United States Department of Agriculture WITHIN A DAY'S RIDE
Forest Service
Intermountain Forest Service Region
Administrative Sites in June 2004 Region 4, 1891-1960
A Contextual and Architectural History
Cover: Top left: New Peck Mountain Lookout, Payette National Forest. Top right: Great Basin Experiment Station, Manti-LaSal National Forest, 1924. Bottom: South Fork Ranger Station, Bridger-Teton National Forest, 1918.
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WITHIN A DAY'S RIDE Forest Service Administrative Sites in Region 4, 1891-1960
A Contextual and Architectural History
By Richa Wilson Regional Architectural Historian USDA Forest Service Intermountain Region Facilities Group 324 25th Street Ogden, UT 84401 801-625-5704 [email protected]
Acronyms
AEC Atomic Energy Commission
APW Accelerated Public Works
AWS Aircraft Warning Service
AS Administrative Site
BLM Bureau of Land Management
CCC Civilian Conservation Corps
CO Conscientious Objector
CPS Civilian Public Service
DG Division of Grazing (now the Bureau of Land Management)
DOI United States Department of the Interior
DR District Ranger
ECW Emergency Conservation Work
ERA Emergency Relief Act
FY Fiscal Year
GLO General Land Office
GS Guard Station
NEPA National Environmental Protection Act
NHPA National Historic Preservation Act
NF National Forest
NRHP National Register of Historic Places
RO Regional Office (headquarters of a Forest Service region)
RD Ranger District
RMRS Rocky Mountain Research Station
RS Ranger Station SCS Soil Conservation Service
SO Supervisor’s Office (headquarters of a National Forest)
USDA United States Department of Agriculture
USFS United States Forest Service
USGS United States Geological Survey
USMC United States Marine Corps
WO Washington Office
WPA Works Progress Administration Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT DEFINITION ...... 1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE ...... 1 FORMAT ...... 1 FOREST SERVICE ORGANIZATION AND NOMENCLATURE...... 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...... 2 SPATIAL BOUNDARIES...... 3 TEMPORAL BOUNDARIES ...... 3 Part One: Statement of Historic Context - General
CHAPTER ONE: 1891-1904, THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR ERA...... 7 FOREST SERVICE OVERVIEW ...... 7 HISTORICAL SETTING...... 8 THE FIRST FOREST RESERVES...... 8 ADMINISTRATION...... 9 FIRE MANAGEMENT ...... 10 CHAPTER TWO: 1905-1932, THE PINCHOT AND PROGRESSIVE ERAS ...... 12 FOREST SERVICE OVERVIEW ...... 12 HISTORICAL SETTING...... 13 NATIONAL FOREST CREATIONS & ADJUSTMENTS...... 14 ADMINISTRATION...... 17 ORGANIZATION...... 17 FOREST OFFICERS...... 18 A Professional and Trained Force...... 18 Forest Rangers ...... 19 Women in the Forest Service...... 22 FIRE MANAGEMENT ...... 22 NURSERIES ...... 23 EXPERIMENT STATIONS...... 24 SNOW SURVEYING ...... 25 CHAPTER THREE: 1933-1942, THE NEW DEAL ERA...... 27 HISTORICAL SETTING...... 27 CHANGES TO THE FORESTS ...... 27 ADMINISTRATION...... 28 THE DEPRESSION AND RELIEF PROGRAMS...... 29 ADMINISTRATION OF THE CCC...... 29 ENROLLMENT...... 30 THE CAMPS ...... 31 THE CCC AND THE FOREST SERVICE ...... 32 FINAL YEARS OF THE CCC...... 33 THE WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION ...... 34 FIRE MANAGEMENT ...... 34 NURSERIES ...... 35 EXPERIMENT STATIONS...... 35 SNOW SURVEYING ...... 36 CHAPTER FOUR: 1942-1946, THE WORLD WAR II ERA ...... 37 HISTORICAL SETTING...... 37 ADMINISTRATION AND CHANGES TO THE FORESTS ...... 37 FIRE MANAGEMENT...... 38 CHAPTER FIVE: 1947-1960, THE POST-WAR ERA ...... 39 HISTORICAL SETTING...... 39 ADMINISTRATION AND CHANGES TO THE FORESTS ...... 39 FIRE MANAGEMENT...... 40 NURSERIES...... 40 EXPERIMENT STATIONS...... 41 SNOW SURVEYING...... 41 Part Two: Statement of Historic Context - Architectural History
CHAPTER SIX: 1891-1904, ROUGHING IT...... 45 THE FIRST RANGER STATIONS ...... 45 CHAPTER SEVEN: 1905-1932, THE PIONEER TRADITION...... 46 SITE WITHDRAWALS...... 46 ENGINEERING STAFF ...... 49 IMPROVEMENTS ...... 50 SITE DESIGN...... 53 BUILDING DESIGN...... 54 Pioneer Cabins...... 54 1908 Standard Plans...... 55 FIRE STRUCTURES...... 57 Fire Detection...... 57 Lookouts...... 58 Fire Tool Caches ...... 59 SNOW SURVEY CABINS ...... 59 CHAPTER EIGHT: 1933-1942, A NEW IDENTITY ...... 60 FUNDS AND LABOR ...... 60 ENGINEERING STAFF ...... 61 WO DIRECTION...... 62 REGION 4 STANDARD PLANS ...... 63 SITE DESIGN...... 63 BUILDING DESIGN...... 64 Dwellings...... 65 Offices...... 65 Barns and Fly Sheds...... 65 Support Structures...... 65 Fire Lookouts ...... 66 MATERIALS ...... 67 PAINT...... 67 SPECIAL BUILDING TYPES ...... 69 SNOW SURVEY CABINS ...... 69 CCC CAMP BUILDINGS...... 69 CENTRAL REPAIR SHOPS ...... 70 THE PINE TREE LOGO...... 71 CHAPTER NINE: 1942-1946, MAINTAIN AND RECYCLE...... 72 SITE WITHDRAWALS...... 72 ENGINEERING STAFF ...... 72 IMPROVEMENTS ...... 72 WAR RESTRICTIONS...... 72 CHAPTER TEN: 1947-1960, PRE-FABS AND PORTABLES...... 73 SITE WITHDRAWALS ...... 73 ENGINEERING STAFF...... 73 IMPROVEMENTS...... 74 SITE DESIGN ...... 74 BUILDING DESIGN ...... 74 Part Three: Evaluation Guide
CHAPTER ELEVEN: ELIGIBILITY...... 79 AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE & RESOURCE TYPES...... 80 PRIMARY AREA OF SIGNIFICANCE ...... 80 SECONDARY AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE...... 81 NATIONAL REGISTER CRITERIA...... 82 TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION...... 83 PROPERTY TYPE...... 83 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS...... 84 PERIOD OF SIGNIFICANCE ...... 85 INTEGRITY...... 85 MOVED BUILDINGS...... 86 CONTRIBUTING VS. NON-CONTRIBUTING...... 87 ELIGIBILITY OF INDIVIDUAL BUILDINGS ...... 87 CHAPTER TWELVE: CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES ...... 88 SITE CHARACTERISTICS...... 88 LAND USES AND ACTIVITIES ...... 88 PATTERNS OF SPATIAL ORGANIZATION...... 88 RESPONSE TO THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT...... 88 CIRCULATION NETWORKS...... 88 BOUNDARY DEMARCATIONS ...... 89 VEGETATION RELATED TO LAND USE...... 89 ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES ...... 89 SMALL-SCALE ELEMENTS ...... 89 BUILDING CHARACTERISTICS ...... 89 TYPOLOGY AND STYLES...... 89 PLAN ...... 89 STORIES...... 90 CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS AND SIDING ...... 90 ROOFS ...... 90 FENESTRATION...... 90 CHIMNEYS ...... 91 PORCHES...... 91 COLOR SCHEMES ...... 91 INTERIOR FINISHES AND FEATURES ...... 91 APPENDIX A: TIMELINE ...... 95
APPENDIX B: PERSONNEL ...... 105 CHIEFS...... 105 REGIONAL FORESTERS ...... 105 REGION 4 BIOGRAPHIES ...... 106 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 127
Introduction and Context Definition
PURPOSE AND SCOPE
The Intermountain Region (Region 4) of the USDA Forest Service is identifying and evaluating all historic administrative facilities in compliance with Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act. This regional historic context statement serves as the basis for that evaluation.
Federal law requires the Forest Service to identify, evaluate, and protect cultural resources on public lands under its jurisdiction. These and related requirements are mandated by the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966 as amended, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1974, the National Forest Management Act of 1976, the Antiquities Act of 1906, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, and Executive Order 11593.
Region 4 has approximately 1400 administrative buildings that are over 50 years old and are potentially eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NHRP). Referred to as “administrative facilities” or “improvements,” these include ranger station compounds, guard station compounds, work centers, experiment stations, fire lookouts, patrol cabins, and snow survey cabins. Most are located on “administrative sites,” which are lands that have been formally designated for administrative use. In many cases, these sites have been withdrawn from public use. The scope of the evaluation is limited to administrative facilities that are at least 50 years old. The project does not include other cultural resources such as prehistoric sites, mining cabins, ranches, or other historic resources that are not considered administrative facilities.
The Forest Service receives only 12 percent of the funds needed to maintain its administrative buildings.1 The cumulative effects of this budget shortfall are reflected in the deteriorated conditions of the agency’s buildings. The goal of this context statement is to expedite the survey and evaluation of historic facilities, so that they may be responsibly addressed in facilities management, in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act.
FORMAT
This regional historic context statement serves as the basis for evaluations. It documents the history of Region 4, including its architectural development and addresses historic significance, resource types, and evaluation strategies. Several appendices provide relevant information on significant events and people. The objectives of this document are: