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New Deal programs often addressed social and environmental problems not directly related to the Great Depression. The Civilian Conservation Corps, for example, was active in flood control and programs to restore American forests. In New England, the Corps was active in efforts to eliminate the Gypsy Moth. This moth was introduced to the Northeast in the late nineteenth century by a breeder of silk caterpillars. By the turn of the century the moth, in its caterpillar form, had destroyed forests in the region by eating the leaves of hardwoods particularly oaks. As the article suggests, eliminating gypsy moths required training. Workers often climbed tall trees with ladders and ropes to eliminate moth larvae and caterpillars

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