A Green Shrouded Miracle: TOC

A Green Shrouded Miracle
The Administrative History of Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area, Ohio

Special History Study

The Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail is probably the most exciting and biggest project we will be taking on here at Cuyahoga Valley. The Ohio and Erie Canal is the most sign jfi cant historical resource in the valley, and the towpath trail will be the premiere recreational and interpretive development in the park.... We will have a completed trailfollowing the towpath through the entire length of the park north to south. ¹

Assistant Superintendent Robert P. Martin

The Appropriations Game: Feast and Famine

For nearly two decades, Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area (CVNRA) has enjoyed a close working relationship with the Ohio congressional delegation, especially its “Legislative Father,” John F. Seiberling. In the aftermath of President Ford’s December 1974 signature, Congressman Seiberling was not content to savor his victory; as he confided to a close friend, much work remained to be done:

Even with passage of the legislation, however, the park will not become operational overnight. In the coming year, the National Park Service will prepare its plans for the park, including an environmental impact statement. An advisory commission must be established and public hearings held. Land acquisition will be accomplished over a six-year pen od. Programs cannot begin until the National Park Service has acquired enough land, through purchase or donation, to make it a manageable unit.

So we have much work ahead of us, to assure that the area becomes the park we all dream of lam confident, however, that someday soon the Cuyahoga Valley will be one of the jewels of the National Park System and a source ofjoy for the people of Ohio and our nation.²

Seiberling’s efforts were augmented by a dedicated staff. Loretta Neumann, an assistant and subsequently an aide on Seiberling’s Public Lands and National Parks Subcommittee, played a significant role in working to promote CVNRA before Congress. Betsy Cuthbertson also maintained close ties to CVNRA to assist in legislative or appropriations matters.³

VCongressman Ralph Regula, a Republican from Canton, provided invaluable assistance through his position on the Interior Appropriations Committee. Regula’s stewardship prevented CVNRA from being branded exclusively as “Seiberling’s park” or a “Democratic park.” Charles Vanik, prior to his 1980 retirement, also played an instrumental role. On the Senate side, John Glenn, Robert Taft, and Howard Metzenbaum have supported CVNRA, with Glenn making several key appeals for funding.⁴

CVNRA’s intimate ties to Congress caused enormous disruption to the National Park Service’s (NPS) budget formulation process. The Washington Office and Midwest Regional Office (MWRO) formulated budgets to conform to parameters established by the Department of the Interior and Office of Management and Budget. Seiberling and other delegation members had their own priorities for CVNRA funding and frequently took an independent course, thereby skewing the process. Anxious to promote CVNRA’s needs, Bill Birdsell willingly participated in circumventing bureaucratic channels until 1979 when he promised to report such congressional inquiries in the future. As Birdsell reassured Regional Director Jimmie L. Dunning, “Following the explicit directions of Director Whalen, we are using extreme caution not to lobby with our congressional delegation for additional funding for FY 1980."⁵

The scramble to secure regular funding began in 1975 for FY 1976. Assistant Secretary Nat Reed, noting that the budget was prepared prior to CVNRA’s authorization, had no intention of revising it to include the new area. Without a budget, the park would not have funding to maintain newly-acquired lands. Because it was unlikely NPS reserve funding could be obtained, Birdsell faced having to “beg, borrow, or steal the funds from other NPS areas.”⁶ Lobbying from groups like the Advisory Commission and Cuyahoga Valley Park Federation (CVPF) was important to help demonstrate local support for CVNRA development, and helped the Ohio delegation justify appropriations.⁷

The simmering animosity which existed between CVNRA and MWRO during Bill Birdsell’s superintendency can plainly be seen in the development program. To get into NPS’s budget-making process, parks must submit Forms 10-237 and 10-238 to receive staff increases and funding for development projects. To MWRO’s consternation, CVNRA never submitted a comprehensive package for its development program during Bill Birdsell’ s tenure. While Omaha did receive a trickle of these budget forms, it was not sufficient for a normal five-year development program to be prepared. Birdsell instead relied upon congressional add-ons for Cuyahoga which regularly appeared in the NPS budget each year. This circumvention of the budget process infuriated the Washington and Omaha budget offices, and resulted in the following ultimatum from MWRO:

Rhree years after establishment, we have yet to receive any Form 10-238s to allow us to establish a five-year development program for your area. This situation cannot be allowed to continue. The Fiscal Year 1980 budget contains some $300 /XXJ for planning of development projects for your area, while the Fiscal Year 1981 budget contains an additional $5(X) ,(XXJ for the construction of facilities. We must have the Form 10-238s immediately to allow us to give direction to the Denver Service Center in the planning of these projects. While there may have been valid reasons in the past for postponing the preparation of these for,ns, these reasons do not now exist. I am therefore directing you to prepare the required forms and to submit them to this Office by no later than December 17.⁸

The deadline came and went, but no budget forms arrived from CVNRA. Upon Birdsell’s death, MWRO again requested the information from Superintendent Lewis S. Albert who, discovering that budget records were virtually non-existent, promised to deliver the data.⁹

During the tenure of Secretary James Watt (198 1-1983), the add-on process continued, even though Watt ordered all Interior employees not to talk to members of Congress or their staff without his approval. Nevertheless, Seiberling and others continued consulting with “friends inside the Park Service” to find out what park needs were and then ensured that the necessary appropriations were made.¹⁰

Management Assistant Sheridan S. Steele made the following observation in 1982:

Cuyahoga Valley never has had enough people or enough money to do what was intended here. We tend to be way below what the minimal acceptable standards are in terms of development and operations and we are going to have to continually fight for more positions and more money to be able to carry out even half of what was expected of us when the park was authorized. Just look at the General Management Plan calling for forty million dollars worth of development.... NPS is being spread thinner and thinner in terms of people to operate an expanded number of units. [We are] at the breaking point.¹¹

While the premise of Steele’s comment has not changed in that CVNRA still lacks sufficient money and people to perform up to NPS standards, the direction of the development program changed in 1983 with the arrival of Robert P. Martin to fill a new assistant superintendent position to oversee planning and development. With a park manager spearheading the development program, CVNRA began making slow but steady progress in achieving needed recreational developments for public enjoyment.

History of Development Projects

Like other new areas, CVNRA encountered immediate public pressure to have the same types of park development and programs as were found at other NPS units or nearby metropolitan parks. This was referred to within NPS circles as the “Instant Yellowstone Syndrome.” Superintendent Birdsell was always quick to point out that Cuyahoga was not Yellowstone. On the other hand, he also sought to build an area “every bit as federally owned, open to the public, pristine, high quality, [and] respected” as its western cousin.¹²

CVNRA received its first developed park unit through donation from Ohio, namely Virginia Kendall State Park. Operated by Akron Metropolitan Park District (AMPD), Virginia Kendall came with its own trust fund, estimated at $1.6 million in 1980 and yielding a $120,000 dividend each year. Trust legal advisers opined that NPS had no legal obligation to either retain the Kendall name or use the money exclusively for that area. However, Birdsell established precedence by determining that NPS had a moral obligation and would abide by Hayward Kendall’s final wishes. NPS encountered initial difficulties in operating Virginia Kendall because AMPD removed what it considered AMPD property, including stockpiled wood, warming shelter, salamander stove, fireplace tools, wood boxes, and trash cans. The setback was only temporary. By 1982, NPS had winterized the Kendall Lake Shelter and promoted it as a winter sports visitor center. Following the hiatus when alcohol was allowed, it again became a popular park setting.¹³

In the aftermath of the negative publicity generated by the Cuyahoga Valley Homeowners and Residents Association, NPS took pains to show progress through development projects, no matter how small. An early focal point for CVNRA programs and activity was the Happy Days Shelter which was rehabilitated in 1979-80 into a year-round visitor information center. Three new roadside picnic areas opened in 1980 and were hailed by Birdsell as a first step in opening up acquired lands for public use. With the assistance of the Student Conservation Association (SCA), a trail, fencing, and a bridge were built at Blue Hen Falls, a popular natural attraction.¹⁴

The first large development project upon which NPS embarked was on Oak Hill Road. The GMP team first identified the high plateau area as an ideal spot for recreational use for the following reasons: ideally situated near 1-27 1 and State Route 303; water service already installed; no existing incompatible land uses or infringements on the natural setting; the variety of habitat; and numerous ponds and lakes unequalled anywhere else in the valley. CVNRA wanted the area acquired in fee, but as the land acquisition controversy mandated that easements be acquired, an arbitrary line was drawn along Oak Hill Road. On the west side, scenic easements would be sought, while on the east side, fee acquisition would permit NPS to implement its plan.¹⁵

Birdsell worked with the Denver Service Center (DSC) to plan and design construction drawings for the Oak Hill Day Use Area. It was not announced until late August 1980, following Birdsell’s death. The DSC drawings called for a $325,000 project on a thousand- acre tract and involved constructing a half-mile-long road to a 100-space parking lot. Hiking trails snaked through woods to two lakes. Picnic sites dotted the area. It represented the first phase of a development ultimately forecast to extend to Furnace Run on the west and to Route 303 to the north.¹⁶ The Oak Hill project, which coincidentally contained the homes of some of CVNRA’s most vigorous opponents (Stein-Sapir, Griffith, Bear, and Roush), was appealed directly to Secretary Watt who refused to intervene and stop the NPS development.¹⁷

While Congress appropriated funding for FY 1981, the project soon after began unraveling. CVNRA Landscape Architect Steven Elkinton questioned why a substantial new road was being carved into a primarily remote area effectively ruining the natural setting. With budgetary woes escalating, Superintendent Lewis S. Albert and MWRO decided to build only phase one of the Oak Hill development, but in a less grandiose manner. In 1982, the contract was awarded for the gravel entrance road, one parking lot, and utilities. The idea of dispersed use, verses intensive use like Virginia Kendall and the commercially-owned ski areas, ultimately prevailed.¹⁸ Considered in conjunction with the myriad projects which followed, Oak Hill was an aberration. It proved to be an important learning experience in terms of what was appropriate development and in proper scale with the surrounding environment. Congressional add-ons have fueled the post-1983 development program under the direction of Assistant Superintendent Martin. The 1985 funding provided engineering/architectural expertise to generate design concepts for a day use area at Brandywine Falls. To eliminate the history of visitor accidents and injuries, the planning effort focused on providing a safe visitor experience in viewing the natural wonders of Brandywine gorge. The preferred alternative was a system of boardwalks to follow the rim and ledges of the natural feature with connecting stairways and two observation platforms. The construction took place in 1989 and won an award from the American Society of Landscape Architects.

The Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail is yet another success story. Planning for the development also began in the mid-1980s and culminated in mid-1990 when a programmatic agreement was signed between NPS, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the Akron Metropolitan Park District on what precautions were to be taken to safeguard cultural resources during the three-year construction effort. The 21.4- mile multi-purpose trail was designed to be handicapped accessible and accommodate bicyclists, hikers, joggers, and other non-motorized uses. As the park’s principal recreational and interpretive feature, the Towpath Trail will run the length of the Cuyahoga River valley between Cleveland and Akron and encourage similar type of connections into the hearts of those metropolitan areas.¹⁹

Because they are all too numerous to elaborate, a listing of development achievements is included here arranged by fiscal year:

FY 1976-78 $547,000: Added to funds from the Virginia Kendall Trust to improve roads, parking areas, toilets, and shelters in Virginia Kendall Unit.

FY 1979 $313,000: Adaptive restoration of CCC structure for development of Happy Days Visitor Center, involving new roof, ceiling and wall insulation, heating and air-conditioning, electrical upgrading, and restroom modernization. Completed spring 1980.

FY 1980 No construction funds appropriated.

FY 1981 $265,000: Construction of phase one of Oak Hill Day Use Area’s access road, parking area, and water system.

FY 1982 [Amount unavailable] Virginia Kendall water system improvements, including water pump and high voltage electric cable. Completed fall 1982. Happy Days Visitor Center and temporary Canal Visitor Center parking areas; and Jaite Village adaptive re-use.

FY 1983 $12,000: Coonrad farm, new roof and adaptive restoration as Ranger Station and Communications Center. Completed summer 1984.

$300,000: Cooperative agreement with Summit County to remove Greenwood Village sewage treatment plant and restore site. Completed spring 1985.

$55,000: Parking lots, lighting and associated landscaping at Jaite Headquarters Complex. Completed fall 1985.

$60,000: Pond development, repair and improvement of dams and spillways at four ponds. Completed fall 1985.

$35,000: Trail rehabilitation, including trailhead bulletin boards, trail signs, and two sets of stairways at Virginia Kendall (completed Fall 1985); and steps for Buckeye Trail (completed summer 1986).

$100,000: Trail construction.

$200,000: Adaptive restoration of locktender’s house as canal museum and visitor center. Water and sewer utility systems (completed fail 1985) and interior structural stabilization/modification (completed June 1986).

$80,000: CVNRA entrance and directional signs to be installed periodically as coordination with local authorities is accomplished.

$200,000: Streambank stabilization of Furnace Run and commencement of reconstruction of Everett Road Covered Bridge (completed fall 1985 and October 1986, respectively).

$270,000: Stabilization of 21 structures at Everett Village. Architectural analysis, building ventilation, archeological survey, and installation of temporary metal roofs and gutters. (1985 to 1987).

FY 1985 $53,000: Completion of adaptive restoration of Coonrad house as North District Ranger Station and Communications Center. Work included interior refinishing, utilities, and reconstruction of historic porch (with handicapped accessibility).

$74,000: Combined with F.Y. 1984 funds for manufacturing and installing entrance and directional signs.

$29,000: Additional funding to continue reconstruction of Everett Road Covered Bridge.

$51,000: Additional funding to continue stabilization of Everett Road Covered Bridge.

$334,000: Site restoration of Indigo Lake (Grey Quarry). Completed in summer 1986.

$78,000: Architectural and landscape design firm contract to plan the development of the Indigo Lake Day Use Area and the Howe Farm Special Events Site.

$63,000: Architectural and landscape design firm contract to plan the development of the Brandywine Falls Day Use Area. Work to date includes a site analysis, program development, and prelimary design alternatives.

$160,000: Erosion control, including site restoration and water quality monitoring and testing.

$128,000: Old Carriage (Greenwood) Trail and bridges, A/E design.

FY 1986 $86,000: Historic preservation of Coonrad farm buildings and related site improvements.

$15,000: Completion of Everett Road Covered Bridge reconstruction and site development.

$234,000: Additional funding to continue stabilization of Everett Village buildings.

$497,000: Erosion control, including restoration of the Cerney Tract West.

$447,000: Additional funding to construct Old Carriage Trail and ravine crossings.

FY 1987: $235,000: Funding to continue adaptive restoration of locktender’s house for use as the Canal Visitor Center, including mechanical systems, plumbing, electrical, and an exhibit plan.

$100,000: Funding to continue stabilization of Everett Village buildings and to prepare a preservation plan.

$200,000: Erosion control, including restoration of Hillside Road (removal of tire dump and flyash pit).

$215,000: Funding to complete Old Carriage Trail system.

$40,000: Planning and construction of Red Lock (Snowville) Trailhead to serve Buckeye Trail, Towpath Trail, Old Carriage Trail, and the Cuyahoga River.

$500,000: Planning and restoration of Ohio and Erie Canal towpath.

$100,000: Funding to plan Kendall Loop and River Corridor Trails.

$40,000: Funding to plan the preservation of the Station Road Bridge and the development of the adjacent day use area.

FY 1988 $735,000: Complete all interior finish, furnishings, and exhibitry associated with the adaptive restoration of locktender’s house for use as new Canal Visitor Center

$600,000: First phase of rehabilitating the infrastructure of the utilities (water, sewer, and electric) in the Virginia Kendall Unit.

$200,000: Erosion control and restoration of major man-caused disturbed sites.

FY 1989 $600,000: Continued construction of the ~ter system component of the Virginia Kendall utilities project.

$785,000: Construction of Brandywine Falls Day Use Area consisting of a network of boardwalks, stairways, observation platforms, and restroom facility.

$204,000: Plugging nine abandoned oil and gas wells.

$4,740,000: Testing and disposal of hazardous materials at the west side of the Krejci Dump Site and to compensate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for previous emergency stabilization work.

$200,000: Erosion control including restoration of the Hines Hill Borrow, filling of hazardous cisterns and wells, and removal of deteriorated structures.

FY 1990 $4,000,000: Initial funding for clean-up of the Krejci Dump Site and all associated hazardous waste in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

$2,682,000: Continue the engineering, design, and construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail.

$293,000: Funding to complete Canal Visitor Center (locktender’s house), including site development and flood prevention measures.

$350,000: Water and sewer development at the proposed Oak Hill Environmental Education Center. These funds were ultimately used for architectural and engineering design work for the entire 120-bed complex.

FY 1991 $459,000: Rehabilitation of the Station Road Bridge, a historic iron truss bridge providing a critical trail link across the Cuyahoga River.

$400,000: Funding for removal of abandoned structures.

$1,960,000: Continued construction of the Towpath Trail, including planning, design, and fabrication of wayside exhibits to be installed along the 21 miles of trail.

$851,000: Complete condition assessment of the track and bridge structures along 26 miles of the historic Valley Railway and repair! replacement of the North Howard Street bridge to allow continued operation of the Cuyahoga Valley Line railroad into Akron.

$3,207,000: Additional funding for clean-up of the Krejci Dump hazardous waste site.

$1,508,000: Design and initial construction of the sewage systems phase of the Virginia Kendall utilities project.

$95,000: Preparation of a historic structure report for the eventual adaptive restoration of the Boston Company Store, a historic structure associated with the Ohio and Erie Canal. FY 1992 $1,218,000: Continue Krejci Dump clean-up. (projection)

$2,298,000: Construction of ten miles of the Towpath Trail, including access/parking trailheads, informational signage and wayside interpretive stations.

$1,200,000: Construction of Oak Hill Environmental Education Center which will supplement $1.1 million in capital grants from private foundations raised specifically for the project.

$1,400,000: Construction of final phase of the Virginia Kendall utilities project, which will link the Virginia Kendall Unit to the Summit County sewer system.

$400,000: Stabilization and rehabilitation of historic structures in the park such as numerous barns and Western Reserve-era farmhouses.

$519,000: Completion of restoration for the 1810 Frazee house, including construction of site-related amenities.

$300,000: Planning, design, and emergency stabilization of the Boston Company Store tentatively scheduled for use as an exhibit facility oriented to the history of the Ohio and Erie Canal. $1,800,000: Demolition of all Jaite Mill structures and follow-up site reclamation work.

$300,000: Repair of Valley Railway bridges, upgrading of substandard trackage, and embankment stabilization.²⁰ Aside from the construction of the Towpath Trail which will strengthen the importance of the valley’s “federal spine,” perhaps the most exciting contemporary project involves the proposed environmental education center on Oak Hill Road. In late 1989, CVNRA launched a $1.5 million fund-raising drive to augment the initial FY 1990 $350,000 appropriation. By early 1991, $1.1 million in donations were pledged with large grants from the Gund, 1525, Knight, Cleveland, and GAR foundations, as well as from GenCorp.²¹ FOOTNOTES:
1. BOR Deputy Director Stanley Hulett, 1 March 1974 comments to House committee hearing, The Legislative History of the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area: Volume 1, Congress Authorizes the CVNRA (April 1971 through December 1974), compiled by Janet B. Hutchison. Cited as Hutchison, Legislative History, Vol. 1.

2. Seiberling to Executive Director, Lake Erie Watershed Conservation Foundation, George Watkins, letter, 16 January 1975, CVPF Advisory Board files.

3. Ron Thoman interview, 26 May 1989; Tedd McCann letter to author, 7 November 1989; and Loretta Neumann interview, 27 June 1989. Neumann and McCann were close friends in the early 1970s and were subsequently married. During the first six years of the Reagan administration, Neumann was the prime mover behind the few new NPS units which were approved.

4. Loretta Neumann interview, 27 June 1989; and John Seiberling interview, 26 January 1990.

5. Quotation in Birdsell to Dunning, 6 April 1979, A3815; and Ron Thoman interview, 26 May 1989.

6. Birdsell to “Woody,” staff member of Congressman Charles Vanik, letter, 23 September 1975.

7. Mrs. Robert G. Warren to Senator John Glenn, letter, 25 August 1978; and Congressman Ralph Regula to Warren, letter, 27 September 1978.

8. Acting Regional Director Randall Pope to Birdsell, 16 November 1979, D22.

9. Dunning to Albert, 18 November 1980; and Albert to Dunning, 11 December 1980, both D18. CVNRA’s addons became an accepted practice according to one source: “The superintendent was told that CVNRA and Indiana Dunes were never high priority for 10-237 or 10-23 8 funding because they have their own power base in the congressmen and could and did get their own money. Interestingly enough, for the first time to my knowledge, MWRO staff endorsed this procedure and encouraged us to get whatever we could.” See Ron Thoman note to the files, 14 November 1983. .

10. John F. Seiberling interview, 26 January 1990. Sidney Yates (Democrat-Illinois) and Phil Burton (DemocratCalifornia) also helped ascertain critical NPS funding needs. Seiberling was instrumental in prompting local rubber companies to donate tens of thousands of dollars to help pay for the National Folk Festival and other CVNRA programs.

11. Sheridan S. Steele interview by Ron Thoman and Susan V. Garland, 25 March 1982.

12. Ron Thoman interview, 26 May 1989.

13. William C. Birdsell interview, 14 August 1980; and NPS press release, “NPS to Open Winter Sports Visitor Center in Virginia Kendall Park Unit,” 20 November 1982.

14. Superintendent’s Report for 1980; and NPS press release, “Roadside Picnic Areas Open,” 31 July 1980.

15. Sheridan S. Steele interview by Ron Thoman and Susan V. Garland, 25 March 1982. While the GMP team recognized the value of the Oak Hill area, the development was not elaborated on in the final document.

16. Superintendent’s Report for 1980; and “New Visitor Use Area to be on Oak Hill Plateau,” The Voice, September 1980. John Seiberling initially proposed naming the new unit after Bill Birdsell because of his “keen interest in its development.”

17. Leonard Stein-Sapir to James G. Watt, letter, 20 March 1981; and CVNRA-prepared response letter, undated.

18. Steven Elkinton letter to author, 20 September 1989; MWRO Financial Manager Neil Thorne to DSC Dick Steeves, memorandum of telephone call, 22 June 1981; and, Superintendent’s Report for 1982.

19. Robert P. Martin interview, 17 May 1989.

20. This list was developed from park files and with the assistance of CVNRA staff.

21. Superintendent’s Reports for 1989 and 1990.

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