Challenge of the Big Trees
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Challenge of the Big Trees Challenge of the Big Trees CHALLENGE OF THE BIG TREES Lary M. Dilsaver and William C. Tweed ©1990, Sequoia Natural History Association, Inc. CONTENTS NEXT >>> Challenge of the Big Trees ©1990, Sequoia Natural History Association dilsaver-tweed/index.htm — 12-Jul-2004 http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/dilsaver-tweed/index.htm[7/2/2012 5:14:17 PM] Challenge of the Big Trees (Table of Contents) Challenge of the Big Trees Table of Contents COVER LIST OF MAPS LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS FOREWORD PREFACE CHAPTER ONE: The Natural World of the Southern Sierra CHAPTER TWO: The Native Americans and the Land CHAPTER THREE: Exploration and Exploitation (1850-1885) CHAPTER FOUR: Parks and Forests: Protection Begins (1885-1916) CHAPTER FIVE: Selling Sequoia: The Early Park Service Years (1916-1931) CHAPTER SIX: Colonel John White and Preservation in Sequoia National Park (1931- 1947) CHAPTER SEVEN: Two Battles For Kings Canyon (1931-1947) CHAPTER EIGHT: Controlling Development: How Much is Too Much? (1947-1972) CHAPTER NINE: New Directions and A Second Century (1972-1990) APPENDIX A: Visitation Statistics, 1891-1988 APPENDIX B: Superintendents of Sequoia, General Grant, and Kings Canyon National Parks NOTES TO CHAPTERS PUBLISHED SOURCES ARCHIVAL RESOURCES ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INDEX (omitted from online edition) ABOUT THE AUTHORS http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/dilsaver-tweed/contents.htm[7/2/2012 5:14:22 PM] Challenge of the Big Trees (Table of Contents) List of Maps 1. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and Vicinity 2. Important Place Names of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 3. Physical Features of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 4. Natural Vegetation Zones of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 5. Topographic Cross Sections of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 6. Regional Distribution of Native American Groups Circa 1700 7. Pioneer Trails of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 8. Explorations of the California Geological Survey, 1864 9. Mining-Related Development in the Mineral King Area, 1870—1890 10. The Kaweah Colony, 1886—1892 11. Senator John E Miller's 1881 National Park Proposal 12. Sequoia and General Grant National Parks as Established in 1890 13. Sequoia and General Grant National Parks Circa 1910 14. Federal Land Acquisition in Giant Forest, 1916—1921 15. Reproduction of Early National Park Service Proposal to Enlarge Sequoia National Park 16. Sequoia National Park as Enlarged in 1926 17. Sequoia National Park, Major Roads and Trails Circa 1930 18. Giant Forest Development Area, Early 1930s 19. Civilian Conservation Corps Camps, Sequoia National Park, 1933—1942 20. Giant Forest and Vicinity, Late 1930s 21. Highways: Actual and Proposed, 1930s 22. Reproduction of 1920 Los Angeles Proposal for Kings Canyon Hydroelectric Development 23. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks after Act of March 4, 1940 and Presidential Proclamation of June 21, 1940 24. Reproduction of 1947 National Park Service Alternatives for Copper Creek Development 25. Development Proposals for Kings Canyon, 1953 26. Giant Forest Development Area, 1972 27. Wilderness Proposals of 1966 and 1971 28. Proposed Mineral King Ski Resort, 1965—1978 29. Giant Forest/Lodgepole Development Concept Plan, Approved 1980 30. 1976 Development Plan for Kings Canyon 31. National Park Land Acquisition in the Grant Grove Area, 1890—1984 32. Sequoia and Kings Canyon Wilderness as Enacted September 28, 1984 List of Photographs 1. Aerial View of the Giant Forest 2. Early Protection of the General Grant Tree 3. Early Sierra Club Group 4. Cavalry Troops at General Sherman Tree 5. Early Ranger-Guided Nature Walk 6. The First Giant Forest Village 7. Parks Superintendent John Roberts White 8. Opening the Potwisha Civilian Conservation Corps Camp 9. Bear Feeding at Bear Hill http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/dilsaver-tweed/contents.htm[7/2/2012 5:14:22 PM] Challenge of the Big Trees (Table of Contents) 10. Concessions Manager George Mauger 11. Congestion at Giant Forest Village 12. Biologist Lowell Sumner 13. Backcountry Stock Use 14. Park Service Officials in Backcountry 15. Proposed Mineral King Ski Resort Village (omitted from the online edition) Copyright© 1990 Sequoia Natural History Association, Inc. Three Rivers, California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dilsaver, Lary M. Challenge of the big trees : a resource history of Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks / Lary M. Dilsaver and William C. Tweed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. 1. Sequoia National Park (Calif.)—History. 2. Kings Canyon National Park (Calif.)—History. I. Tweed, William C. II. title. F868,S4D55 1990 979.4'86—dc20 89-70076 CIP ISBN-1-878441-00-0—Hardcover ISBN-1-878441-01-9—Paper <<< PREVIOUS CONTENTS NEXT >>> Challenge of the Big Trees ©1990, Sequoia Natural History Association dilsaver-tweed/contents.htm — 12-Jul-2004 http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/dilsaver-tweed/contents.htm[7/2/2012 5:14:22 PM] Challenge of the Big Trees (Foreword) Challenge of the Big Trees Foreword MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY ago, in 1933, I accepted a position with the National Park Service in the agency's Region IV, San Francisco office. This was at the height of the Great Depression, and I was very glad to be able to put my newly acquired Master's Degree in Landscape Architecture to work. Soon I was at work in the woods designing and overseeing construction of the Generals Highway, the roadway the National Park Service and the Bureau of Public Roads were constructing to connect Sequoia and General Grant national parks. A few years later I returned to the Sequoia/Kings Canyon region to explore the Kings Canyon back-country on horseback to see if the area met the Service's criteria for inclusion within the national park system. For these reasons Challenge of the Big Trees is for me a very personal and exciting opportunity to renew old memories. Now, as Sequoia National Park celebrates its centennial and Kings Canyon National Park achieves its golden anniversary, I am struck by how much the Sierra has changed since I first went to work in the region. The highway I helped to design now allows nearly a million visitors a year to see the beauties of the southern Sierra, and the Kings Canyon region I studied is now the heart of one of America's greatest wildernesses. Challenge of the Big Trees tells of the changes I have seen and more. It is a story of how the dedication and sustained effort of a small group of interested citizens awakened the consciousness of the American people and their government. As a result, the Sierra's giant sequoias and wonderful high country were saved from selfish destruction. In my lifetime of park work I have witnessed many similar stories; people do make a difference. The story of Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks is also a fascinating bit of history. The authors detail not only how the parks came to exist, but also how the parks were repeatedly threatened with over-development, and how they were fortunate enough to ward off those threats. Again the critical efforts of a few key persons made all the difference. All too often national park histories tend to end with the creation of the parks. Challenge of the Big Trees avoids this weakness and explores in substantial detail the critical actions that made the two parks what they are today. As we face the environmental challenges of the future it is wise to review the challenges of the past and the lessons they provide. Much can be learned from reading this book; I commend it to you. —WILLIAM PENN MOTT, JR. FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE <<< PREVIOUS CONTENTS NEXT >>> http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/dilsaver-tweed/foreword.htm[7/2/2012 5:14:26 PM] Challenge of the Big Trees (Foreword) Challenge of the Big Trees ©1990, Sequoia Natural History Association dilsaver-tweed/foreword.htm — 12-Jul-2004 http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/dilsaver-tweed/foreword.htm[7/2/2012 5:14:26 PM] Challenge of the Big Trees (Preface) Challenge of the Big Trees Preface NATIONAL PARKS ARE MORE THAN LAND, more than just protected resources, more than policy or law, more than their histories, more than the people who use and love them. Our national parks are places where the people of the United States have undertaken a great and still-evolving experiment. Can a modern society preserve "unimpaired" not just isolated natural features, but entire natural ecosystems while at the same time intensively using them for recreation? Further, should these idealistic goals be pursued through gentle, hands-off protection, or through intense and persistent management? Is it possible to define at what point human use begins to conflict significantly with effective resource preservation? Should the natural ecosystems in national parks be allowed to evolve unimpeded towards some uncertain, but natural, future, or should they be stabilized or frozen to perpetuate the features or systems that attracted public attention to the park in the first place? More than a century after the initiation of this grand American experiment, none of these questions has really been answered. Perhaps in the definitive sense they never will be. Each national park, however, has contributed in its own way to the ongoing debate about what parks really are and how they should be managed. The national park system and the Service that operates it have received increasing attention from scholars in recent years, yet few of these studies have focused in depth on the history of individual parks. It is a premise of this book that our understanding of the national park system can be significantly improved by detailed appraisals at the individual park level.