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Presenting Nature
MENU
Design Ethic Origins
(1916-1927)
Design Policy & Process
(1916-1927)
Western Field Office
(1927-1932)
Decade of Expansion
(1933-1942)
State Parks
(1933-1942)
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Presenting Nature:
The Historic Landscape Design of the National Park Service, 1916-1942 |
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VI. A DECADE OF EXPANSION, 1933 TO 1942 (continued)
EMERGENCY CONSERVATION WORK (continued)
MOUNT RAINIER
Emergency Conservation Work made possible the further development of Longmire Village, Paradise, Yakima Park, and other areas of Mount Rainier according to the master plans. Five CCC camps were located in various areas of the park in June 1933. During the first six-month period, 172 miles of telephone lines were maintained and another 14 1/2 miles constructed. Twenty miles of firebreaks were cut and 700 cubic yards of channel cleared. For fire protection, 656 acres of timber were cleared. CCC enrollees cleared underbrush from 47 miles of roadside to a depth of 200 feet for scenic purposes; constructed twelve horse trails totaling 25 miles and improved an additional 114 miles; built three footbridges; cleared campgrounds; constructed 6 miles of power lines between the headquarters at Longmire and the Nisqually Entrance to the park; erected 2,000 feet of cribbing along the Nisqually River to form a dike to keep the bank from washing away and to protect the buildings at Longmire; controlled white pine blister rust in 254 acres; planted native trees, ferns, sod, and shrubs at the Carbon River ranger station, Longmire, and Yakima Park; and constructed several trailside shelters. [18]
Landscape naturalization received immediate attention on the east side of the park in the vicinity of Yakima Park. During the first enrollment period, enrollees of the White River CCC camp planted 18,000 square feet of meadow sod, constructed stone steps and walks, and planted fir trees and shrubs around the front of the new blockhouse and comfort station. At Sunrise Point, trees and shrubs were planted around the observation terrace. Along the Yakima Park Road, road banks were flattened and rounded to control erosion. [19]
Naturalization on the east side of the park continued for several years. In 1934, over two hundred trees, varying in height from three to six feet, and hundreds of shrubs were planted around the village plaza at Yakima Park. Sod, heather, and shrubs of mountain box, huckleberry, and mountain ash were interspersed with subalpine firs and other evergreens to imitate natural groupings of plants. Low shrubs and sod were planted at Emmons Glacier Overlook, one of the observation terraces of native stone constructed high above the White River drainage several years before. Trees and shrubs were also planted at the trail intersection just above the point to impede trampling and prevent trail erosion. Additional sod and heather were planted at Sunrise Point, where walks were being surfaced with crushed rocks and topsoil. [20]
At Yakima Park, an amphitheater for naturalist's lectures and activities was constructed. Based on a polygonal design by ECW landscape architect Halsey Davidson, it featured thirty log seats arranged to seat 220 persons around a bonfire pit and before a viewing screen. Hauled nine miles from the White River, the logs were peeled, cut to length, leveled, and smoothed to form low, flat benches. The seats were arranged in five sections around the pit with aisles between the sections and rear seats slightly elevated above those in front. Topsoil was placed behind the projection screen to raise the grade, and a thick backdrop of evergreens was planted. A dense coppice of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), and Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) was planted around the amphitheater, "protecting it from winds as well as beautifying the popular spot." Most dominant on the open plateau were clusters of spire-topped subalpine firs. The arrangement of trees allowed for unobstructed views of the mountain to the west, screening from nearby campsites, and passage by narrow footpaths. [21]
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| A 1940 photograph shows many of the changes made in Yakima Park during the New Deal era. A lodge and additional cabins wore added to the concessionaire's house-keeping camp. A stockaded fence was built around the maintenance yard and a second blockhouse and community building (under construction) were added to the government buildings. Walkways and steps were constructed between the parking area and administration buildings, and numerous trees and shrubs were planted in the campground and around the plaza. (National Park Service Historic Photography Collection) |
The windswept, subalpine plateau with its extreme climate, short growing season, and dry pumicelike soil was far from an ideal site for planting. Halsey Davidson described the problems:
The planting done last year at this site, which was to serve as a windbreak, came through the winter in good shape with loss of only half a dozen trees, but its capacity as a protection against wind is practically nil. Tree growth is so slow in this area that a windbreak would have to be transplanted thick enough and large enough to serve the purpose at once if any good is to be obtained. Special equipment for moving larger trees should be provided as it is useless to try to move them without boxing the roots. This, of course, makes them too heavy to move by hand. Trees up to ten feet in height were moved to the rear of the movie screen but there will likely be considerable loss in transplanting trees of this size by hand. All trees used at Yakima Park were brought four miles by road, the nearest available source of supply. [22]
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| When the boundaries of Mount Rainier National Park were extended in 1931, Tipsoo Lake became the site of the park's eastern entrance. Through the work of the CCC and by 1940 when this view was photographed, the area was developed according to the park's master plan as a naturalistic park entrance and recreational area. The master plan designated scenic views of Mount Rainier that were to remain open and stands of trees that were to be protected. Scars of old roads and former fishing camps around the lake were returned to a natural condition as sod and native trees were planted. A recreational trail was built around the lake and a picnic area with campstoves of native rock was developed in a grove of subalpine firs adjacent to the highway. At nearby Chinook Pass. a grade separation of log and stonemasonry served as a boundary marker, entranceway, and bridge for the long-distance Cascade Crest Trail (later Pacific Crest Trail). (National Park Service Historic Photography Collection) |
At Tipsoo Lake near the park's east boundary, the scars of an old road and fishing camp were obliterated and the area restored to a natural condition in the first few years of the ECW program in Mount Rainier. Sod was transplanted from road construction sites nearby and from "hidden" sites up to three miles away. The old road was replaced by a four-foot-wide foot trail that followed a meandering course around three sides of the lake. It was raised slightly above the ground, surfaced with sand from the lake bed, and connected with the parking area and picnic area. The road construction camp was erased by the planting of two groups of fifty-four trees following the composition of the area's natural vegetation, which, like that of Yakima Park, was dominated by subalpine fir. Where the park bounded the national forest, a grade separation of log and stonemasonry was built across the entrance road. This structure was designed to function as a boundary marker, an entrance sign and gate, and an overpass for the Cascade Crest Trail (later Pacific Crest Trail). The CCC also built stonemasonry campstoves for the picnic area and outlined the parking area with partially embedded rocks to serve as barriers. The work extended over several enrollment periods and was broken down into projects. For example, during the fifth enrollment period, between April and October 1935, 201 man-days were spent on planting a total of 532 shrubs and trees and 1,944 square feet of sod. [23]
Planting and transplanting native trees and shrubbery at Yakima Park continued to be an important project. During the fifth enrollment period in 1935, 4,537 trees and shrubs were planted at Mount Rainier, the majority at Yakima Park. [24]
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| Through the CCC, village improvements occurred in the developed areas of most national parks and monuments in the 1930s. Before the Paradise Community Building in Mount Rainier National Park, CCC enrollees laid a naturalistic, flagstone walk with sod joints. (National Park Service Historic Photography Collection) |
By 1935, park administration and visitor use had outgrown the existing facilities, necessitating expansion of the village at Yakima Park in keeping with the master plans. A community house would provide shelter from the cold winds that prevailed during the entire summer season. This building would be a center for education programs and provide a lecture hall, replacing the outdoor amphitheater. Also needed was a second administration building. The two administrative buildings, in the form of blockhouses, were to be connected by the community house, with an equipment shed and back area enclosed by the stockade fence, completing the administrative group for the village. The development at Tipsoo Lake required a water and sewer system, two comfort stations, and a ranger station to replace the tent quarters that had been in use for several years. [25]
Landscape naturalization projects occurred elsewhere in the park during the first five periods of ECW. At Paradise, village improvements were made in the area adjoining the community building and concessionaire's new lodge, which had become the village center. Here a wide flagstone terrace with sod joints was built across the front of the community building, and a six-foot wide flagstone walk was built from one end of the terrace to connect with the nearby lodge. A large drinking fountain was built of massive native stone piled into a six-foot-high conical formation, in a design strongly influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement.
At Christine Falls, where large slides and erosion had caused considerable damage over several years, a dry retaining wall of native rock was built. Large boulders formed the wall at the base of the slide. Topsoil was hauled in and placed behind the wall to create a ledge on which native alders (Alnus rubra) and other trees were planted that in time would screen the unsightly scar of the long slide. [26]
Campgrounds at Paradise, Longmire, White River, and Ohanapecosh were constructed or improved in keeping with the Meinecke system, in which campsites and road spurs were defined and trees protected by logs and, in some cases, boulders. At the campground at Longmire, a strip of small cedars (Thuja plicata), hemlocks (Tsuga heterophylla), fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), huckleberry (Vaccinium spp.), vine maple (Acer circinatum), and other shrubs and trees was planted along the river to keep campers from trampling the area and to give the entrance to the campground a more inviting appearance. Trees and shrubs were planted at the campgrounds at White River. [27]
Extensive planting and transplanting took place at Longmire, continuing the work Davidson had begun in the late 1920s. Planting was seasonal and required preparation of soil beforehand and careful maintenance and watering afterward. It was often carried out with other projects such as laying curbs, parking, and paths. In an area of about ten acres of the residential village, boulder curbs were laid, new lawns planted, parking rearranged, and trees, shrubs, ferns, and herbaceous materials planted. Landscape foreman H. J. Cremer described the numerous problems he and a crew of twelve men encountered during the first two months of work at Longmire:
The community of Longmire is built on an old river bar and practically all the soil has to be brought in from outside. Every hole dug for planting must first have all rock debris removed and then [be] bedded with soil to insure safe transplanting. The very short planting season makes transplanting quite difficult. Large trees and shrubs which are dug and planted in the latter part of June can only survive when given the most expert handling. In this respect, proper balling and transportation is necessary. Most of the plants for this area are hauled a distance of 20 miles early in the morning to prevent the soil from drying out and falling away from the roots. The holes for transplanting are dug and prepared the previous afternoon, so that the planting can be carried out with the greatest dispatch. [28]
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Last Modified: Mon, Oct 31, 2002 10:00:00 pm PDT
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