Cover Page MENU     Contents     Acknowledgements     Brief History of the CCC      NPS Role     NPS Camps     Contributions     Overall Accomplishments     Appendix     Bibliography		The Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Park Service, 1933-1942: An Administrative History Chapter Two: The National Park Service Role ADMINISTRATIVE RELATIONSHIPS: The ECW/CCC Directorate In July of 1937 Director Fechner announced to the CCC advisory council that he intended to transfer to his office the liaison officers then being hired by, paid by, and working for the technical agencies (the Forest Service and Park Service). The Departments of Agriculture, War, and the Interior feared that this was a further concentration of power in the director's office. The bitter opposition to Fechner's proposal led him to solicit support from the president. Roosevelt responded by issuing an executive order in September that directed the secretaries of war, interior, and agriculture, and the administrator of veterans affairs to cooperate with the director of the CCC. Despite this directive, the various agencies remained reluctant to give full support to all of Fechner's policies. In June 1938, Fechner drafted a letter for the president's signature that would give the director clear authority to initiate and approve all policy matters. President Roosevelt refused to sign the letter until November, when Fechner threatened to resign. Fechner then announced to the advisory council that his decision on policy could only be superseded by the president. This pronouncement met with silence in the advisory council, and the secretary of the interior later accused Fechner of usurping responsibilities that had been delegated to the Department of the Interior. [35] Fechner continued to consolidate and centralize functions of the CCC. In 1939 he upset the technical agencies by proposing that a chain of central machine repair shops be established directly under his office's control. Wirth declared that such a plan would adversely affect the CCC program and asked Fechner to reconsider his decision. He further stated that if Fechner's decision was not reversed, the Department of the Interior would submit the matter to the president. Secretary of the Interior Ickes added that the whole question should be investigated by the Bureau of the Budget. Despite the open opposition by the Departments of War, Agriculture, and Interior, Fechner proceeded. He next received presidential approval to have the Selection Division removed from the Labor Department and placed in the director's office. After Fechner's death at the end of 1939, Secretary Ickes wrote to the director of the Bureau of the Budget that the time had come to abolish the CCC director's office He proposed that the entire CCC program be jointly administered by the Departments of Agriculture and Interior, which would assume the duties of the War Department and those of the CCC director's office. President Roosevelt disapproved the plan and appointed James McEntee as the new CCC director. [36] NEXT> Administrative Relationships: The Forest Service
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