North Cascades

STEWARDSHIP OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN:
GOVERNMENT IN THE NORTH CASCADES

UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE ERA

Shelters

Detail of log and shake construction used in shelter.
(Photos by G. Luxenberg, NPS, 1984)

Forest rangers became increasingly involved with recreation issues in the national forests as public use and demands on recreational resources increased. Recreation was not a major concern for the USFS before the 1930s because of competition from special interest groups representing mining, timber, water, and grazing. But as the agency watched their forest lands become national parks it quickly became a legitimate use and a priority. [75] Before the turn of the century, campers and tourists took the boat up Lake Chelan to Stehekin, enjoying the scenery and fresh mountain air. On the west side, USFS Ranger Tommy Thompson assisted ". . . automobiles loaded with campers . . ." coming into the upper Skagit region by the 1910s, supplying them with maps and directions to good fishing holes. [76] As the number of sportsmen and hikers increased, the USFS began to provide minimal services for these backcountry visitors. Designated campgrounds were established along river and creek trails, and rough lean-tos were built from nearby timber. Abandoned cabins built by miners also served as shelters for the hiker, hunter, and fisherman, but the users needs were changing. The field season of 1916 marked the beginning of a shelter building program on the west side of the mountains. Without a doubt, the construction of these buildings was ". . . a new departure in the work of the Forest Service":

The design of the shelters was made with a definite purpose in view. These shelters are to be used chiefly by travelers, campers and fishermen during the summer vacation season. The object and purpose of building these shelters is to encourage camping on definite areas under such conditions as will provide the necessary sanitary measures to protect the public health, furnish greater comfort and convenience to the traveling public and at the same time minimize the fire danger connected with camping, hunting and fishing on the National Forests. [77]

USFS-design, CCC-built backcountry shelter, located at High Bridge.
(Photos by G. Luxenberg, NPS, 1984)

Built of log poles and cedar shakes, the shelters could accommodate a party of six and were enclosed on three sides, open in the front to face a campfire pit. [78] Following suit on the east side of the divide, the Stehekin District had by 1917 built more than half a dozen shelters scattered along the upper Stehekin River and Bridge Creek. [79]

Recreational use of the national forests began to receive serious attention during the New Deal years. [80] The arrival of the CCC meant new manpower in the national forests and this marked a substantial rise in the number of shelters built on USFS lands. Along Lake Chelan and the Stehekin River valley, the CCC constructed log pole and shake shelters at Flick Creek, High Bridge, and Bridge Creek, all of which are used today. [81] It is likely that CCC crews, in conjunction with USFS crews, also assisted in building shelters in the Skagit District. Hikers had access to over a dozen shelters and lean-tos scattered every few miles along the Skagit River, Thunder Creek, and Big Beaver Creek. Cabins such as Middle and Meadow Cabins on Thunder Creek, Deer Lick Cabin on Lightning Creek, Rock Cabin on Fisher Creek, U.S. Cabin on the Chilliwack River, and Gilbert's Cabin on the Cascade River, were used at various times by travelers and sportsmen. [82]