<span>The program’s goal was to conserve the country’s natural resources while providing jobs for young men. </span>African American men played a major role in the CCC in North Carolina. These men built truck trails and roads in the Nantahala National Forest, helping to provide easy access to the Great Smoky Mountains. They constructed telephone lines. They removed dead trees to prevent forest fires. Workers put out forest fires, too, saving timber, property, and possibly even lives. They lessened soil erosion by laying topsoil to prevent land- and mudslides, by landscaping, and by planting trees and shrubs. This work benefited forestland and agricultural areas across North Carolina.
