| 1 | House Resolution |
| 2 | A resolution designating March 31, 2011, as "Civilian |
| 3 | Conservation Corps Member Appreciation Day" in Florida. |
| 4 |
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| 5 | WHEREAS, in the midst of the Great Depression, President |
| 6 | Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration created the Office of |
| 7 | Emergency Conservation Work, which would later become the |
| 8 | Civilian Conservation Corps, in order to provide work for the |
| 9 | unemployed in the areas of conservation, restoration, and |
| 10 | recreational development of federal and state public lands, and |
| 11 | WHEREAS, in 1934, state officials collaborated with the |
| 12 | National Park Service in the acquisition and development of land |
| 13 | for state parks and forests, and this endeavor led to the |
| 14 | creation of the Florida Park Service and the establishment of |
| 15 | Civilian Conservation Corps work camps across the first eight |
| 16 | state parks, where employees constructed cabins, picnic |
| 17 | pavilions, entrance stations, support buildings, and other |
| 18 | recreational facilities, many of which still exist today, and |
| 19 | WHEREAS, the Civilian Conservation Corps employees earned |
| 20 | much-needed wages that supported their families as they |
| 21 | performed a variety of tasks, including landscaping, |
| 22 | reforestation, reintroducing wildlife to depleted areas, |
| 23 | constructing and operating fish hatcheries, implementing soil |
| 24 | conservation measures, and developing forest firefighting |
| 25 | methods, and |
| 26 | WHEREAS, the labor and dedication of the Civilian |
| 27 | Conservation Corps nurtured the evolution of Florida's state |
| 28 | park system, which now consists of 160 state parks from |
| 29 | Pensacola to Key West, providing the citizens of the state with |
| 30 | a vast and flourishing landscape that preserves Florida's unique |
| 31 | natural beauty, protects its rich and varied wildlife, and |
| 32 | maintains a definitive element of its culture and heritage, and |
| 33 | WHEREAS, modern tenets of conservation are an outgrowth of |
| 34 | the work begun by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and its |
| 35 | continued dedication to the principles of preservation, |
| 36 | conservation, and civil service is an invaluable asset to the |
| 37 | ecosystem and residents of Florida, NOW, THEREFORE, |
| 38 |
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| 39 | Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of |
| 40 | Florida: |
| 41 |
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| 42 | That in recognition of the accomplishments, service, and |
| 43 | legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps, March 31, 2011, is |
| 44 | designated as "Civilian Conservation Corps Member Appreciation |
| 45 | Day" in the State of Florida. |