 <unk> the rural background of most men , the initial camps provided soil conservation and farming @-@ related projects . By August 1945 , 550 men worked on dairy farms and with milk testing . Labor @-@ intensive farming operations like <unk> were short of workers and accepted COs to help fill the gap . Men assigned to the Bureau of Reclamation built <unk> to prevent soil erosion , constructed 164 reservoirs and 249 dams . A sixth of all CPS work was performed in this area . 
