North Cascades

STEWARDSHIP OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN:
GOVERNMENT IN THE NORTH CASCADES

UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE ERA

Activities

The job of USFS ranger was rarely routine. Their work often changed from one day to the next with weather conditions or other unanticipated events. Of course there was always a seemingly endless stack of paperwork to complete, including special-use permits for trapping cabins, fences, pastures, residences, resorts, telephone line connections, and power production. This time-consuming chore of pencil-pushing was handled in conjunction with primary USFS duties and other tasks required on a periodic basis. Rangers in the North Cascades were known to have assisted with such war efforts as victory gardens and preparation for blackouts, and in the compilation of data for the nationwide census. [59] Sundays and any spare hours in a day were allotted for home or office repairs, gardening, and collecting a winter wood supply. As might be expected, one task requiring seven days a week was the ranger s presence in the community. Dealing with the local personalities, individual needs, customs, and beliefs were continual challenges confronting the forest ranger.

The primary duties of a forest ranger as set forth by USFS programs included timber sales, land surveys, fire protection, and trail and telephone line construction and maintenance. Managing timber sales was a time-consuming task, requiring an initial cruise by a ranger of the proposed stand to estimate the market value of the wood. Once the timber had been cut the ranger returned to the logging site to scale the downed timber, quoting the logging company an accurate price for the wood they had felled. Entries noting the counting and stamping of cords of shingle bolts are frequently found in forest ranger diaries. [60] Homestead surveys were undertaken by rangers who often found themselves in the crucial role of determining a settler's destiny. The forest ranger measured acreage and recorded a homesteader's progress on his/her land. He considered, among other things, the amount of cleared land which had been put to agricultural use and whether the claimant had built a permanent residence on the claimed property. If a forest ranger concluded from his field observations that a settler had not satisfied homesteading law requirements, the individual would be declared a squatter and forced to relinquish all rights and use of the land. In this regard the forest ranger was not always a popular figure.

Another early and major concern of the USFS was fire protection. The threat of fire destroying stands of timber was a legitimate concern in the northwest where logging activity kept pace with an expanding market. Trail systems served as a method of fire control. They offered the most expeditious means of reaching fires in the backcountry. In the North Cascades, forest rangers had inherited a series of well-beaten trails constructed earlier by prospectors and miners. Working with this solid foundation, rangers began to expand the network of trails, opening the region through a concerted effort to protect the forests from fire. Also during this era the USFS constructed a fairly extensive system of telephone lines. Following major established routes, the lines connected stations in the front country with each other and with the backcountry. On the east side of the mountains a telephone line ran from Chelan (55 miles downlake) along the lakeshore to Stehekin in 1907, and reached far upriver into Horseshoe Basin. [61] Auxiliary lines were constructed along smaller though well-traveled drainages. On the west side, residents in the upper Skagit valley got access to the USFS telephone line by paying a small fee. Originating in Marblemount, the telephone line connected rangers to numerous points along the entire upper Skagit drainage. Communication in this remote area was greatly enhanced by this combination of systems. Consequently, the construction and maintenance of trails and telephone lines was an essential duty for forest rangers for many decades.

In addition to trail and telephone networks, lookouts became a critical tool for fire management in the national forests. The lookout system began its decline when aerial surveillance proved less expensive and more reliable than foot patrols.

Forest rangers became increasingly involved with recreation issues in the national forests as public use and demands on recreational resources increased. The USFS began to provide minimal services for these backcountry visitors and designated campgrounds were established along river and creek trails, and rough lean-tos were built from nearby timber.

USFS ranger planting fish in Thunder Lake, n.d.
(Callahan Collection, Seattle)

In addition to building campgrounds and shelters, USFS rangers were required to stock the rivers and lakes of the North Cascades with game fish, "making fish grow where none grew before." [83] With the sport fisherman in mind, Ranger Tommy Thompson packed milk cans full of trout fry from the State Department of Game and lead his horse train up Big Beaver and Thunder Creeks to release the fish in those waters. Two decades later, in the 1930s, Thompson and other USFS personnel packed in tens of thousands of fry to Sourdough Lake, Thunder Lake, Pyramid Lake, and McGuire Lakes (Panther Potholes today). [84]

Forest Service rangers were periodically called from their regular duties to assist with other important tasks. World Wars I and II brought a degree of change to the national forests. The First World War generally had little direct impact on USFS lands in the North Cascades. The need for lightweight airplanes prompted the heavy logging of spruce in the 1910s, but this occurred in more accessible areas well outside today's park boundaries. The Second World War, however, brought a new market for forest products. The "War Emergency Protection Plan," instituted by 1942, stated that Oregon and Washington would be vital areas in forest fire protection during the war:

These two states contain many important war industries situated in and adjacent to the forest areas, and both states are included in the present defense area proclaimed by the Army.... The war period is bringing about greatly increased activity in the private forests of Oregon and Washington to supply the rapidly mounting demands for wood products. [85]

Materials for the building of pontoon bridges, ships, barracks, and much more were in great demand and the dense forests of the Pacific Northwest could easily meet that demand. To the dismay of conservationists, USFS chief Lyle Watts convinced President Franklin D. Roosevelt to allow a timber harvest in closed forest areas. As a result of this decision, eleven million board feet of timber were removed from the North Cascades Primitive Area in. 1942. [86]

The USFS was also asked to participate in the defense against possible invasion by the Japanese. Ranger Tommy Thompson spent most of December 12, 1941, at the Backus Ranger Station preparing windows for wartime blackouts. That same month, he canvassed the upper Skagit area registering people between the ages of 18 and 67 to assist with defense work. [87] Although forest rangers were exempt from military service, many other local men were drafted. It was not long before USFS crews were comprised of older men, high school age boys, and women. Most helped by keeping watch at Aircraft Warning System (AWS) stations. These posts were manned 24 hours a day year-round for the purposes of detecting foreign aircraft or incendiary balloons in American skies. Lookouts built earlier for fire protection high on mountain ridges were ideally suited for AWS stations. Desolation, Hidden Lake, Bacon Peak, and Roland Point were all used in this fashion. A post was built at Boundary during this time period as well. [88] Throughout the year, supplies were packed in by USFS crews for the lonely observers keeping vigil over the rugged mountain range.

World War II brought a temporary halt to most recreational activity on USFS lands in the North Cascades. This was in part because of gas and tire rationing and travel restrictions for the general public. In 1946 outdoor recreationists again sought the wilderness of the North Cascades. "All camp ground facilities were filled to capacity during the summer weekends" and "Fishermen reached the upper Skagit in record numbers." [89] USFS personnel seemed to pick up where they had left off, maintaining campgrounds and shelters, replacing older, deteriorated structures, planning new campgrounds, and anticipating future needs.