North Cascades

STEWARDSHIP OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN:
GOVERNMENT IN THE NORTH CASCADES

UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE ERA

Guard Stations: Skagit District
Lightning Creek - Boundary - Ross Lake

Another ranger station was established at Lightning Creek, approximately twelve miles from the international boundary. For many years this site had only a lean-to shelter, until a cabin was built at the mouth of the creek. This cabin may have been built in the early 1940s by a logging company clearing timber in the upper river basin. In 1945 the cabin was placed on a raft in anticipation of rising Skagit waters. [54] The floating cabin is used today seasonally as a summer guard station on Ross Lake. [55]

Upstream from Lightning Creek Ranger Station was Boundary Ranger Station, the final and northernmost outpost administered by the USFS. Situated about eight miles south of the international boundary and across from No Name Creek, Boundary Ranger Station was first surveyed in 1910. Improvements consisted of a 3-acre fenced clearing, log house, barn, and tool house, all constructed by Ranger Joe Ridley. [56] This administrative site was used for many years until it also was flooded by rising Skagit waters.

As boat travel became the most efficient means of patrolling the flooded upper Skagit River--now Ross Lake -- the USFS determined that a ranger or "prevention guard" was needed at Ross Dam. With funds from SCL in compensation for the lost Roland Guard Station, the USFS hoped to build a raft with combination boathouse and living quarters for a Ross Lake guard. [57] Fluctuating water levels and a steep shoreline around the lake necessitated a floating station. Construction was deferred nearly ten years as administrative problems were resolved and a site selected. It is generally accepted that the USFS inherited a cabin built earlier by a logging company clearing the basin and instead of building a new structure, the USFS adapted the existing one for use as a floating station. This floating station is still in place at Ross Dam today. Winter drawdown of the lake is considerable and the rafted cabin easily adapts to these changing water levels. Each summer the NPS assigns a seasonal ranger to these quarters. His or her job is to make a boat patrol uplake daily to Hozomeen Campground near the international border, assisting other boaters, campers, and hikers as need be at the numerous camp sites and trailheads along the way . . . [58]