Big Hole National Battlefield Administrative History

Chapter Six:
Administration under the Rocky Mountain Regional Office (1977-1987)

The centennial commemoration culminated a twenty-year effort by park service personnel to rescue the battlefield from oblivion and to create a site that the park service "could be proud of." These years witnessed land acquisition, construction of a modern visitor center, intensive archeological survey, and development of a powerful, if controversial, interpretive program. In recognition of these years of successful effort, a Rocky Mountain Region Operations Evaluation and Consultation Team prefaced its 1978 evaluation with praise for the "unique and rewarding park experience" created despite limited personnel and fiscal resources: "the overall image of the park to the visitor . . . is excellent. . . . [and] the quality of the park staff is outstanding. Their performance and attitude reflect favorably upon the National Park Service and immeasurably add to the enjoyment of the area by the park visitor." [1]

The years that followed Mission 66 and the centennial anniversary were defined less often by new archeological discovery and new interpretive prose and increasingly by the more mundane tasks of infrastructure maintenance, resource protection, visitor control, and site administration. A Statement for Management (SFM), approved in 1979, guided these decisions. The SFM identified a historic zone, where physical development would remain at the minimum necessary to preserve, protect, and interpret cultural values. It defined a development zone where non-historic park development and intensive use might substantially alter the natural environment. Further, it identified a special use zone encompassed four irrigation ditches and a service road; although the park service owned the underlying land, the water claimants had reserved the private use of the ditches and the right of access for ditch maintenance and repair. According to the SFM, "the private water right owners' vehicles wander[ed] this special use zone at will," creating a special zone of land use and management options.

Legislative and administrative constraints identified in the SFM included the battlefield's listing in the National Register of Historic Places. This listing mandated that management and use of the park be completed within the guidelines of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Legislated environmental constraints included the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Executive Order 11988, which guided/restricted development within 100-year floodplains (the extent of the battlefield), and Executive Order 11990, which regulated development in known wetland habitats. [2] The rights of local ditch associations to maintain and access active and abandoned ditches through the battlefield were also identified as a point of administrative concern. By 1981, Schulmeyer had identified "completion of a water rights study and action plan" as the top priority planning requirement. Although conflict over water rights and irrigation ditches "posed no immediate problems," they had long-range implications. This study, action plan, and associated legal action are detailed in Chapter 7. [3]

Official management objectives remained consistent with the master and interpretive plans of previous years. Within legislative and fiscal constraints, the park service promised to restore and maintain the historic and natural resources and to make these resources available and accessible to the public. "Accessibility" was interpreted as an issue of physical access and of intellectual access to the two primary interpretive themes: 1) the Battle of the Big Hole within the context of the Nez Perce War and of westward expansion and 2) the personal experience and motivations of those on both sides of the battle.