (the result of age, disease, or storms); the clearing of brush; and the removal of "slash," i.e., branches, limbs, and stumps "left behind by careless logging operators years ago" ("Battling Forest Fires Teaches CCC Importance of Its Conservation Work," The Minneapolis Tribune, March 5, 1935, p. 8).

Along roadsides specifically, the CCC might, for example, clear brush back 10 feet from the edges of the road and clear out dead materials within 100 feet ("Fine Job by CCC Boys at Camp Lonergan," The Day (New London, Connecticut), May 7, 1938, p. 18).

Other New Deal agencies carried out wildfire fuel reduction projects too, but the total volume is hard to know and, while significant, not as voluminous as the CCC's work.

We would be wise to replicate these New Deal efforts today, in order to reduce wildfire severity and curtail the trend towards unaffordable homeowners insurance.

"Researchers found overwhelming evidence that in seasonally dry mixed conifer forests in the western U.S., reducing surface and ladder fuels and tree density through thinning, coupled with prescribed burning or pile burning, could reduce future wildfire severity by more than 60% relative to untreated areas."

--"Comprehensive Science Review Shows Fuel Treatments Reduce Future Wildfire Severity," The Nature Conservancy, June 24, 2024.

(Unless otherwise noted, photos in this blog post come from: Civilian Conservation Corps, Official Annual, 1938, Sacramento District, Ninth Corps Area, Direct Advertising Co., Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1938, and are used here for educational and non-commercial purposes).

New Deal Accomplishment: 21,765 artworks for the Index of American Design

Above: This WPA artist is almost certainly Frank M. Keane (1876-1941). This photo shows him at work on the WPA's Index of American Design, in Coral Gables, Florida, February 1940. An obituary describes Keane as an "artist, author, and newspaperman" living at 224 Alhambra Circle in Coral Gables ("Frank M. Keane," The Miami Herald, February 3, 1941, p. 4). Photo from the National Archives.

Above: This appears to be the same dress from the previous photo (compare, for example, the lines around the neck and shoulders). This artwork is credited to Keane, and is stored at the National Gallery of Art. Image from the National Gallery of Art.

Above: Another WPA artist at work on the Index of American Design in Coral Gables, Florida, February 1940. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The description for this photograph, taken in Washington, DC, between 1935 and 1939, reads, "American Index Design, Mrs. Sterilling (Artist), making sketch of Duncan Phyfe Table, Federal Art Project." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: "Toy Warship," a watercolor and graphite on paper, by Frances Lichten (1889-1961), created while she was in the WPA's Index of American Design project, between 1935 and 1942. Image from the National Gallery of Art.

Above: The WPA's Index of American Design not only shows us how things looked in the past, but also how chores and jobs were done. This artwork is "Toaster," a watercolor and graphite on paper, by Alice Cosgrove (1906-1971), created between 1935 and 1942, and shows us how toast was made before modern electric appliances. The bread was probably placed into the holders and then placed in front of a fire. Image from the National Gallery of Art.

Above: "Carousel Giraffe," a watercolor and graphite on paper, by Henry Tomaszewski (1918-1998) created for the Index of American Design, ca. 1939. Image from the National Gallery of Art.

Above: "Bandbox or Hat Box," a watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paperboard, created by Jessie M. Youngs, created for the Index of American Design, ca. 1940. Image from the National Gallery of Art.

Above: A WPA poster, promoting an exhibition of artwork created for the Index of American Design in Ohio, between 1936 and 1938. Image from the Library of Congress.

Preserving American Heritage and Design

The Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, states: "The Index of American Design was a series of portfolios of faithful drawings, in color, illustrating the rise and development of the decorative and applied arts in this country, from earliest colonial times to the end of the nineteenth century. Through educational institutions, these drawings were made available to students, artists, and industrial designers."  

At least 21,765 of these drawings were made by WPA artists.

Today, most of these artworks are held at the National Gallery of Art (NGA). NGA explains that "The Index is made up of 18,257 watercolor works by some 1,000 artists. A Federal Art Project dating to the Great Depression, it sought to identify and preserve a national, ancestral aesthetic for the United States. The watercolors depict American folk and decorative arts objects from the colonial period through 1900."

The Index of American Design was profoundly patriotic (as were the many other historic preservation projects of the New Deal). The WPA's Index of American Design Manual noted that the "European nations have long realized the importance of gathering [historic design] material... Familiarity with the roots of their design tradition has given the work of European designers a rich individuality. This quality has attracted American manufacturers to the European design market with a consequent neglect of native American talent" [here, "native American" is used broadly, to describe designs made on American soil, by people of various cultural backgrounds] (quote featured in: Samuel M. Green, "A Plan for the Index of American Design," College Art Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Autumn 1950), pp. 18-22). 

In other words, the New Deal, through the Index of American Design, was going to highlight, preserve, and promote the history of American skill and creativity.

The Index of American Design was an ambitious WPA program that sparked wide interest. It is still utilized today, and has inspired efforts to duplicate / continue its efforts (see, e.g., the previously-cited journal article, and also, Matthew J. Westerby, "Creating an Index of American Design," National Gallery of Art, June 2025, accessed April 29, 2026).

New Deal Accomplishment: 34,000 miles of new or improved sewer lines

Above: In only a year's time, the WPA was at work on over 5,000 sewer systems across the United States. This map comes from the WPA publication Jobs (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1936) and accompanying text reads: "Pestilence stalks, all too often, through crowded sections of great cities. Its causes are known - contagion, filth, lack of sanitary facilities. Not enough was done to prevent them--so people died--because of inadequate sanitation. But now we have the workers, eager to do the job. WPA is improving or extending 5,384 sewer systems in all sections of the Nation, a campaign which dovetails neatly with the widespread rural sanitation program of its predecessors, FERA and CWA."

Above: WPA laborers installing 8 miles of sewer lines, to serve 8 communities in the Ridley, Pennsylvania area, 1936. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: A large and carefully constructed sewer in Portsmouth, Ohio, courtesy of the WPA, 1936. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The description for this 1936 photograph reads: "Engineers take pride in their work. This smiling WPA worker is as proud as his fellow workers and chief engineers of the big job nearing completion in the vicinity of 179th Street and Highbridge Park. Antiquated and inadequate sewers are being replaced with modern ones - an important adjunct in the plan for improving sanitary conditions in the five boros of New York." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: New Deal sewer projects could employ large numbers of unemployed workers. It was a triple-win situation: People received jobs; paychecks were spent at local businesses; and sanitation was improved for the entire area. The WPA workers above are replacing a 66-year-old sewer line in Utica, New York, 1936. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: A WPA-built storm sewer at 26 1/2 Street, Parkersburg, West Virginia, between 1935 and 1943. Having separate sewers for human waste and stormwater is beneficial because combined sewer systems are sometimes overwhelmed by heavy rainfall, making it more likely that untreated sewage will flood residential areas or enter local waterways. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA) funded many sewer systems across the country, such as this one in Goshen, Indiana, between 1933 and 1941. PWA funds were used by governments to contract with private construction firms (whereas WPA funds were used to hire the unemployed). Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Workers in the Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration (PRERA)--funded by the New Deal's Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)--install a sewer line in San Lorenzo, ca. 1935. After PRERA, the New Deal's Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) continued to modernize sewer systems, as well as all other types of infrastructure on the island (see, e.g., Geoff G. Burrows, The Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration: New Deal Public Works, Modernization, and Colonial Reform, University Press of Florida, 2024). Photo above comes from a PRERA report.

Above: Another sewer project funded by FERA (see previous photo), 1934-1935. FERA actually constructed more sewers than highligted above, when storm sewers are included. Photo from the final report of FERA's Work Division.

Above: The Civil Works Administration (CWA)--one of the earliest New Deal work-relief programs--also built or improved many sewer systems across the country, 1933-1934. Photo from: Henry G. Alsberg, America Fights the Depression: A Photographic Record of the Civil Works Administration, New York: Coward-McCann Publishers, 1934, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

The New Deal Cleaned Us Up

Between 1935 and 1943, WPA workers installed 24,271 miles of new storm and sanitary sewers, and reconstructed or improved another 3,364 miles (source). At the same time, young Americans in the National Youth Administration (NYA) installed or expanded 251 miles of storm and sanitary sewers, and reconstructed or improved another 52 miles (source).

Earlier, between 1933 and 1935, CWA workers installed or repaired 2,272 miles of sewers, and FERA workers another 3,995 (sources: Harry Hopkins' 1936 book Spending to Save and the final report of the Work Division of FERA).

Between 1933 and 1941, the PWA also funded an enormous amount of sewer line work, often in conjunction with new waste disposal plants, but the total number of miles is hard to determine. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) created 5,935 new sewage and waste disposal systems (source), but here again the total miles of sewer lines installed is hard to determine. This is one of the major problems one encounters when trying to calculate total New Deal work product - agencies often used different types of measurements and terminology when tallying up their accomplishments.

If we add up WPA, NYA, CWA, and FERA sewer line installation and improvement, we come to 34,205 miles. Even though some of that work may have overlapped (e.g., a mile of sewer line started by CWA and then completed by FERA) we are leaving out a massive amount of work by PWA and CCC, as well as smaller amounts of work by other agencies, such as PRRA, thereby making the 34,000 figure conservative nonetheless.

34,000 miles is enough to sewer line work to stretch from New York City to San Francisco, 13 times. Adjusted for population growth, we would be installing or improving 85,000 miles of sewers today, making the connection from NYC to S.F. 34 times.

New Deal sewer line work--along with similar projects, such as waste disposal plants and sanitary privies--helped reduced sanitation-related diseases, and also helped reduce pollution in streams and rivers. We would do well to remember this history today, in light of the recent historic sewer spill in the Potomac River, as well as the "D+" letter grade America received in 2025--from the American Society of Civil Engineers--for its crumbling and insufficient wastewater infrastructure.

New Deal Accomplishment: 25,000 projects to build or improve tennis courts

Above: WPA-built tennis courts, at the Davis Avenue Community Center, Mobile, Alabama, 1937. Photo from the National Archives.


Above: Tennis courts at Arcadia Recreation Center, Los Angeles, California, ca. 1936. These courts were built with WPA labor. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: WPA workmen, constructing tennis courts at a school in Gilbert, Arizona, between 1935 and 1943. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: WPA-built tennis courts at Moultrie Park, Charleston, South Carolina, 1938. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: A close-up section of the previous photo.

Above: WPA workers constructing tennis courts at Pangborn Park, Hagerstown, Maryland, 1937. The tennis courts were one of many projects at the park. Photo from the University of Maryland College Park Archives.

Above: The tennis court area at Pangborn Park, 2011. Compare the stone steps you see in this photo to the steps you see in the previous photo. Photo by Brent McKee.

Above: The New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA) also built tennis courts, usually part of larger park development projects. These PWA-funded courts are in Beverly Hills, California, between 1933 and 1941. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The description for this photograph reads, "Recreational activities--tennis is one of the sports which occupy our leisure time. National Youth Administration, Illinois. Black women stand with tennis rackets on a tennis court." The New Deal not only built tennis courts, but also conducted classes to teach tennis. This photo--taken in 1936--appears to be such a class, with the lady on the left perhaps being an NYA Recreation Leader. Photo from the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.

Above: Part of a WPA poster, promoting milk for better nutrition and health. One of the under-studied areas of the New Deal is how it advanced overall well-being through the promotion of physical exercise, good eating habits, cleanliness, social interaction, and regular healthcare check-ups. Image from the Library of Congress.

A New Deal for Tennis

Between 1935 and 1943, WPA workers built 10,070 new tennis courts, and carried out 3,086 other projects to improve existing courts. The NYA, during that same time frame, built or expanded 3,907 tennis courts, and had projects to improve 5,167 existing courts. 

Before WPA and NYA, the Work Division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) constructed 1,910 tennis courts and improved 1,187 existing courts (some of these projects were likely completed by WPA).

Other New Deal agencies worked on tennis courts too, such as the Civil Works Administration (CWA), PWA (see three images above), and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC, see tennis courts here), but the totals are not known and, with respect to PWA and CCC, probably do not approach the volume we see with the other agencies.

So, using the statistics from WPA, NYA, and FERA--and taking into account the significant but unknown quantity of tennis court work of other agencies--we can confidently say that the New Deal carried out about 25,000 projects to build or improve tennis courts.

New Deal Accomplishment: Thousands of research studies and surveys

Above: A WPA poster, promoting science. Image from the Library of Congress.

Above: A student enrollee in the New Deal's National Youth Administration (NYA) works in the science building at Ezel High School, Kentucky, ca. 1941. Here, perhaps, a seed was planted to pursue a career in medicine or scientific research. The final report of the NYA explained that its "in-school" work program (high school, college, graduate school) attempted "to plan work projects so as to provide students with experience which would supplement their regular school work. This was particularly true in the colleges, where science majors, for example, were employed as laboratory assistants, prospective librarians worked with books, and medical students engaged in medical research" (p. 60). Photo from the National Archives.

Above: This NYA research project appears to be one of the earliest uses of a centrifuge for cancer research. Centrifugation is still used in cancer research today. Image from the NYA's final report.

Above: The description for this photograph--taken between 1935 and 1943--reads, "Making a study of ultra violet rays in the survey of air pollution in New York City." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: A description of a WPA-assisted study on air pollution in New York City (perhaps related to the previous photo), as well as a WPA-assisted study on water pollution in Seattle. From the WPA's Index of Research Projects, Volume III, 1939.

Above: "WPA laboratory technician making a silicosis test," Massachusetts, between 1935 and 1943. Silicosis is a lung-destroying disease that primarily affects people who routinely breathe in small particles, such as workers in the mining industry. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: "Interior of WPA Tuberculosis Research Laboratory," Colorado Springs, Colorado, between 1935 and 1943. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: "The Negro's Contribution in the Social and Cultural Development of America: Science," an oil painting by Millard Owen Sheets (1907-1989). This artwork is part of a larger set of murals that Sheets painted for the U.S. Department of the Interior Building. According to the Living New Deal, he was awarded a contract by the New Deal's Section of Fine Arts in 1939, but the paintings were not installed until 1948. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and Carol M. Highsmith.

Above: The description for this photograph--taken in Ohio between 1935 and 1943--reads: "Leonard B. Corwin, of the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, supervisor of the WPA Climatology Project in the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy Dist., is here shown with one of the tanks used for weighing and recording rainfall and snowfall." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Some of the 500 WPA workers employed on the climatology project (see previous photo). They are constructing shelters for weather instruments. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: These WPA workers are transcribing data from the climatology project (see previous two photos). Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Members of the United States Antarctic Service (USAS) Expedition, 1939-1941. FDR took an especially strong interest in the USAS and helped plan and coordinate the project. The USAS carried out a large number of studies and surveys--mapping, weather, biological, geology, etc.--and set the precedent for permanent and year-round American bases in Antarctica. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The New Deal not only conducted and assisted research studies and surveys, but also built many facilities where research could be taught and carried out, such as the Chemistry Building at Howard University (shown above), the National Cancer Institute, and Patuxent Research Refuge (after the New Deal, Patuxent Research Refuge would play a central role in discovering the destructive impact of DDT and lead shot on wildlife and the environment). Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Two studies on low-income populations, carried out by the New Deal's Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Work Division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), 1933-1935. The first study highlights the never-ending--and rarely fulfilled--need for better housing solutions for the homeless in America. The second study highlights why the New Deal started such an aggressive public housing effort (USHA, Resettlement Communities, Alley Dwelling Authority, etc.). This is important to remember since modern critics of the New Deal focus most of their attention on instances of segregation and displacement, and less on the miserable and sometimes deadly living conditions that sparked New Deal action. Image from the WPA's Index of Research Projects, Volume I, 1938.

Above: WPA workers performing health research. Photo from the Report on Progress of the WPA Program, June 30, 1940.

Advancing Our Knowledge and Capability

Thousands of research studies and surveys were carried out with the assistance of the CWA, FERA, and WPA. Most of these studies are highlighted in the WPA's three-volume Index of Research Projects, 1938-1939. The index summarizes over 5,000 studies and surveys--the majority of which received New Deal work-relief assistance--covering topics such as geography, economics, housing, poverty, biology, illness & disease, public administration, and education.

The New Deal's National Youth Administration (NYA) likely assisted with far more research studies and surveys, due to the nature of its "in-school" work program (see the caption under the second image of this blog post).

How important were these New Deal-assisted studies and surveys? Beyond the fundamental "building block" aspect of research (building on previous findings and then setting the stage for future inquiries), we'll probably never know for sure. But every once in a while, we find a major impact. The WPA's National Health Survey, for example, influenced the creation of Medicaid (see the Living New Deal's summary on "Public Health Projects").

When we think about the New Deal's contribution to knowledge and capability--both at the time and in subsequent years--and then consider the Trump Administration's persistent efforts to cut funding for research and science (while giving enormous tax cuts to the rich and increasing funding for military adventures) we see just how revolutionary the New Deal was - probably advancing science by several decades, just as it had advanced other areas by decades, such as infrastructure and our state & national parks.