Agate Fossil Beds Administrative History

A Look to the Past and to the Future, 1985

A review of events in the two decades since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed P. L. 89-33 reveals moderate progress has been achieved at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. Changes have taken place because of the dogged persistence of dedicated Park Service personnel who believe in the significance and importance of the fossil beds and its related resources to the heritage of the United States and the world. While Agate Fossil Beds National Monument may have enjoyed number-one priority in 1965, with the escalation of the Vietnam conflict and subsequent events, this distinction was quickly lost and has never been regained. It has caused disappointment for Service personnel as well as communities in northwest Nebraska who remember the plans and promises of the 1960s. Few have given up. Admittedly, progress at Agate Fossil Beds has been painfully slow, but it moves relentlessly forward "one step at a time." The park remains in its infancy, being nurtured by talented men and women with vision who recognize the site's significance.

Lack of permanent visitor services facilities is the biggest stumbling block. Projections in 1980 wistfully called for construction to begin in 1985. That did not happen nor, according to all National Park Service personnel consulted, is it likely within the next several years. Construction of an interpretive center and administration building continues to be a number-one park priority. Presently, there are no powerful Nebraska politicians in the United States Congress like Roman Hruska who will force the issue. Agate Fossil Bed's "Catch 22" remains in effect, according to John Rapier:

With limited funds, we are always low on the totem pole. It's like the egg and the chicken. Which comes first? They would say your visitation doesn't justify a visitor center; but without the visitor center, you don't get the potential you would probably get if it became well-known that you had a visitor center.... People who would come here and come out of their way... don't because the area isn't developed that much so it doesn't attract the number of visitors that it potentially would with more developed facilities. [41]

On the same topic, Howard W. Baker later recalled:

I think it's a shame that we have not been able to do anything, but when you have a situation where most of the values are covered up, you don't feel an urgency of getting in there and doing something. I know how people think when they have pressures to put the dollar here or put the dollar there. The dollar's going to go where it will make the best showing and to put Agate Fossil Beds high on that list is something most people wouldn't do. I think we have it preserved, that's the main thing. Some day when we... can spend that kind of money and do the job of interpreting the area and displaying the area, then I think we have what we need. It's a matter of showing it. I can't fault the Park Service for not moving ahead. [42]

In late 1984, a Development/Study Package Proposal (Form 10-238) was approved to make additional minor changes to preliminary designs, and to prepare construction documents for an "initial visitor use building to include exhibit areas, restroom facilities, multipurpose (AV) room, curatorial storage, library, museum lab, and office space for park staff; construct associated sidewalks and parking areas." [43] Justification for the move follows:

Agate Fossil Beds was established [sic] in 1965 and initial visitor use facilities have not yet been provided. Legislation establishing [sic] the Monument specifically provided for the exhibition of one of the Nation's major Sioux Indian collections. For lack of exhibit area, that collection remains in storage and the Park is unable to fulfill its primary mission.... If the facilities are not provided, interest groups will continue to publically question Federal acquisition of the area for which initial facilities have not been provided in 20 years.

There is renewed public interest in the project. The Western United Chambers of Commerce have recently identified the completion of development as a major goal and has enlisted the aid of most members of the Nebraska Congressional Delegation and other public officials. The National Park Service has been the subject of severe local criticism for the 20-year delay in providing initial development in the Park. [44]

Park personnel are evaluating what the next generation of temporary facilities should be. The office and visitor center trailers both are beyond their life expectancy and should be replaced. One option is simply to replace them in kind. A more attractive proposal is to acquire a modular home unit thereby combining administration, exhibits, A/V, and storage rooms in one structure. The more modern facility would not only be pleasing to the eye, but more spacious as well, thereby better serving the visitor. [45]

While permanent visitor center construction did not begin in 1985 as forecast, improvement of other visitor services areas did. For example, the park hard-surfaced the Fossil Hills Trail and awaited delivery of new wayside exhibits. A mowed one-mile strip connecting the headquarters area with the fossil beds, the Fossil Hills Trail was uneven and unsafe. In the mid-1970s, park personnel relocated the footpath several yards away as the result of overuse, causing a double visual blight on the Niobrara valley floor. Blacktopping the trail corrected a troublesome human erosion and maintenance problem as well as eliminated the threat of rattlesnakes concealed in the prairie vegetation harming visitors. The newly paved Fossil Hills Trail is three-and-a-half feet wide, and a 460-foot boardwalk spans the marshy area near the Niobrara. [46]

Another summer 1985 improvement came in the museum storage area of the Maintenance Building. At a cost of $2,500 for materials, park employees insulated the curatorial room under the direction of James Hanson. The area is now secure against rodent entry. It is further augmented by the installation of heating and humidification equipment from Scotts Bluff. [47] The environmental controls now permits most of the Cook II Collection—after divestiture of the non-museum quality objects under the Barter Agreement with Mrs. Dorothy Meade—to be stored at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. This in itself is a historic event for the National Monument.

Part of Cook II which will not be stored at Agate Fossil Beds is the Cook Papers Collection. In late 1984, Karen Zimmerman of the University of South Dakota completed the computerized inventory/index of the collection. The papers collection contains correspondence from 3,805 individuals, among whom are "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Helen Keller, William Howard Taft, Thomas Dewey, Herbert Hoover, and Chief Red Cloud. Alongside the letters are financial records, legal documents, notebooks, manuscripts photographs, and scientific publications, all contained within 100 archival boxes. [48] The Cook Papers have already proven to be a valuable historical resource. The author was the first historian to use the manuscript collection in April 1985, followed by Midwest Region Seasonal Historian Charles Trupia, researching the History and Significance section of the Harold J. Cook Homestead Historic Structures Report (and potential National Historic Landmark nomination). The permanent loan archival depository will be determined after the transfer of the collection from Vermillion to Scotts Bluff National Monument in the fall of 1985. Park and Regional officials will determine the best candidate. Potential repositories include the University of Nebraska, University of Wyoming-Laramie, and Nebraska State Historical Society.

A June 1985 operations evaluation report pinpointed no principal administrative deficiencies, but suggested ways to boost visitation.

One serious regional problem in 1985 involved grasshopper infestation and damage to range and cropland. Damage to vegetation within the monument also occurred and neighbors voiced concern the Park Service did not take part in the area spraying programs.

Career Seasonal Ranger William W. Taylor, employed at Agate Fossil Beds since 1966, retired in November 1985. Taylor's twenty-year tenure marked the longest in the monument's history. [49]

Under review in 1985, the park's Land Protection Plan recommends a cooperative agreement be made between the Park Service and owners of the Agate Springs Ranch. The agreement would ensure the continued management of the ranch headquarters which falls within the recognized boundary. The Cook heirs would be required to maintain the historic scene (in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Historic Preservation) until a change in ownership, whereby the Service would possess a right of first refusal upon sale of the property. If current use changes or a cooperative agreement is not obtainable, the plan recommends a scenic easement to insure preservation of the historic scene. Additionally, two outstanding mineral rights (the service owns a half-interest) on the former Hoffman property (Tract 01-118 and 01-119) should be acquired in fee to protect the monument from mineral development. Finally, a no action alternative on the county road right-of-way will maintain the current cooperative agreement. Construction of permanent visitor facilities and/or increased visitation may require acquisition of the right-of-way to permit significant Federal improvements on the road. [50] [NOTE: The plan was approved in May 1986.]

Superintendent Jerry Banta's motive in preparing the Land Protection Plan is to halt the twenty-year controversy over the Agate Springs Ranch headquarters' status, and perhaps soon the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument can officially be established. Jerry Banta commented:

I think that the boundaries that we have now are perfectly satisfactory for managing and protecting the resource. I think that the private property that is still within the boundaries that we haven't acquired could very well be handled on less-than-fee operation, but I think it's necessary to keep it in the boundary so that we can protect it.

I don't think it [Agate Springs Ranch headquarters] will ever be acquired as long as it's under its present ownership. There isn't any need to. What we're looking at now, the land acquisition plan calls for cooperative agreement. Then that would be backed up if that wasn't negotiable by a possibility of acquiring it. But if you look at the Agate Springs Ranch, our needs in terms of that ranch are interpretive. It is a historic site within the park boundaries. The best thing that can happen to that ranch would be for it to continue to be a working ranch headquarters—even better—in the Cook family which is exactly what it is, and exactly what the present owners would like to see it continue as. So I don't see us acquiring it in the near future. Probably not at all unless the ownership or use changes. [51]

This attitude is characteristic of the Banta/Rapier management team, and yet another goal in their step-by-step, progressive approach. Relations with neighboring ranchers are good. A key component is integrating with the community, becoming a member and asset to it. This has never been a job requirement, but is something that Park Service employees have willingly done. In the heartfelt words of former management Assistant Roy Weaver:

We loved Sioux County and especially the upper Niobrara. Agate Fossil Beds was not a job but a wonderful experience. Hanging above the fireplace we have an original oil painting we commissioned of the Fossil Hills as seen from our old trailer house. It's a winter scene. The snow-clad fossil hills appear beyond the flooded frozen snow-covered Niobrara. A ghost of last year's cattails adds emphasis while an ancient remnant of George Hoffman's old fence line completes the scene.

That country and its people have a way of becoming part of you. And, if you're lucky, you become part of it. My wife and I developed a special partnership, at home on that grassy terrace above the Niobrara River. Our life was one of rich solitude interspersed with excitement and wonderful activities with our neighbors; activities made special by the solitude that draws neighbors together. As one drives east, after dark, along the Niobrara River or cuts south from the Pink School house up Whistle Creek one gets a special feeling of warmth seeing the ranch yard lights piercing the darkness at intervals and knowing that at each yard light is a family of special people who can be counted upon when needed. [52]

In late 1985 and early 1986, another ray of hope for permanent visitor facilities shines for Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. Midwest Regional Director Charles H. Odegaard, stating "Agate Fossil Beds is an unusual attraction, and we should be doing a better job of telling its story," [53] placed the construction of a visitor center and museum complex high on his priority action list. The permanent development, estimated at $2.2 million, will become a reality by 1990 if $1 million in private funds can be raised. Under Odegaard's direction, a fund-raising drive is being organized. The old "Catch 22" will yet be defeated.

And the history of the National Park Service's administration of Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Nebraska, continues.