THE national forests with their lakes, streams, mountain ranges, and mountain peaks, including an area more than five times as large as all New England, contain a large part of the natural outdoor recreational areas in the United States. The stoves and fireplaces in this book are timeless classics, and have a certain appeal in this age of expensive, propane-fueled stainless steel barbecue grills-and part of this appeal is that they were built to last a few generations rather than a few grilling seasons. The condition ranged from those that had been completely leveled to those whose condition was considered not that bad. According to a news report in 2011, custodians of one state park in West Virginia started a program to restore 20 original CCC fireplaces. Come to think of it, so did my kids, because a large percentage of these CCC fireplaces or those based on their design were still standing while they grew up, and many are still standing today. Other outdoor fireplaces in the book look like those that, while growing up, I often saw in parks at all levels-local, state and national. When I discovered the original version of this publication at a used book sale, I had an immediate sense of nostalgia when I realized that the high chimney stove on page 53 ( Plate XII) is not unlike the one my father built in our backyard during the late 1940s. Often created from rock found at or near the construction site, they were built for heavy use and long-term durability. The designs in this book are those which the CCC used to create these outdoor amenities in parks and along trails from coast to coast. They built trails and roads in remote areas of the country and created golf courses and softball fields closer to urban areas. By the time the program was discontinued, this Corps of young men had planted nearly 3 billion trees, constructed more than 800 parks, and upgraded most of the existing state parks. Besides providing employment during the Great Depression, the goal of the program was to conserve and protect natural resources. The CCC was a New Deal program that operated from 1933 to 1942, providing work for unemployed, unmarried men, ages 17-23. THIS delightfully illustrated primer on constructing outdoor stone fireplaces, barbecue pits, camp stoves, and campfire circles was originally published in 1937 for the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, by the United States Forest Service. Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation This Dover edition, first published in 2012, is an unabridged republication of Camp Stoves and Fireplaces as prepared by The Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, and originally published by the US Government Printing Office, Washington DC, in 1937. Preface to the Dover Edition copyright © 2012 by Paul Dickson.
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