Protecting Historic and Cultural Resources On

Summer 2008 ForumJournal Vol. 22 No. 04

PROTECTING HISTORIC AND CULTURAL RESOURCES ON PUBLIC LANDS The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a nonprofit membership organization bringing people together to protect, enhance and enjoy the places that matter to them. By saving the places where great moments from history — and the important moments of everyday life — took place, the National Trust for Historic Preservation helps revitalize neighborhoods and communities, spark economic development and promote environmental sustainability. With headquarters in Washington, DC, 9 regional and field offices, 29 historic sites, and partner organizations in all 50 states, the National Trust for Historic Preservation provides leadership, education, advocacy and resources to a national network of people, organizations and local communities committed to saving places, connecting us to our history and collectively shaping the future of America’s stories. For more information visit www.PreservationNation.org.

Funding for this journal was provided by The 1772 Foundation. The mission of The 1772 Foundation is to preserve and enhance American historical entities for future generations to enjoy with particular interest in farming, industrial development, transportation, and unusual historical buildings.

Cover photo: Nine Mile Canyon, Utah. Photo courtesy National Trust for Historic Preservation. Cover photo: Brucemore, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Photo by Greg Billman, courtesy of Brucemore. ForumJournal NATIONAL TRUST FORUM PETER H. BRINK Senior Vice President, Programs VALECIA CRISAFULLI Director, Center for Preservation Leadership ELIZABETH BYRD WOOD Editor KERRI RUBMAN Assistant Editor BARBARA H. PAHL Guest Editor AMY COLE Guest Editor RON WOODS Business Manager

NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION RICHARD MOE President DAVID J. BROWN Executive Vice President PETER H. BRINK Senior Vice President, Programs GREGORY A. COBLE Vice President, Business and Finance DAVID COOPER Vice President, Development PAUL EDMONDSON Vice President and General Counsel LAURI MICHEL Vice President for Community Revitalization DOLORES MCDONAGH Vice President, Membership JAN ROTHSCHILD Vice President for Communications and Marketing JAMES VAUGHAN Vice President, Stewardship of Historic Sites EMILY WADHAMS Vice President, Public Policy

NATIONAL TRUST FORUM ADVISORY BOARD PAUL BRUHN Preservation Trust of Vermont PRATT W. CASSITY University of Georgia ALAN DOWNER National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers E. RENEE INGRAM African American Heritage Preservation Foundation, Inc. BRUCE D. JUDD, FAIA Architectural Resources Group HEATHER MACINTOSH Preservation Action ANN MCGLONE National Alliance of Preservation Commissions DAVID MERTZ National Council for Preservation Education DAVID MORGAN Former Kentucky State Historic Preservation Officer MARCEL QUIMBY National Trust Board of Advisors NANCY MILLER SCHAMU National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers DONNA J. SEIFERT Society for Historical Archaeology JOHN SIMONE Connecticut Main Street Center DE TEEL PATTERSON TILLER Goucher College

The National Trust, concerned about the responsible stewardship of the environment, has published this journal on recycled paper that meets the EPA mandate of containing at least 50% waste paper.

Forum Journal, a Journal of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, (ISSN 1536-1012) (USPS Publication Number 001-715) is published quarterly by the Center for Preservation Leadership at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 as a benefit of National Trust Forum membership. Forum members also receive six issues of Forum News, and six issues of Preservation magazine. Annual dues are $115. Periodicals paid at Washington, D.C. Postmaster: Send address changes to National Trust Forum, 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. Copy- right © 2008 National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States. Printed in the United States. Of the total amount of base dues, $6.00 is for a subscription for Preservation magazine for one year. Support for the National Trust is provided by membership dues; endowment funds; individual, corporate, and foundation contributions; and grants from state and federal agencies. National Trust Forum Journal is a forum in which to express opinions, encourage debate, and convey information of importance and of general interest to Forum members of the National Trust. Inclusion of material or product references does not constitute an endorsement by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

ForumJournal Summer 2008 1 CONTENTS Summer 2008 Volume 22 Number 04

INTRODUCTION Richard Moe...... 5

CULTURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT: WHAT WOULD SAINT THEODORE DO? Jerry D. Spangler...... 7

STEWARDSHIP CHALLENGES ON PUBLIC LANDS Katherine Slick ...... 15

CHANGING THE CULTURE AT GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK Barbara H. Pahl ...... 21

THE EMPIRE RANCH HEADQUARTERS: A PARTNERSHIP FOR PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION Christine Auerbach ...... 30

PASSPORT IN TIME PROGRAM: ENGAGING DEDICATED PRESERVATION VOLUNTEERS Jill A. Osborn ...... 36

LAKE FANNIN REBIRTH John Ippolito ...... 43

RESTORATION OF INTER-LAKEN RESORT Terri Liestman ...... 45

Photo opposite: Painted Hand Pueblo, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Colorado. Photo by Mike Smith.

ForumJournal Summer 2008 3

INTRODUCTION

By Richard Moe

Many Americans assume that most of our of its minerals. Nothing could be further nation’s important cultural resources are from the truth. Much BLM land displays part of the National Park System. Most of stunning scenic beauty, and much of it is them also assume that these places are fully thickly sown with historic and archeological protected and well cared-for. sites that are part of the heritage of all Ameri- cans. They’re wrong on both counts. Similarly (and understandably), most people Right now, while summer vacation season is associate the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) with in full swing and crowds of people are flock- one word: trees. But in fact, Forest Service ing to national parks and historic places all lands encompass much more than tall timber. over the country, hundreds of significant USFS is responsible for more than 190 million landscapes, structures, and sites—including acres of public land in 44 states and Puerto some irreplaceable treasures that record Rico, and on that land are nearly 325,000 important chapters in America’s story—are identified cultural resource sites, ranging from in imminent danger of being lost forever. Native American sacred places to battlefields of the Revolutionary and Civil wars and fire Many of these endangered places are on lookouts built in the New Deal era. public lands administered by two federal agencies: the Bureau of Land Management Both agencies are plagued by chronic under- and the U.S. Forest Service. Neither is a funding and understaffing. One result is that historic preservation agency in the generally only a small portion of the land under BLM accepted sense, but each is the de facto stew- and USFS jurisdiction has been surveyed— ard of an enormous—and enormously sig- which means that the agencies don’t know nificant—collection of historic and cultural precisely what kinds of cultural resources, resources. What’s more, each has been given or how many of them, actually exist on the a mandate that often assigns a low priority land for which they are responsible. It is esti- to preservation activities—or even ignores mated, for example, that more than 2 million these responsibilities altogether. sites of historical and/or cultural significance may be out there on Forest Service land—but The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is since only 20 percent of that land has been responsible for some 260 million acres of surveyed, this figure is only a guess. land, mostly in the West. It is a common mis- perception that the BLM manages a lot of As for the sites that have been identified, third-rate real estate, land that isn’t “good far too many are being damaged or even enough” for inclusion in the national park destroyed by threats as varied as careless system and is valuable only for exploitation off-road vehicle use, grazing, mineral explo-

ForumJournal Summer 2008 5 The National Landscape Conservation System, which includes sites such as Gold Butte, Nev., was listed on the National Trust's 2005 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Photo courtesy National Trust for Historic Preservation. ration, unauthorized land use, theft, and ongoing Public Lands Initiative, which is vandalism—not to mention natural forces summarized on our website at www.Preserva- such as floods and wildfires, as well as the tionNation.org/issues/public-lands. inexorable effects of time and weather. This issue of Forum Journal is part of that Over the years, the National Trust has sought same effort. These articles present a com- to focus public attention on this serious situa- pelling overview of the challenges and com- tion—and, more important, to bring about plexities of preservation on America’s public needed change—in a number of ways. In 2006 lands—but they also spotlight a few of the we commissioned a study of the threat to cul- ways in which the challenges are being ad- tural resources on BLM lands (www.preserva- dressed at places such as White Grass Ranch tionnation.org/issues/public-lands/additional- in Wyoming and Lake Fannin in Texas. resources/NTHP-BLM-Report.pdf), and earlier this year we issued a similar report on lands Cultural resources on our public lands managed by the Forest Service (www.preserva- should be treated with the utmost respect, tionnation.org/issues/public-lands/additional- with only the best stewardship practices, the resources/NTHP-Forest-Service-Report-2008- highest level of scholarship, and the most web.pdf). Our 2005 list of America’s 11 Most up-to-date technology employed in their Endangered Historic Places included the identification, preservation, and interpreta- National Landscape Conservation System, tion. We’re well short of that goal right now, which is managed by the BLM, while the 2007 and we have an obligation—to ourselves list included the scores of threatened historic and to the generations that will follow us— structures that stand in the Mark Twain to make sure that we reach it soon. National Forest in Missouri. These and other activities are part of the National Trust’s Richard Moe is the president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

6 CULTURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT: WHAT WOULD SAINT THEODORE DO?

By Jerry D. Spangler

If there were a patron saint of archeologists, So when another conservative president with I suspect it would be Saint Theodore, as in a particular affinity for Theodore Roosevelt Roosevelt, the bull-headed conservative who ordered federal agencies in 2003 to advance during his White House tenure from 1901 to the protection and enhancement of historic 1908 redefined the public’s perception of properties on public lands “in a manner that conservation to actually mean conserving promotes the long-term preservation and use resources on public lands. In many respects, of those properties as Federal assets,” I was the now-forgotten legacy of the Roosevelt momentarily (and naively) giddy with the doctrine is that conservative was once idea that a conservative president would and synonymous with conservation in that could again become synonymous with one public lands and the resources found on endorsing conservation, and that politicos of them—including the archeological ones— all stripes would embrace the preservation were treasures owned by all Americans. of irreplaceable historic resources as a national priority. I say momentarily because It was, after all, Roosevelt who pushed within two years the hope and optimism through Congress the Antiquities Act of inspired by Executive Order 13287 had been 1906—a sublimely simple law with two overwhelmed by the shock and awe of the landmark components that would forever Energy Policy Act of 2005. change how the nation viewed those remnants of our collective past. First, the presi- It wasn’t so much that the Energy Policy Act dent was given broad executive powers to repealed Executive Order 13287. Rather it protect through national monument desig- created a prevailing climate among federal nation “historic landmarks, historic and pre- bureaucrats wherein energy development (or historic structures, and other objects of as some prefer, energy independence) has historic or scientific interest that are situated emerged as a national priority co-equal with upon the lands owned or controlled by the and in many respects related to the war on Government of the United States.” And sec- terror. Instead of a balanced approach to ond, the law was the nation’s first to make it federal land management that promoted a criminal offense to “appropriate, excavate, multiple uses of public lands, a single use injure, or destroy any historic or prehistoric of public lands—energy development—has ruin or monument, or any object of antiq- assumed preeminence, with all other uses— uity” on lands owned or controlled by the outdoor recreation, wildlife protection, federal government. scenic values, history, archeology—largely obscured by the overriding energy priority.

ForumJournal Summer 2008 7 At an unprecedented rate, federal agencies Management Public Lands: An Assessment have expedited energy development on pub- and Needs Analysis, a study conducted by lic lands, targeting vast regions of the Ameri- the National Trust for Historic Preservation can West where oil, gas, and coal had in 2006, only about 6 percent of BLM lands remained untouched for a variety of rea- have ever been inventoried or surveyed for sons—from the unproven and as-yet- cultural resources. undeveloped technologies needed to extract oil from tar sands and oil shale to the eco- Indeed, the study identified what archeolo- nomic realities of extracting hydrocarbons gists have long known and long preached to in the stupendously rugged high plateaus no avail: that federal agencies have no idea as and high plains of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, to the nature, density, and distribution of New Mexico, and Wyoming. These were archeological sites on the lands they manage; problems, it turns out, that could be over- that management decisions (e.g., where to come with just the right combination of develop) are being made without this baseline technological ingenuity, government subsi- data; that current compliance with Section dies, and a streamlined bureaucracy. 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act has resulted in a hodgepodge of scattered, small-scale surveys that contribute little to an understanding of prehistoric lifeways and Perhaps most disturbing is that ultimately fail to consider indirect and cumu- there is little or no federal priority lative adverse effects; and that federal budget to proactively identify those cultural priorities are focused on energy extraction at resources most at risk from develop- the expense of cultural resource monitoring, ment on public lands and to nomi- education, or protection. Perhaps most dis- nate historic properties to the turbing is that there is little or no federal priority to proactively identify those cultural National Register. resources most at risk from development on public lands and to nominate historic properties to the National Register. How is this relevant to the protection of archeological and historic resources? It just NINE MILE CANYON so happens that the Western lands rich in Nowhere is the myopia of federal land policy hydrocarbons are also the same places that more on public display than in Nine Mile are richest in unexplored and even undiscov- Canyon in east-central Utah, a region inter- ered archeological resources, including the nationally renowned as a canvas for tens of remains of ancient dwellings and granaries thousands of rock art images, some believed tucked precariously on cliff ledges, defensive to date to hunters and gatherers as early as retreats perched high on pinnacles and mesa 5000 BC, most to early farmers a thousand tops, pithouses and petroglyphs and picto- years ago or so, and yet others to only a cen- graphs, and on and on. These are also the tury or two ago when ancestors of the mod- lands that federal agencies—primarily the ern Ute Indians etched, pecked, and incised Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—know the story of their acculturation by Euroamer- the least about. As succinctly articulated in icans through the depiction of horses, trains, Cultural Resources on the Bureau of Land and other accoutrements of the foreign

8 The Great Hunt is the most famous of the tens of thousands of rock art images at Nine Mile Canyon. Natural gas development has disturbed and even destroyed some sites, leading the National Trust to put Nine Mile Canyon on its 2004 list of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places. Photo courtesy Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance. immigration that was displacing them. The Today there are about 120 natural gas wells canyon is widely touted as the largest aborig- on the plateau above Nine Mile Canyon and inal rock art district in North America. work is underway on about 50 more—each of which require an entourage of heavy But Nine Mile Canyon is also the primary semis and light trucks going back and forth, access route for natural gas development on often at the rate of 20 to 30 trucks an hour the adjacent West Tavaputs Plateau, which during busy times. Many of the rock art has transformed what was once a narrow sites closest to the dirt road leading to those dirt road traveled by ranchers and tourists wells are now barely visible to the public into a major thoroughfare—albeit still a dirt due to thick coverings of white road dust. one—wide enough for semi-trailer trucks to The BLM is not disputing that dust suppres- pass each other in opposite directions. sion efforts have been largely ineffective. But Canyon residents and preservation advo- rather than implement measures to protect cates protested this transformation, and in the rock art (or simply require compliance 2004 the National Trust even named Nine with stipulations made in 2004 to require Mile Canyon to its list of America’s 11 Most dust suppression), the BLM has turned a Endangered Historic Places. But the devel- blind eye to the dust problem, even arguing opment of natural gas reserves moved for- that studies are inconclusive as to whether ward amid assurances from the BLM that the dust is even the problem that activists measures were in place to ensure the rock believe it to be. art would not be impacted.

ForumJournal Summer 2008 9 Road building and ongoing maintenance work often damages, and in some cases obliterates, archeological sites and artifacts. Photo courtesy Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance.

In the meantime, heavy industrial traffic man- whether or not the midden was actually an dates constant maintenance on the dirt road archeological site, the BLM decided to do —a designated National Scenic Backway— more testing of the site. When test excava- that is also destroying the archeological arti- tions revealed thousands of artifacts ranging facts that once drew tourists into the canyon. from stone beads to pottery shards, char- One site with historic signatures affection- coal, and stone tools, the BLM responded by ately known as “Boot Rock” was bulldozed washing its hands of the problem altogether. away and obliterated by road maintenance. Without public hearings or public notice, it In at least two other instances, road mainte- turned over management responsibility of nance cut into ancient trash middens remark- the road to industry-friendly Carbon ably rich in artifacts. The BLM put up small County—the same governmental entity that metal signs saying not to blade between the has been actively opposing the nomination signs (that is, using a large road grader with a of Nine Mile Canyon to the National Regis- flat bulldozer-like blade to level the road sur- ter of Historic Places. Only after pressure face by removing the top layer of the old road from activists who raised questions about base). But that has not stopped the road grad- the legality of the move did Carbon County ing. The site has been bladed at least four reluctantly relinquish the right of way back times with no ramifications. to the BLM.

When activists complained yet again and As the big trucks continue to rumble amid one BLM archeologist questioned publicly the chorus of activists’ complaints, the BLM

10 has now issued a draft environmental Desolation Canyon, a National Historic impact statement to allow the expansion Landmark in eastern Utah that now finds of natural gas development on the plateau to itself in the crosshairs of natural gas devel- more than 800 wells, with an infrastructure opment. And in southwestern Colorado, the extending into the canyon bottom and National Trust has stood above all others in through some of the canyon’s most famous the campaign to ensure that energy develop- rock art panels. The BLM’s preferred alter- ment in Canyons of the Ancients National native is to build a large waste-water pump- Monument does not destroy the remarkable ing station with its cacophony of industrial cultural values that prompted the monument noises in the bottom of Nine Mile Canyon designation in the first place. next door the most famous rock art panel in the canyon—the Great Hunt. Coincidentally or not, the pumping station would be An inescapable byproduct of the located either on or adjacent to farmland Energy Policy Act and the conse- owned by Steve Hansen—consistently the most vocal opponent of the natural gas quent impacts it has had on public development in the canyon and past chair lands has been the emergence of of the Nine Mile Canyon Coalition, a group an unprecedented alliance between of landowners and citizen activists fighting environmentalists, historic preserva- to preserve the canyon and its archeological tionists, and archeologists. treasures. (It was Hansen who nominated the canyon as an endangered place.)

OTHER BATTLES An inescapable byproduct of the Energy The effort by the Nine Mile Canyon Coali- Policy Act and the consequent impacts it has tion and others to save the nationally signifi- had on public lands has been the emergence cant archeological resources of Nine Mile of an unprecedented alliance between envi- Canyon is but one in a series of ongoing bat- ronmentalists, historic preservationists, and tles in which conservationists have joined archeologists, all working toward a common with archeologists to protect the vanishing goal of preservation of cultural resources traces of our collective past. In the archeo- (despite differences they might have over logically rich Vermillion Basin, the Colorado objectives and tactics). National Trust Presi- Wilderness Network has highlighted the dent Richard Moe has been at the forefront world-class rock art there as reason enough of this emerging alliance, recognizing and to save the area from an onslaught of hydro- embracing archeological sites not only as a carbon development (and you can’t help but critical component of the nation’s cultural admire their slogan “one in a Vermillion”). heritage but also as an integral part of a The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is national landscape where humans have had fighting tooth and nail to protect cultural an undeniable presence for the past 10,000 resources in the remote White River years. Moe and his able field commanders drainage in northeastern Utah and in the have exhibited a passion for archeology that San Rafael Swell. The Colorado Plateau has been contagious, resulting in collabora- Archaeological Alliance is working to tive partnerships across the West. protect the unique ancient landscapes of

ForumJournal Summer 2008 11 OFF ROADERS, “FREE RIDERS,” Most of these trails are remnants of mining AND OTHER THREATS activities and livestock operations and, yes, oil and gas development in the 1950s, Archeological treasures are most abundant 1960s, and 1970s. A series of studies by the and most evident in the West, where the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance combination of arid climates and the sheer (CPAA) have documented a direct relation- isolation of the public lands have resulted in ship between the existence of these trails a remarkable state of preservation. Struc- and the prevalence of vandalism and loot- tures built a thousand years ago are still ing. Wherever you have road access, you intact; tools and household items of wood, have vandalism. Wherever there are no bone, leather, and fiber are buried in the dry roads—and huge chunks of the West are deposits; even food remnants are still in the wild enough that no roads yet mar their ancient pantries that archeologists call character—there is little or no vandalism. granaries. Most of these sites remain undocumented. Of the 261 million acres of BLM In a nutshell, vandals and looters are lazy lands in 11 Western states, only 17 million creeps who rarely venture far from their cars acres have been surveyed. Archeologists as they defile our national heritage for some have documented roughly 263,000 archeo- selfish need to acquire antiquities for sale or logical sites on these 17 million acres. personal gratification. And they are using Although the statistical validity of projecting vehicles to arrive at archeological sites and totals can be legitimately questioned, it is to carry the equipment needed to accom- entirely plausible that there are more than 4 plish their nefarious deeds. Today’s off-road million archeological sites on BLM lands, vehicles—both the four-wheeled and two- and that 94 percent of them have never been wheeled varieties—also have the technologi- documented. cal capacity to penetrate farther and farther into the backcountry, enhancing the proba- bility that as-yet-undiscovered archeological [T]he BLM can and must foster a sites once protected by their isolation will better public lands ethic among be damaged, looted, and destroyed. For a the vast majority of ethical off- minority, known in the trade as “free road-vehicle users, encouraging riders,” the challenge is to breach the back- them to stay on the trails and to country where there are no trails, no federal officers to enforce travel restrictions, and report abuse. no one to report illegal behavior. A recent CPAA study in Tenmile Canyon near Moab, Utah, found that about 25 percent of the archeological sites had vehicle tracks run- In many cases undocumented sites are ning through the middle of the sites. already well known to local residents, off- highway vehicle enthusiasts, backpackers, Without a BLM commitment to enforcement outdoor recreationists and, unfortunately, of existing rules (and there simply are not vandals and looters in search of Pre- enough BLM law enforcement officers to Columbian artifacts. Many public lands patrol even a tiny fraction of public lands), are crisscrossed by a spaghetti bowl of there is not a whole lot that can be done ephemeral trails, thousands of miles them.

12 Efforts to suppress dust generated by truck traffic have been largely ineffective. Dust now covers rock art along the roads in Nine Mile Canyon. Photo courtesy Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance. about the free riders who openly disdain and grown exponentially in the past several defy rules and regulations. But the BLM can years, and with that growth has come and must foster a better public lands ethic increased public demand for trails and among the vast majority of ethical off-road- increased political pressure, particularly vehicle users, encouraging them to stay on from county officials who see back- the trails and to report abuse. And one country vehicles as part of their recreation component has to be outreach efforts that economies. Recent draft resource manage- educate users as to the sensitive nature of ment plans (RMPs) that will dictate how cultural resources. And if there are areas much of western Colorado and all of eastern where the cultural resources are too sensi- Utah will be managed over the next two tive, too vulnerable, or too abundant, the decades have put forth travel plans that call BLM must have the political backbone to for tens of thousands of miles of ORV trails. step forward and close these areas in order The BLM has no plans to survey along these to protect them. routes prior to designating them as routes (since the trails are already there, the BLM The BLM readily acknowledges that regis- maintains Section 106 is not required), even trations for off road vehicles (ORV) have though the agency acknowledges that arche-

ForumJournal Summer 2008 13 ological sites along those routes could be are unnecessary delays, that avoidance of damaged or destroyed. cultural resources is simply too costly or impractical, and that public participation RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BLM in such policy decisions is an annoyance or Whether or not the BLM is required by law hindrance to national energy priorities. or regulation to survey along these routes is a legal question better suited for more Energy development is carrying the “big nimble minds than mine. But there certainly stick” in public lands policy these days. is a moral obligation on the part of any But I can’t help but be reminded of a lesser- federal agency that recognizes that cultural known Roosevelt quote, the one that goes resources under its jurisdiction or control “No man is justified in doing evil on the are being damaged and that activities it ground of expedience.” seeks to authorize could and probably will accelerate that damage. Jerry D. Spangler is a registered professional archeologist and executive director of the The flip side of one my favorite truisms to Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance, a “speak only what you know” is that when Utah-based nonprofit that advocates for the protection and preservation of archeological you speak of that which you know little and historic sites on public lands in the West. about it doesn’t take long for folks to smell He currently serves on the BLM’s Utah Resource the baloney. Such is the case when we have Advisory Council. CPAA has collaborated with the National Trust for Historic Preservation on federal agencies claiming to have carefully, projects to foster the preservation of Nine Mile thoughtfully, and thoroughly considered Canyon, Range Creek Canyon, and Cedar Mesa, ramifications of their decisions on the cul- all in Utah. tural resources that will be impacted by their decisions. But the BLM doesn’t have any idea what those resources are on 94 percent of the lands it manages. How can it manage resources it does not even know are there?

It can’t.

These criticisms of current land management practices are not directed at responsible hydrocarbon extraction, but at a process that has sacrificed other values on the altar of energy policy. There are many companies out there developing their legitimate leases in responsible ways that embody the spirit of conservation. There are other companies out there that do not. The real risk to cultural resources on public lands comes not from companies but from a federal policy of unbridled haste too often fueled by a perception that environmental reviews

14 STEWARDSHIP CHALLENGES ON PUBLIC LANDS

By Katherine Slick

February 16, 2008, marked the 25th managed primarily by the U.S. Forest Service. anniversary of the Mt. Taylor Quadrathlon, The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a challenging competition in which several the United States in Trust for the Pueblos of hundred participants run, bike, cross- Acoma and Laguna, the New Mexico State country ski, and snowshoe 42 miles to Land Office, the Pueblo of Acoma, and the the top of the highest peak in the Cibola Cebolleta Land Grant also have trust respon- National Forest and back. For many Ameri- sibilities for portions of Mt. Taylor. This cans, the quadrathlon typifies the common checkerboard of ownership illustrates the image of the activities that occur on public awkwardness that exists in public land man- lands—recreation and tourism. agement in the western United States.

Rising roughly 5,000 feet above the For example, in the 19th century, as a condi- surrounding landscape to an elevation of tion of acceptance into the union, Congress 11,301 feet, Mt. Taylor is the highest peak set aside lands in trust for states to generate in New Mexico’s San Mateo Mountains. It’s income to support education. As part of that used for a variety of recreational activities— checkerboard, the New Mexico State Land day hikes, backpacking, mountain biking, Office manages 13 million mineral acres and skiing, camping, fishing, and off-highway 9 million surface acres, producing income vehicle use. Historically, as with most forests (close to one half billion dollars per year) managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Mt. from extraction, agriculture, and develop- Taylor served the logging industry from ment to support public schools and universi- 1906 until World War II when commercial ties, hospitals, public buildings, correctional logging ended in the area. Grazing became facilities, and water projects. common and was the principal use until uranium mining flourished in the 1950s. NATIVE CULTURAL Then uranium prices plummeted in the CONNECTIONS TO MT. TAYLOR 1980s and mining activity declined. This Add to this intersection of recreation, boom-and-bust economy is not unusual tourism, grazing, timbering, mineral and on the Western forests, which represent 80 energy development other competing values percent of the 193 million acres managed on public lands—such as the cultural rela- by the U.S. Forest Service. tionships and uses by traditional communities that go back a millennium or more. Mt. Mt. Taylor provides an excellent example of Taylor received its current and common the stewardship challenges faced on public name in honor of President Zachary Taylor lands today. Its roughly 600 square miles, from a passing U.S. Army engineer mapping encompassing an eroded volcanic crater and the topography of the territory in 1849. a base of sandstone mesas capped by lava, are Prior to the U.S. military presence, the Span-

ForumJournal Summer 2008 15 ish referred to the area as Cebolleta. And, traditions; it is a living place of pilgrimage from time immemorial, there have been and a home of spirit beings. other names for Mt. Taylor. The Pueblo of Acoma knows the mountain as Kaweshtima; With uranium prices rising and uranium for Hopi it is Tsiipiya; Laguna Pueblo calls claims in the Mt. Taylor area increasing it T’se pina; Zuni Pueblo uses Dewankwi from 0 in 2003 to 163 in 2008, new mining Kyabachu Yalanne; and the Navajo Nation’s and milling operations have been proposed name for Mt. Taylor is Tsoodzil. on the mountain. Searching for a means of having their values addressed in the face Archeological evidence indicates human of these mining projects, the pueblos of occupation on Mt. Taylor as early as 5500 Acoma, Laguna and Zuni, the Navajo BC. There is also evidence of ancestral Nation, and the Hopi Tribe requested an Puebloan occupations dating to AD 925 emergency listing of Mt. Taylor as a tradi- found across this landscape. Archeological tional cultural property (TCP) in the State surveys show the area has been in continual Register of Cultural Properties. use for material acquisition for thousands of years. Analysis of wooden beams in the great The state Cultural Properties Review Com- houses in Chaco Canyon show that logs from mittee (CPRC), as provided by state law, Mt. Taylor were used in their construction, listed the property for no more than one suggesting Mt. Taylor was part of the large year while the committee investigates it to Chacoan landscape and social geography. determine if Mt. Taylor should be kept in the register permanently. While the advent In addition to the archeological records, of mining was presented as the reason for Native American oral histories and practices the emergency, CPRC Chairman Estevan reveal an ongoing relationship with the Rael-Galvez stated clearly that the listing mountain by many tribes and pueblos of was not about putting a stop sign in front of the southwest. Mt. Taylor is surrounded mining interests but about establishing the by Acoma, Laguna, Zuni, Hopi, Jicarilla CPRC’s responsibility to advise on cultural Apache, and Navajo homelands and is of properties and Mt. Taylor’s eligibility for significance to these pueblos and tribes in listing in the state register. maintaining their cultural identities, inform- ing each tribe and pueblo of their origins Listing in the state register requires consulta- and their distinctive community, and thereby tion between state agencies when certain state guiding most aspects of their daily lives, mining and water permits are requested. In behavior, and activities. For these and other states like New Mexico, state agencies issue tribes, the concept of landscape is about the permits for extractive industry and water more than the physical elements of a snow- use. So while a mine may be situated on fed- capped mountain with stone outcrops, sce- eral land and require compliance with Section nic forests and deep valleys with sparkling 106 of the NHPA, the state will process the streams. These landscape features are also permit to mine under state laws. imbued with spiritual elements underlying religious beliefs and social conduct. The The tribal decision to seek a nomination mountain is not only important for the to the state register was a difficult one. It collection of materials for ceremonies and was made to invoke the protections afforded

16 Long a sacred site to native peoples of the region, Mt. Taylor, the highest peak in New Mexico’s Cibola National Forest, is also used for recreation, uranium mining, and other, sometimes competing, activities. Photo courtesy New Mexico Historic Preservation Division, Department of Cultural Affairs. by the state register in light of recent tion to the broad patterns of our history; B exploratory activity by mining and other for its association with the lives of persons interests, as the tribes and pueblos are most significant in our past; and D for having concerned for their cultures—the meaning, yielded or may be likely to yield information sense, and wisdom of place, and spirits who important in prehistory or history. Accord- guide them and inhabit the mountain. Some ing to the report submitted, there are com- wonder why the pueblos and tribes are mon elements based on oral histories shared speaking out now. Acoma Pueblo’s Lieu- by the tribes involved in the consultation for tenant Governor Mark Thompson explains the determination: that the tribes have withheld information on some of their practices in the past because • It’s a place where practitioners go to they were misinterpreted or resulted in conduct traditional cultural and religious persecution. But he says the threats to Mt. activities. Taylor overrode those concerns, and that the • Mt. Taylor has been in use since time tribes have to take that risk to protect what immemorial and the use is ongoing. is sacred and very personal to them. • It is a place that figures prominently in In March 2008 the Cibola National Forest oral traditions regarding origin, place of determined that Mt. Taylor is a traditional emergence, and migration. cultural property eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under three • The mountain is viewed as a living, criteria: Criterion A for its association with breathing entity that embodies a spiritual events that have made a significant contribu- essence.

ForumJournal Summer 2008 17 Acoma Sky City, traditional home of the Pueblo of Acoma, sits in view of Mt. Taylor. Stories, songs, prayers, and rituals recount the mountain’s importance to the Acoma people as a spiritual place. Photo courtesy New Mexico Historic Preservation Division, Department of Cultural Affairs.

• Spirit beings recounted in oral traditions (about 13 percent of the total land surface inhabit the mountain. of the United States and more than 40 percent of all land managed by the federal • Mt. Taylor is considered a sacred land- government), and many of these landscapes scape, part of a larger cultural landscape. have competing demand for uses and values. • The mountain encompasses the peak, adjacent mesas, plateaus, and valleys. Now add another layer of complexity—surface ownership can differ from subsurface or • The mountain is important in ceremony mineral ownership. Under the system of split and plays a vital role in cosmology and estate, rights to remove minerals, oil, and, in religion. the case of New Mexico, water, may be separate from other rights to the land. Separa- • It is a distinctive landmark and a way tion of surface rights and mineral rights is point to aid travel. not a new event; it has occurred for years, often because of federal laws such as the MANAGING COMPETING Stock Raising Homestead Act of 1916. INTERESTS Both the U.S. Forest Service and the BLM Federal public lands agencies are responsible have multiple-use missions that allow for a for ongoing management of millions of acres variety of uses, including development of of public lands across the United States energy resources such as coal, oil, gas, and

18 geothermal, biomass, hydropower, solar, and to provide limited care of resources. It still wind power. To gain some appreciation of avoids the larger responsibility stated in split estate, nationwide the BLM manages the NHPA, to plan for historic properties. 261 million acres of surface estate along with 700 million acres of subsurface mineral This proponent-driven approach promotes estate. The 1872 Mining Law provides that a very narrow style of preservation, as it is once a valid claim is staked it can be devel- project specific. The proponent can finan- oped and the land manager cannot deny cially accept the impact the project may access. Acquisition of the claims, if the have on a limited area but that means that owner is willing to sell, or direct interven- the big picture isn’t seen. Unless you can tion by the Secretary of the Interior are the show the effect on the larger landscape, I only forms of recourse available. think most of us would agree it shouldn’t be the responsibility of one oil and gas devel- While often difficult for citizens to under- oper to survey several thousand acres if its stand, different public land managers have project encompasses ten. A look at some different mission-related responsibilities in survey maps of New Mexico reveals statute. Through the Federal Land Policy resources were identified along the proposed and Management Act of 1976, the BLM has road to a well pad, but if those resources protections written into law that establish border a much larger and important the agency’s multiple-use mandate to serve resource there is a good chance we won’t present and future generations and to call know. And the project may be redesigned out protections for archeological resources. to avoid the known site, but, by providing In the case of the Forest Service the cultural access, the site(s) may be destroyed over resources are not mentioned in statute. In time anyway. The general approach for addition, in 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court archeology to avoid or mitigate by excava- rendered a decision in a New Mexico case tion is not the answer for traditional cultural that Congress intended National Forests properties, making the issue of protection to be reserved for only two purposes: to much more difficult. protect watersheds and to ensure a continuous supply of timber (United States SAFEGUARDING TRADITIONAL v. New Mexico, 438 U.S. 696 (1978)). CULTURAL SITES ON MT. TAYLOR AND ELSEWHERE The enormity of the size of the lands man- With the Mt. Taylor statements of eligibility aged also challenges public land managers. to the state and national registers, both state How can you care for something if you and federal agencies have information and don’t know it’s there? Agencies lack funding associations stating what makes the moun- to conduct inventories, resulting in a com- tain important to the tribes and pueblos. It mon practice of letting the proponent of a appears that by being forward about their project pay for the identification of historic longstanding traditions and relationship to resources. In the classic case, industry the mountain, the native communities have is asked to find the resources and then expressed a desire to discuss the impacts of redesign the project to avoid them. While proposed projects at early stages in their obviously not ideal, this system does development and work toward resolution. increase our knowledge and opportunity Based on projects currently proposed, we

ForumJournal Summer 2008 19 A National Historic Landmark and National Trust Historic Site, Acoma Sky City has been occupied for nearly 1,000 years, making it the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States. Photo by James Vaughan. will soon see how well the existing legal marvel of our nation’s public lands. To framework can address the tribal concerns ensure this, we, as stewards of our nation for the mountain and their communities. and state’s patrimony, need to work together and decide what uses are suitable and sus- In the long term, the information provided tainable. Perhaps more challenging will be through ongoing consultation can assist fed- finding appropriate safeguards for the per- eral and state agencies in identifying what petuation and well-being of our nation’s tra- uses are acceptable or compatible and to ditional cultures. Whether those safeguards make decisions to restrict activities in areas will be establishing funds for retiring min- where they are incompatible when possible. eral claims or changing state and national Lieutenant Governor Thompson said pro- laws, Americans and visitors who cherish viding the information was painful and in our public lands should have the opportu- some ways at odds with the very activity nity to connect with such places as Mt. they hope might receive protections. Far too Taylor for generations to come. often our policies impose a static response in conflict with dynamic living communities. Katherine Slick is a Las Vegas preservationist and 27-year veteran of community revitalization and development in New Mexico. Appointed by And we shouldn’t assume industry, govern- the Governor in 2003, she serves as the New ment, and the public at large are the cul- Mexico state historic preservation officer and director of the Historic Preservation Division, prits. We acknowledge the need of industry Department of Cultural Affairs. She is an advisor and government to generate income and the and trustee emeritus for the National Trust for public’s desire to experience first hand the Historic Preservation.

20 CHANGING THE CULTURE AT GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK

By Barbara H. Pahl

On October 4, 2003, Richard Moe, presi- and historic objects and the wild life therein dent of the National Trust for Historic and provide for the enjoyment of the same Preservation, and Secretary of the Interior in such manner and by such means as will Gale Norton signed an agreement to work leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment together to create the Western Center for of future generations.” Nearly all 391 Preservation Training and Technology at national parks contain historic and cultural the Historic White Grass Dude Ranch in objects, sites, buildings, structures, and Grand Teton National Park. This agreement districts including almost 27,000 historic was the affirmation of 20 years of advocacy buildings and structures that are deemed by preservationists to save White Grass and eligible for listing in the National Register other historic buildings in Grand Teton of Historic Places. National Park and other national parks in the West, where the protection of natural Two-thirds of our national parks were resources often receives greater priority and established principally in recognition of funding than the preservation of cultural their history and culture and include places resources. well known to most Americans—such as Gettysburg, Independence Hall, and Little Despite Section 110 of the National Historic Big Horn Battlefield. National parks in the Preservation Act, which directs federal West are probably best known to Americans agencies to nominate historic properties to for their sweeping natural landscapes, tow- the National Register and ensure they are ering mountains, and deep canyons—like managed and maintained in a way that Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand considers the preservation of their historic, Canyon. Yet these parks also have a range archeological, architectural, and cultural of historic and cultural sites, many of which values, and despite the 1916 Organic Act are designated national historic landmarks— creating the National Park Service, many including Robert Reamers’ Old Faithful Inn managers of national parks in the West in Yellowstone, Gilbert Stanley Underwood’s routinely removed or failed to maintain famed Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, and historic structures in their care, believing Mary Colter’s Indian Watchtower over- that historic preservation contradicted their looking the Grand Canyon. According to mission to restore and protect the natural the 1916 Act, these places must be protected environment. and left “unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” And for the most part, When the National Park Service was created they are. in 1916, Congress intended that it would “…conserve the scenery and the natural

ForumJournal Summer 2008 21 However, as national parks in the West were services above resource protection. Many both created and expanded over the years, environmental groups bristled as these they often incorporated historic buildings visitor centers and other facilities were and sites that were not developed for park located dangerously close to the resources operations and visitors, but were there before the parks were meant to protect. the park. These sites include homestead cabins, cattle ranches, dude ranches, and Others have argued that every park has its other private tourist facilities. Many of these own “organic act” that should be recog- sites had stories of their own to tell, and nized and followed in making decisions while many might not qualify for national about resource protection. For example, landmark designation, they would meet the act establishing Grand Teton National the criteria for inclusion in the National Park states: “Grand Teton National Park Register of Historic Places for state or local was established in 1929 and enlarged in significance. These places, too, should be 1950 to protect the area’s native plant and managed and left “unimpaired for the enjoy- animal life and its spectacular scenic values ment of future generations.” For many his- as characterized by the geologic features of toric properties this has not been the case. Teton Range and Jackson Hole.”

Former National Park Service Director Fran Many national parks started out as national Mainella once said, “There are no natural monuments designated under the 1906 parks, just national parks with natural and Antiquities Act. The Antiquities Act was cultural resources.” Yet for decades, park passed by Congress and signed into law by superintendents and staff of Western parks President Theodore Roosevelt in response such as Glacier, Rocky Mountain National to the looting of archeological sites in the Park, and Grand Teton believed they were Southwest. Consequently, proclamations managing natural parks and routinely declaring an area a national monument removed or failed to maintain (with benign under the Act must reference “historic land- neglect) historic cabins, homesteads, ranch marks, historic and prehistoric structures buildings, and tourist facilities in an effort or other objects of historic or scientific inter- to restore wilderness values to the park. est” that warrant this designation. Maintaining historic buildings was considered prohibitively costly and preserving JACKSON HOLE NATIONAL them was believed to conflict with the true MONUMENT mission of the parks, which was to protect Such was the case when President Franklin the natural environment. Delano Roosevelt created the Jackson Hole National Monument in 1943. The area that Some have suggested that the priority given made up the park in 1929 encompassed the to natural resource protection over cultural Tetons and six glacial lakes at the base of the resource protection dates to the passage of mountains. The 1943 monument included the Wilderness Act in 1964. Others see it 130,000 acres transferred to the park from as a direct response to Mission 66, a massive the U.S. Forest Service. The proclamation rebuilding program planned in celebration said, “Whereas the area in the state of of the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Organic Wyoming known as the Jackson Hole …con- Act, which placed visitor enjoyment and tains historic landmarks and other objects of

22 The magnificent Jackson Valley in Wyoming attracted “dudes” and other visitors long before it became part of the Jackson Hole National Monument created in 1943 and later incorporated into the new Grand Teton National Park in 1950. Photo courtesy National Trust for Historic Preservation. historic and scientific interest…”—making it the government for the reserve or recreation clear that protecting historic sites was part of area. A central premise of the plan was to the mission of the new monument. protect the “Old West” character of the valley, creating a “museum on the hoof.” Two decades earlier, at a historic meeting in the cabin of a local ferry owner, Maud The “new” Grand Teton National Park was Noble, the idea of setting aside land in established by an act of Congress in 1950 Jackson Hole to create a recreation area with 32,117 acres donated by John D. or reserve was developed by Yellowstone Rockefeller, Jr. According to Daugherty, Superintendent and later Park Service Direc- Horace Albright introduced the concepts of tor Horace Albright, Bar BC dude ranchers the Jackson Hole Plan to John D. Rocke- Struthers Burt and Horace Carncross, feller, Jr., and his wife back in 1926 on a Noble, a local newspaperman, a rancher, family trip to Yellowstone. Inspired by the and a grocery story owner. It became known vision of creating a new national park south as the Jackson Hole Plan. In A Place Called of Yellowstone, Rockefeller conceived his Jackson Hole, John Daugherty says the own plan to buy up private property in the plan envisioned a private entity with the Jackson Hole Valley and then donate the resources to purchase land from private land to the National Park Service. Over the owners in the Jackson Valley and give it to next two decades, Rockefeller’s Snake River

ForumJournal Summer 2008 23 The restoration of Mormon Row, including the Moulton Barn shown here, marked a change in attitude in favor of preserving historic buildings at Grand Teton. Photo courtesy National Trust for Historic Preservation. Land Company, later called the Jackson last piece gifted. Shortly before his death, Hole Preserve, Inc., began purchasing Laurance Rockefeller gave the JY to the private property in the valley. National Park Service. Part of the agreement with the National Park Service called for DUDE RANCHES IN THE removing all of the JY buildings. Some of JACKSON VALLEY the buildings were moved to other locations In 1932 the Snake River Land Company within the park including the maintenance purchased the JY Dude Ranch. The earliest shop which was moved by the Rockefeller settlers in the Jackson Valley tried their hand family to park headquarters in Moose. Most at cattle ranching but soon realized that the of the remaining buildings were relocated by short growing season and barren soil made the Rockefeller family to a new site outside cattle ranching risky. Many gave up cattle the park. and took up dude ranching. Homesteaded by Louis Joy in 1906, the JY Ranch was the Established in 1912 by writer Struthers Burt first dude ranch in the valley. It was soon and Dr. Horace Carncross, the Bar BC was joined by the Bar BC and White Grass. the most famous of the Jackson Hole dude ranches. Securing more than 300 acres Although an early acquisition by the Rocke- through the Homestead Act, Burt and Carn- feller family for the park, the JY was the cross built cabins and fences and grew oats

24 and other grains. More land was added in 1930s, despite the Great Depression, 1913 and by 1917 the ranch included 600 Hammond boosted his capacity to 35 acres. Author John Daugherty says that by guests by constructing more cabins, each 1922 the Bar BC had become the social cen- with a private bath. ter and largest commercial enterprise in the valley with four partners and 45 employees. Most dudes were wealthy Easterners with Its 45 buildings included guest cabins, a many from the Philadelphia area. Dude main house with two dining rooms, a laun- ranches provided adventure in a wild place; dry, blacksmith shop, garage, barn, sheds, an opportunity to experience the “old” West office, store, dance hall, dining hall, and while, according to Daugherty, “sleeping on bunkhouses for the wranglers. a bed of wood frames filled with pine boughs” and enjoying meals served family In 1930 Struthers Burt and his remaining style in the dining hall. A ranch hand known partner sold the Bar BC to the Snake River as a “roustabout” brought guests hot water Land Company with the stipulation that the for bathing, wood for their fire, and emptied original owners could continue to operate their chamber pots in the days before private the property until their deaths. The ranch baths were installed. The experience must was run by a series of ranch managers until have been satisfying because most guests 1986 when it was taken over by the Park were repeat visitors and some even con- Service. By this point, buildings on the ranch vinced ranch owners to allow them to build suffered from a severe lack of maintenance, their own family cabins which they returned a situation that has not been corrected by to every summer. the Park Service. In A Place Called Jackson Hole, John If the JY was the first and the Bar BC was Daugherty says that after Hammond’s first the most famous, White Grass was the last wife Marie passed away, he married Marion of the great pioneering dude ranches in the Galey, a widow who first visited Jackson Jackson Valley. Harold Hammond and during the summer of 1919 when she and George Tucker Bispham homesteaded White her son, Frank, were guests at the Bar BC. Grass in 1913 and by the summer of 1919 After his mother’s marriage to Hammond welcomed their first dudes to the ranch. in 1936, Frank Galey changed from ranch guest to ranch hand. After Harold’s death White Grass operated from 1919 to 1985, in 1938, Frank and Marion took over ranch making it the longest operating dude ranch operations. Frank bought out his mother in in the valley. In 1920 there were just four the 1950s. In 1957 he sold the ranch to the log buildings on the ranch—a main house, National Park Service retaining life estate. barn, storehouse, and bunkhouse—along Frank died in 1984, and in 1985 control with corrals and fencing. By 1922 Bispham of the property transferred to the National had added three cabins, presumably for Park Service. Similar to what happened with guests. Five years later White Grass could the Bar BC, the White Grass cabins received accommodate up to 25 guests. A year little to no maintenance from the Park Serv- later Bispham retired and sold his share ice after the transfer. in the ranch to Harold Hammond. In the

ForumJournal Summer 2008 25 As early as 1987, individuals who had been mon Row project utilized volunteer labor associated with White Grass as former and materials purchased with money from dudes or employees began to voice their the new fee demo program—which directed concerns about the fate of the ranch to the a percentage of an increase in park fees to Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office park maintenance projects—to reroof and (SHPO) and the National Trust for Historic restore Mormon Row beginning with the Preservation. Proposals to the National Park often photographed T.A. Moulton Barn. Service by the SHPO to prepare plans and The National Trust recognized the volunteer set priorities for preserving historic struc- group, called the “Michigan Volunteers,” tures in the park, including White Grass, with a National Preservation Honor Award were dismissed based on the park’s belief in 2003. that protecting these places “contradicts the value which Congress sought to preserve in However, positive preservation efforts on the park.” Mormon Row were diminished by reports that tar paper had been torn off roofs on The SHPO countered citing correspondence cabins at White Grass and the Bar BC, from Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall exposing them to further deterioration. in 1964 that recognized that each park had Furthermore a bridge that provided access “natural, cultural and recreational values to the historic Lucas/Fabian Homestead had that required a separate set of management been removed without consultation with the principles coordinated to form one organic SHPO. In 1995 the Wyoming SHPO agreed management plan for the entire system.” with the park that Leek’s Lodge, a historic The SHPO also cited a memo written by tourist facility on Jackson Lake, had been the director of the National Park Service in allowed to deteriorate to such an extent that 1945 to Secretary of the Interior Harold preservation was no longer a feasible option. Ickes which said, “one of the purposes of Later, the park set it on fire in a training the Jackson Hole Plan since the beginning exercise. These events and the park’s contin- has been the perpetuation of those aspects uing policy of benign neglect toward its of the region that represent the Old West. historic buildings led to the nomination of Administration and interpretation of the the Grand Teton’s cultural resources to the Jackson Hole Monument will take this National Trust’s 11 Most Endangered into account.” Historic Places List in 1996.

NEW ATTENTION TO GRAND A dramatic turn of events at Grand Teton TETON’S HISTORIC RESOURCES occurred in August 2002 after a visit to the By the mid 1990s, the park’s stance towards park by National Trust President Richard historic preservation began to soften with an Moe and Karen Wade, director of the effort to restore historic buildings along Intermountain Region of the National Park Mormon Row, a group of historic ranches Service. Accompanying Moe and Wade were homesteaded by Mormon pioneers around Steve Martin, the new superintendent of the turn of the 20th century. Inspired by a Grand Teton, and Barbara H. Pahl, director new staff historical architect and with the of the Mountains/Plains Office. Pam Holt- support of a new superintendent, the Mor- man, park historian, took the group to see

26 Leeks Lodge, a historic tourist facility on Jackson Lake, was so deteriorated that it could not be saved. It was burned down in the mid-1990s. Photo courtesy National Trust for Historic Preservation. many of the park’s historic buildings includ- Lady’s new Preserve America program ing Mormon Row, the Lucas/Fabian Home- aimed at encouraging federal agencies to stead, the Murie Ranch, the Bar BC, and preserve and use historic buildings. White Grass. Both Karen Wade and Steve Martin were alarmed by the condition of the The environmental community in Jackson park’s historic resources. did not react positively to the news that the Park Service planned to save and use White WHITE GRASS IN THE Grass. Numerous articles and opinion pieces VANGUARD OF PRESERVATION were run in the local paper, the Jackson EFFORTS Hole News and Guide, suggesting the To address what she rightfully saw as a proposal was “not in harmony with the chronic problem of neglect and lack of park’s irreplaceable wildlife and natural maintenance, Wade suggested that resources.” The Jackson Hole Conservation White Grass be rehabilitated for use as a Alliance criticized the White Grass plan and preservation training center, as a way to other proposals from the new superintend- attract resources to address the park’s other ent to save and adapt historic buildings in preservation needs. This idea was in keeping the park, stating that in their view, “the with President Bush’s campaign pledge in purpose of historic preservation is to pre- 2000 to address the deferred maintenance serve history for interpretation not to create needs of our national parks and the First new, incompatible uses such as employee

ForumJournal Summer 2008 27 The Bar BC, the most famous of the Jackson Hole dude ranches, was once the valley’s social center and largest commercial enterprise. Now owned by the National Park Service, its historic buildings stand in disrepair. Photo courtesy National Trust for Historic Preservation. housing at McCollister, an artist commune White Grass will serve as a venue for at Lucas/Fabian or a training center at courses offered in partnership with the NPS White Grass.” Unsurprisingly, former dudes Historic Preservation Training Center in and wranglers from White Grass saw the Frederick, Md. These courses will help build proposal as a great way to recount ranching the capacity for National Park Service history in the park. employees, volunteers, and contractors to preserve, rehabilitate, maintain, and find The change in direction that was begun by new uses for historic rustic structures in Superintendent Steve Martin has been con- national parks in the Intermountain Region tinued by current Superintendent Mary beginning with Grand Teton. The National Gibson Scott. Plans have been developed Trust for Historic Preservation is conducting and work is underway to rehabilitate the a fundraising campaign to provide $950,000 13 remaining historic cabins at White Grass in private donations to match funding pro- for the Western Center for Historic Preserva- vided by the National Park Service. As of tion. The center’s primary purpose is to this writing, the Trust has raised one-third preserve the rustic park architecture and of this amount. address the deferred maintenance backlog of historic structures in Grand Teton and other In 2005 Craig Struble was hired as the first national parks in the Intermountain Region. director of the center, responsible for com-

28 pleting the rehabilitation of the White Grass create institutional change and a greater Cabins and other historic properties in the acceptance of the idea that national parks park and developing training programs. can and must protect their natural and Rehabilitation of the 13 historic log cabins at cultural resources. What was true in 1916 White Grass Ranch will be completed by the remains true today. As the National Park park’s newly created historic preservation Service looks forward to the 100th anniver- crew and volunteers. The vision is to provide sary of the 1916 Organic Act, we expect hands-on training coupled with workshops to celebrate the protection of our natural that will teach preservation philosophy, the history and our human history in all of repair of historic windows, doors, and logs, America’s 391 National Parks. and stabilization techniques. Barbara H. Pahl is the director of the National Trust’s Mountains/Plains Office. Once rehabilitated and fully operational, the historic cabins at White Grass Dude Ranch will provide housing, cooking and dining facilities, a library, and meeting rooms for participants, supported by a maintenance shop and classroom space at park headquarters in Moose. Ironically, the maintenance shop came from the JY Ranch and was moved to Moose by the Rockefeller family.

The rehabilitation of White Grass is already underway. Roofs are being replaced, foundations repaired, and doors and windows restored. In 2006, 25 NPS staff participated in a Preservation and Skills Training Pro- gram that was held in partnership with the NPS Historic Preservation Training Center. The goal is to have the ranch rehabilitated and fully operational for the centennial celebration of the 1916 Organic Act.

It is often said that where there is a will there is a way. However, the reverse is also true, where there is no will there is no way. Protecting historic buildings and structures in Grand Teton National Park and other large landscape parks in the West was always more about a lack of will than a lack of funding. It is hoped that the forma- tion of a Western Center for Historic Preser- vation in Grand Teton National Park will

ForumJournal Summer 2008 29 THE EMPIRE RANCH HEADQUARTERS: A PARTNERSHIP FOR PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION

By Christine Auerbach

The Empire Ranch in Sonoita, Ariz., repre- preservation and interpretation. The Empire sents a classic and exciting story of the Ranch Headquarters now serves as a growth of ranching in the West, from the testament to what can be achieved by a first homestead of 160 acres to land hold- cooperative partnership between nonprofit ings of more than one million acres during organizations and government stewards of the time of great industrial and economic public lands and historic properties. growth in America. The Empire Ranch has been a continuously working ranch since the The collaboration has also increased public 1870s. It sits nestled—and now protected— awareness and appreciation of ranching her- within the 42,000 acres of the Las Cienegas itage and responsible management of lands National Conservation Area (LCNCA). and resources across the entire LCNCA, where the ranch is located. As a result, in The future of the Empire Ranch Headquar- 2008 the BLM recognized the Empire Ranch ters might have been bleak had it not been for Foundation with the Public Lands Partner- several factors. First, a series of community- ship Excellence Award—its highest honor supported land exchanges in 1988 put the awarded to nonprofit partners. property and the surrounding 42,000 acres of land into public ownership under the admin- A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE istration of the Bureau of Land Management HOMESTEAD (BLM). Second, in 1997, a group of citizens The historic Empire Ranch Headquarters is wishing to partner with the BLM founded the located approximately 45 miles southeast of Empire Ranch Foundation (ERF) to help Tucson, in Pima County, Ariz. The Empire secure the future of the ranch headquarters Ranch House, listed in the National Register buildings and landscape. of Historic Places, includes 22 rooms and sprawls over about 4,500 square feet of Public ownership has served to protect the living space. Its construction is of hand-cast Empire Ranch Headquarters buildings and adobes, with a three-room, wooden frame the surrounding rolling grasslands and section attached. woodlands of the LCNCA from an uncer- tain future that most assuredly would have The oldest part of the house was built included housing and commercial develop- between 1871 and 1874 as a four-room, ment. The BLM-ERF partnership arrange- flat-topped adobe house composed of a ment has greatly increased funds, volunteer central breezeway braced by four rooms contributions, and public support for with packed dirt floors. Walter L. Vail and

30 The Empire Ranch House and adobe hay barn, c 1880. The property has been a continuously working cattle ranch since the 1870s. Photo courtesy Empire Ranch Foundation.

Herbert Hislop purchased the ranch in Although Vail died suddenly in 1906, his 1876. John N. Harvey joined as a partner family continued to successfully operate the three months later. During the next five Empire Ranch until it was sold in 1928 to years Vail and his wife Margaret bought the Boice, Gates and Johnson partnership, out Hislop and Harvey and set about build- successor to the Chiricahua Cattle Co. ing a ranch that by the early 1900s covered Experienced cattle ranchers, the Boice family almost one million acres of land and sup- was widely known for promoting the Here- ported about 40,000 head of cattle. During ford breed in Arizona. Frank S. Boice and the late 1870s to ’80s the house gained a his wife Mary moved to the ranch house flat-roofed rear extension with rooms for where they raised two sons. In 1951 they offices and staff, a gable-roofed Victorian became full owners. From the 1930s addition, and a children’s wing for the six through the 1950s many improvements were Vail children born on the ranch—the only made. The Victorian addition was remod- portion of the Ranch House constructed eled. Propane, and eventually natural gas, with wood. A large adobe barn was also was piped into the house, plumbing was added. upgraded, and cement stucco was applied to the exterior house walls. Around 1940 a swimming pool was installed and the nearby

ForumJournal Summer 2008 31 Stabilizing the foundation of the Ranch House. Photo courtesy Empire Ranch Foundation. lawn, surrounded by tulips, irises, and roses, Resource Conservation Area. In December and amply shaded by trees, became the focal 2000 the U.S. Congress enacted legislation point for both family and social gatherings. establishing the area as Las Cienegas National Conservation Area (LCNCA). In 1969 the Boice family sold the property Ranching continues under a grazing permit to the Gulf American Corporation which held by John and Mac Donaldson of had plans for a large real estate develop- Sonoita. ment. That development never occurred, and in 1975 the Anamax Mining Company PRESERVATION PLANNING AND purchased the ranch and leased it to rancher PROJECTS John Donaldson while considering future The BLM undertook initial preservation and plans for the lands. stabilization of the seven historic-era buildings forming the Empire Ranch Headquar- In 1988, in response to the community’s ters complex soon after acquiring the land. desire to preserve its scenic and rare high The National Park Service (NPS) was grasslands, the heart of the Empire, encom- contracted to research and write a Historic passing 42,000 acres, was put into public Structures Report, published in two volumes ownership through a public-private land in 1994 and 1995. The extensive report swap. Under the administration of the BLM, summarized Empire Ranch House history it was designated the Empire-Cienega and served as an early guide prescribing

32 Bracing and anchoring the roof above the Victorian addition living room in 2002. Photo courtesy Empire Ranch Foundation. treatments necessary to preserve historic fea- a crew of AmeriCorps volunteers added tures and keep the buildings stabilized and the current cedar shingles over the house’s eventually restored for public and adminis- Victorian addition. trative use. In 2000, with extensive participation by the Empire Ranch Foundation, the By 1998 the newly formed Empire Ranch BLM prepared a Master Plan for the Empire Foundation had become heavily involved in Ranch Headquarters. Planning ideas and preservation work, as part of its partnership proposals were subsequently incorporated and assistance agreement with the BLM. into the Approved Las Cienegas Resource In 1999 the ERF obtained grant funding Management Plan and Record of Decision for a “Learn and Serve America” program published in 2003. (www.learnandserve.gov) that recruited and trained youth volunteers. They dismantled, In 1994, in partnership with NPS, a team repaired, and reinstalled 70 windows and of specialists from the NPS Historic Preser- doors in the Empire Ranch House during vation Training Center came to the ranch a month-long program. to train and guide 20 participants from the BLM, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Starting in 1998, the foundation contracted Park Service, and the Arizona State Parks with Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI), a highly in proper preservation practices. In 1997-98, respected historic preservation contractor, to

ForumJournal Summer 2008 33 plan and conduct its historic preservation and raising funds. All told, the foundation projects. In 1999 the BLM and Empire Ranch has contributed more than $500,000, and Foundation partnership was awarded a the BLM’s deferred maintenance program $95,300 Save America’s Treasures matching has contributed nearly $1.5 million for grant for doing critical preservation and repair preservation work to restore the Ranch work on the ranch house roof, improving House and the other seven buildings at and installing a drainage system, and repair- the headquarters. ing failures in the walls. By 2000 these federal grant funds were fully matched with private EDUCATION AND OUTREACH funding raised by the foundation. From In order to achieve the ERF’s preservation 2002 to 2006 numerous emergency repairs and education mission, it was essential to were made to important outbuildings. build public awareness and a strong membership. As a result, with the assistance of While these were underway the ERF also ERF volunteers and BLM staff, the founda- engaged SRI to conduct an adaptive use tion sponsors events to raise public aware- planning process. The Adaptive Reuse Plan ness, funds, and friends. for the Empire Ranch Headquarters, completed in 2004, envisions a process whereby The annual Roundup & Open House draws a limited-use historic house “shell” evolves 1,500 participants who come to the ranch into a fully stable historic house that will to enjoy Western heritage demonstrations, serve as a Western heritage and education livestock exhibits, cowboy cooking, and center. Western entertainment. This year’s Roundup on November 1, its eighth year, will feature In 2007 attention returned to the Ranch a special exhibit on the BLM’s 20th anniver- House where the foundations of the west sary of the acquisition of the conservation wall of the master bedroom and bath of area. For eight years, the foundation has the Victorian addition were repaired and hosted the Empire 100 Western Art Show & the lintel and gable were reinforced and Sale—now its largest fundraiser—featuring anchored. Subsequently old carpet, asbestos nationally recognized artists whose art is tile, and linoleum in the living room, dining sold, with proceeds benefiting the Empire room, and kitchen were removed. A seismic/ Ranch Foundation. structural evaluation recommended in the Adaptive Reuse Plan began in 2008 and In 2004 the Empire Ranch became a class- will help set priorities for future preserva- room when 45 students and four teachers tion work. from a Tucson middle school traveled to the ranch for an intensive day of learning. The BLM and ERF worked together for cul- Since then, hundreds of middle school tural resources preservation and adaptive use students have come to the Empire Ranch on and interpretation. Through this partnership, Legacy Day to learn about ranching heritage the ERF has researched the history of the through demonstrations from BLM staff, ranch and its buildings, developed plans for and local ranchers and cowboys. their preservation and interpretation, and has driven the implementation of those plans The Empire Ranch Foundation hosted its first through hands-on work, grant writing, summer education program in 2007 with

34 During the annual Legacy Day, middle school children learn about ranching life and traditional skills such as fence-building. A five-day summer education program was added in 2007. Photo courtesy Empire Ranch Foundation. funding provided by the BLM from its Hands call 888-364-2829. The foundation’s web- on the Land program. Wild About the Grass- site, www.empireranchfoundation.org, has lands!, a five-day ecology and ranching her- a wealth of background materials, as well itage program for young people, provides as information on membership. hands-on experiences to foster environmental literacy and appreciation for ranching history Christine Auerbach is the administrator for the Empire Ranch Foundation in Sonoita, Ariz. and preservation techniques.

The foundation’s long-term mission is to develop an outstanding Western heritage and education center at the Empire Ranch. The ERF-BLM partnership in its first ten years has taken large strides toward that goal.

FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information about the Empire Ranch, contact the Empire Ranch Founda- tion, P.O. Box 843, Sonoita, AZ 85637, or

ForumJournal Summer 2008 35 PASSPORT IN TIME PROGRAM: ENGAGING DEDICATED PRESERVATION VOLUNTEERS

By Jill A. Osborn

Passport in Time (PIT) has proven its worth PIT rode the wave of change in historic over the past two decades as a tool to take preservation from a largely academic “no care of historic properties on federal lands public allowed” discipline to one that wel- and to generate support for historic preserva- comes and encourages public involvement. tion. At its birth, no one guessed how popu- The change was partly triggered by a grow- lar it would become, how long it would last, ing realization that we needed public sup- and what its greatest contribution would be. port to preserve historic resources. In 1989 the Society for American Archaeology spon- PIT’S BEGINNINGS sored the first Saving the Past for the Future PIT began at the Superior National Forest in conference in Taos, N.M., to bring the prob- Minnesota when, in 1987, Forest Archaeolo- lem of commercial looting of American gist Gordon Peters found he was spending antiquities to the attention of archeologists more time giving public tours of his project and law enforcement. It took a while to than supervising the excavation. The next convince many (including this author) that year he invited the public to help. Today public education was just as important as such a decision would be applauded, but in law enforcement in stopping the theft of 1988 the prevailing attitude in archeology American antiquities. It was clear that law was that to engage the public was to invite enforcement needed to become aware of the increased vandalism and looting. magnitude of the problem and actively pur- sue cases. But historic preservationists also Nearly two decades of PIT projects have had to educate law-abiding citizens in order proven that fear to be completely unfounded. to create public support for the protection Most volunteers are so appreciative of the of antiquities and prosecution of those who opportunity to participate in activities that would steal them for commercial gain. for so long were closed to them that they are anxious to do the right thing. David We’ve all heard variations of “Tell me McIntire, a PIT volunteer and freelance and I’ll forget, show me and I’ll remember, writer who recently wrote an article for involve me and I’ll understand.” The popu- GoNOMAD.com about his PIT experience lar Crow Canyon Archaeological Center had on the Ashley National Forest in Utah, said been engaging the public since 1985. But to it well: “Having never done this before, most Forest Service archeologists at the not entirely 100% sure what to look for time, engaging the public meant lectures, and afraid I will dismiss the piece that will brochures, and interpretive signs. It did constitute the one piece of information not mean involving volunteers in the actual needed to understand these ancient people, work. That changed in 1991 when PIT I progress slowly.”1 became a nationwide program in the Forest

36 PIT volunteers prepare logs needed to restore a historic log cabin in Montana’s Lolo National Forest. Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service.

Service with 37 projects on 30 national PIT volunteers is one tool among many that forests. Since then it has grown into an interagency professionals can use to accomplish agency program involving nearly 30,000 much-needed work. Sometimes the volun- volunteers who have contributed time and teers assist contractors, field school crews, effort valued at $21.2 million. or partners working on public land under a contract or agreement. In those cases, the WHAT IS PIT AND HOW DOES involvement of PIT volunteers is part of IT WORK? the contract or agreement, and an agency PIT is a volunteer program that engages the heritage professional is also on site. Not all public in the work of federal agency profes- activities are appropriate for public partici- sional archeologists, historians, and historic pation. PIT project leaders adhere to a set preservationists. PIT volunteers work directly of principles that govern when and how to with agency heritage professionals on every- responsibly engage the public. thing from archeological excavation to historic structure restoration to archival The agency heritage professionals propose research and curation. The projects are not the projects and fund them out of local For- created purely for public education; they are est Service unit budgets, select their own vol- actual research and management activities in unteers, and are completely in charge of the which the public is invited to help. Engaging project logistics and volunteer supervision.

ForumJournal Summer 2008 37 PIT archeology volunteers are willing to tackle lab work, archival research, and other “less glamorous” tasks besides excavation. Here they sort through level bags from an excavation, in a lab at the Boise National Forest in Idaho. Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service.

The Forest Service national headquarters agencies other than the Forest Service in PIT funds a PIT Clearinghouse to handle certain is a new development (see below, “HOW administrative functions, which then allows HAS PIT CHANGED?”). Other federal agency heritage professionals to focus on the agencies currently pay a per-project fee for science, the resources, and the volunteers. the PIT Clearinghouse services. The PIT Clearinghouse, currently managed by the SRI Foundation under a cooperating CHALLENGES TO PIT agreement with the Forest Service, maintains Forest Service heritage professionals must a toll-free number for program information constantly challenge the notion that PIT is and a public website that lists the available either recreation or resource stewardship projects and includes an online application and can’t be both. Today, this either/or form. It has recently added a PIT Leader perspective is no longer reflective of reality. website, where PIT project leaders can view Volunteers do indeed consider PIT projects a program guidelines, submit project propos- vacation, but they are working vacations to als, and report hours of work contributed help accomplish stewardship goals. Even after a project is completed. The Clearing- though agency managers acknowledge the house also accepts and distributes volunteer growth of resource-based travel, the struc- applications to the hosting agency units, ture of agency budgets and staffs still sepa- maintains databases of projects and volun- rates resource stewardship and recreation teer contributions, reports statistics quar- activities, making the funding of PIT proj- terly to the Forest Service, and responds to ects difficult in some cases. media inquiries. Involvement of federal

38 PIT is first and foremost a historic preserva- is small compared to general recreation such tion program. It is only by virtue of its as campground and trail use. The adminis- involvement of the public that it is also trative cost of fee collection would quickly recreation. It fits into any number of cate- exceed any revenue. Fifth, many volunteers gories described by current buzzwords said they would no longer participate if they including green vacations, ecotourism, had to pay. In the end, the bottom line did learning vacations, voluntourism, educa- not justify charging fees for PIT. tional travel, and sustainable tourism. But PIT is more accurately described as a The more important lesson that grew out of historic preservation program. PIT leaders the argument over fees was the realization aren’t tour guides or vacation planners. that historic preservation has a faithful fol- They are archeologists, historians, and his- lowing and there is a “willingness to pay.” toric preservationists. And PIT volunteers Some want to donate their time while others aren’t looking for entertainment and relax- prefer to pay for an experience and know ation; they are looking for ways to help their fees are used to protect resources. preserve the nation’s past, and maybe have Either way, the motivation is the same: pre- a little fun in the process. serve important places. The Forest Service will continue to provide volunteer opportuni- Another challenge to PIT over the years has ties through PIT. But it is also exploring fee been the suggestion to charge volunteers for projects that allow participants to direct their participation in the program. This idea first contributions to resources they care about. surfaced in 1996 when the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program, Department of the HOW HAS PIT CHANGED? Interior and Related Agencies Appropria- In the beginning, Forest Service heritage tions Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104–134; 110 staff assumed the public would only be Stat. 1321– 200; 16 U.S.C. 460l–6a) was interested in archeological excavation—the passed, allowing agencies to collect fees for stuff of Indiana Jones. It soon became obvi- certain uses and retain the fees locally. ous that volunteers were more sophisticated Again, PIT was lumped with general recre- (and more professional than Indiana Jones). ation and its popularity led managers to They knew archeology was more than exca- think it would be a logical action to charge vation and they were willing to help with the volunteers a fee. less glamorous tasks including archival research and curation. Winter laboratory A number of arguments to the contrary pre- projects to follow up on summer field exca- vailed. First, volunteers already pay travel vations became popular. In fact, project expenses to get to the projects and usually leaders now increasingly enlist volunteers pay for their own lodging and meals. Sec- for laboratory projects to process and curate ond, they are working, not just visiting and existing collections that have been sitting in using resources. Third, the beauty of PIT is boxes and warehouses for years, and to help the diversity of projects and the ability to digitize and catalog collections of historic tailor activities to local Forest Service unit documents and photographs that are in needs. Such diversity makes it difficult to danger of disappearing to the shredder. determine a standard fee. Fourth, while PIT is wildly successful, its specialized audience

ForumJournal Summer 2008 39 Even with the increase of laboratory and rately track those accomplishments. The curation projects, leaders are cognizant of following is a conservative estimate: increasing the backlog of analysis and report writing if they focus too much on excava- Historic structures restored 280 tion. As a result, the number of excavations Sites stabilized 50 has decreased and leaders focus more on Sites evaluated for the surveying, monitoring, and historic structure National Register 700 restoration for field PIT projects. Surveys and monitoring in designated wilderness 150 The biggest change in PIT has happened in Oral histories transcribed 100 the past three years. Until October 2005, Collections curated 40 PIT was solely a program of the Forest Service. Since then, it has been open to other Beyond these statistics, however, the greatest federal agencies and the potential exists to benefits of PIT are the intangible ones: involve state agencies as well. While PIT better community relations, positive media volunteers have been very loyal to the Forest coverage and agency image, increased Service and while the Forest Service is visibility for historic preservation within extremely proud of the program, the goal is federal agencies, public advocacy, and even to protect the resource, regardless of whose improved morale among agency heritage land it is on. In the words of one long-time professionals. Most of these we never PIT project leader, “It’s time to expand the anticipated in 1991. volunteers’ loyalty from the agency to the resources.” To date, the Bureau of Land PIT projects draw local, regional, and Management is the only agency to join the national media attention that is, without PIT ranks, but others have expressed their exception, positive. Nationally, PIT has been intent to do so. featured in TIME magazine, Sunset magazine, the Oprah Winfrey Show, MSNBC, PIT’S GREATEST CONTRIBUTIONS GEICO Direct Magazine, Country Living, The PIT Clearinghouse, which maintains a This Old House (magazine and PBS televi- database of projects and volunteer contribu- sion show), Outside magazine, Backpacker, tions, reports the following statistics as of Horizon Air magazine, Arthur Frommer’s the first quarter of 2008: Budget Travel, American Archaeology, Dig magazine (for kids), and others too numer- Number of projects 2,320 ous to mention. Number of volunteers 29,100 Volunteer hours 1,349,000 Local media including newspapers, televi- Volunteer person-years 646 sion, and radio routinely cover PIT projects Value of contributions $21,215,0002 in their areas, which not only improves community relations for the Forest Service Much of the work PIT volunteers help the but gets the local schoolchildren and civic Forest Service accomplish would not other- organizations out in the woods, where they wise get done due to time and budget con- learn about local history as well as other straints. The agency is currently working resources and issues. with the PIT Clearinghouse to more accu-

40 PIT has raised the visibility of historic preservation within the Forest Service. In the past, it was easy for cultural resource management to get buried in the bureaucracy of land management. Hundreds of media stories and glowing letters from volunteers to the Forest Service chief have changed that. In addition, PIT has won or been included in prestigious national awards including the Society for Historical Archae- ology Award of Merit, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Chairman’s Award for Federal Achievement in Historic Preser- vation, and the Preserve America Presiden- tial Award. Individual PIT project leaders PIT volunteers work on an archeological excava- have won national, state, and local awards tion in Minnesota’s Chippewa National Forest. and accolades too numerous to mention. Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service.

As a result of their involvement in PIT, many phone call was from the woman who, upon volunteers become active members of their learning she could volunteer on an archeo- local historical societies and vocal advocates logical project in a national forest through for preservation in their communities. They PIT, said, “I’m going to remember you when spread the word about the importance of his- I pay my taxes!” toric preservation and are helping to build an effective public constituency. Martin McAl- THE FUTURE OF PIT lister of Archaeological Resource Investiga- Even though PIT is a volunteer program, the tions said recently, in a training session on capacity to engage volunteers is restricted by criminal cases under the Archaeological the budgets, time, and responsibilities of fed- Resources Protection Act, that he always eral agency archeologists who are increas- hopes there are PIT volunteers on juries ingly spread too thin. The Forest Service has because “they understand the value of arche- consistently turned away nearly 50 percent of ological resources and the danger that loot- applicants despite the increase in number of ing presents to our knowledge of the past.” projects. This is a testament to the program’s relevance and popularity, but it is also begin- And finally, instead of seeing this as just one ning to discourage the public from applying. more job to do in a week with too few days, PIT project leaders consistently report that This same work overload is causing burnout time they spend with PIT volunteers is the among PIT project leaders. Some Forest best part of their job. PIT is a morale builder Service officials still consider PIT purely for heritage professionals. The volunteers’ elective and not tied to mandated targets, enthusiasm reminds them that what they viewing it as “nice to do” instead of as a do is important and appreciated. As the tool to accomplish resource stewardship and national program leader, even I have bene- public education. As a result, PIT leaders fited from this public support. My favorite

ForumJournal Summer 2008 41 The restoration of an adobe building engages PIT volunteers in Arizona. Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service. often have to host the projects on a shoe- bonds us with a people that came hundreds string and only after other responsibilities of years before us, giving us at least a small are done. While many project leaders window into their existence.”3 persevere because of the positive boost they get from working with PIT volunteers, it is For more information on Passport in Time, becoming increasingly difficult. please visit www.passportintime.com or call 800-281-9176. We hope that the evolution of PIT into an interagency program will allow us to offer more Jill A. Osborn is the assistant heritage program leader for the U.S. Forest Service and the national opportunities to engage all who want to help, coordinator for the Passport in Time program. assist more agencies with struggling budgets, and ultimately save more resources that are in 1 David McIntire, “Digging up the Past in Utah’s dire need of attention and protection. Flaming Gorge,” GoNOMAD.com, April 2008.

The goal of PIT has not changed in 18 years 2 Based on independentsector.org, which currently values volunteer contributions at $19.51 per hour. and is simply stated, “To preserve the past with the help of the public.” David McIntire 3 McIntire. captured the essence of PIT and the feeling we hope every volunteer experiences when he wrote, “This is the moment I had always dreamt of: the moment of discovery that

42 LAKE FANNIN REBIRTH

By John Ippolito

In northern Fannin County, Tex., on the One of the first accomplishments in this south bank of the Red River stands a testa- partnership was obtaining an Emergency ment to the will and fortitude of the sur- Preservation Services Grant from the vivors of the Great Depression. Lake Fannin National Trust for Historic Preservation. was initially intended to serve as a country This grant funded an architectural and club for the people of Bonham, the county engineering study of the structures in the seat. However, the economic collapse of the complex so that informed decisions on the early 1930s changed those plans forever. future of the complex could be made. Upon

As a keystone of President Roosevelt’s plans for economic recovery, the Rural Resettle- ment Administration stepped in to advance the economic recovery of north Texas. Among several land utilization projects authorized in Fannin County, Lake Fannin was intended to provide a setting for the residents of Fannin and surrounding counties to relax, recreate, and escape the rigors of daily life. From its completion in 1938 until the late 1950s it served that purpose well. From the 1950s until 1980 it served as a camp for young people from the nearby metroplex of Dallas-Fort Worth. And in 1980, it ceased operation and the gates were shut.

For the next 20 years, efforts to maintain and stabilize the site were ineffective, and decay and degradation were beginning to take their toll. Recognizing the urgent need for immediate action, a group of local preservationists calling themselves the Lake From the 1938 until the late 1950s, Lake Fanin Fannin Wilderness Park approached the For- served as a public recreation area and then a est Service to propose forming a partnership camp. Now the public can once again enjoy this to restore and maintain Lake Fannin. peaceful lakeside retreat. Photo courtesy National Trust for Historic Preservation.

ForumJournal Summer 2008 43 Volunteers from Passport in Time and other programs have made the lodge functional again, as well as conducting other stabilization, repair, and clean-up projects within the complex. Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service. receipt of the report in the fall of 2003 it and stabilizing four of the remaining cabins, became clear that the task of bringing the and general clean-up of the grounds within complex back to life would be a daunting the complex. one and that much help would be needed. Today the lodge hosts events such as family Using the work item list developed by the reunions and weddings on most weekends study consultant, plans were made to imple- of the year, overnight guests once again can ment some of the recommendations utilizing enjoy the rustic ambience of a one-room a volunteer labor pool recruited through the cabin, and the people of Fannin County are Forest Service’s Passport in Time program. able to relax and recreate along the shore Work began in April of 2004 and over the of a peaceful lake. next two years PIT volunteers—working alongside local volunteers, Forest Service John Ippolito is manager of the Heritage Re- source Program for the National Forests and officials, and staff from the National Trust’s Grasslands in Texas. Southwest Regional Office in Fort Worth— put in more than 5,000 volunteer hours. These volunteers made extensive repairs to the lodge, making it a functional, lively building once again. Other work included stabilizing the bathhouse facility, re-roofing

44 RESTORATION OF INTER-LAKEN RESORT

By Terri Liestman

The Inter-Laken Resort was one of sustainable energy system to power the Colorado’s premiere mountain getaways accommodations, which are “off the grid.” from its opening in 1879 until 1950. The Because of the proximity to important scenic impressive lakeside complex near Twin landscapes, it is unlikely that conventional Lakes, Colo., includes a hotel, annex, power will ever be available at this site, so granaries, laundry, and barn as well as the a sustainable system is not only a good owner’s personal dwelling known as the “green” idea, it’s a necessity! Final plans are Dexter Cabin. Because of its deteriorated currently being approved by local land man- condition it was listed as one of Colorado’s agers and will be implemented this year. Most Endangered Places in 2001. The addition of a sustainable energy system In 2003 the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) began is all that’s needed to make the Dexter the restoration of the Dexter Cabin, assisted Cabin functional for events and overnight by volunteers from all over the United stays. Initial plans are to make it available to States. After four seasons, the repairs have the public as part of the Historic Cabin resulted in workmanship that rivals the orig- Rental Program and Recreation Enhance- inal construction. ment Act. The rental fees are used locally, providing maintenance of the rental site, and Long-term management plans for the Inter- excess funds can be used for the restoration Laken Resort call for conversion of the hotel of other historic buildings. laundry into a caretaker’s residence and restoration of the eight-room hotel annex so that it can provide overnight accommoda- The addition of a sustainable energy tions for hikers on the Continental Divide system is all that’s needed to make National Scenic Trail and the Colorado Trail. A 1950s-era house called “Cabin the Dexter Cabin functional for Cove,” located on the opposite side of the events and overnight stays. lake from Inter-laken, has also undergone renovation so it can serve as a dormitory and meeting space for volunteer programs The renovation is being supervised by and for conservation education. As of today, Mountain Heritage Associates, a USFS work on the Dexter Cabin, laundry, and Enterprise Team. The Forest Service is Cabin Cove are nearly complete. Minor cos- providing planning, engineering, and land- metic additions are planned for Cabin Cove. scaping professionals, and supplying the capital needed for rehabilitation. In 2007 the USFS received funding from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to Thousands of volunteers have donated undertake a feasibility study of the resort hundreds of thousands of hours to the buildings, with the intent of designing a renovation of the Dexter Cabin. They’ve

ForumJournal Summer 2008 45 Thanks to the help of thousands of volunteers from numerous organizations, the Dexter Cabin will soon be ready to host events and overnight stays. Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service. come from the U.S. Forest Service’s Passport program is funded by a generous grant from in Time program and the following groups: the Daniels Fund, a Denver philanthropic The Teacher’s Restoration Corps, whose organization. membership is largely from Wisconsin, organized as a nonprofit in 1996 for the In addition to these volunteer groups, the express purpose of preserving historic build- Forest Service partners with a number of ings and structures. The Michigan Volun- other national and local organizations with- teers are a group of master woodworkers out whose participation this work could not and craftsmen who specialize in restoring be accomplished, including the National historic structures to their former glory. Trust for Historic Preservation, Colorado They recently won a National Honor Award Preservation Inc., and Colorado Mountain from the National Trust for Historic Preser- College, Timberline Campus. The Rocky vation. The American Conservation Corps Mountain Nature Association provides is a group of high school students chosen financial and administrative support. because of their academic promise, commit- Financial help has also been provided by ment to preserving natural resources, and many Coloradans, including descendants interest in exploring a future career with and family friends of the most recent owner federal land managing agencies. This Eugene Bond, such as his descendants Betty

46 Jean Bond and the Fitzsimmons family. • Initiation of the multimillion dollar devel- Individual donations are welcome, and cor- opment and management project for the porate sponsorship is also being pursued. endangered Inter-Laken Resort

USFS HISTORIC BUILDING • Rehabilitation of the Aldo Leopold House MANAGEMENT PROGRAM in New Mexico where capital and volun- The restoration of Inter-Laken Resort is part teer labor having a value of more than of the Rocky Mountain Region’s Historic $1million was combined with Forest Buildings Management Program, and is the Service Centennial Celebration funding principal response to the Preserve America Executive Order 13287, an interagency ini- • An adaptive use feasibility study for tiative established and signed by President five rural properties in the Mark Twain Bush on March 3, 2003. The critical restora- National Forest (in collaboration with the tion and management services are provided National Trust) by Mountain Heritage Associates, a Forest Service Enterprise Unit. The business model, • Design of a self-sustaining management devised by Terri Liestman and Doug strategy for more than 150 historic build- Stephens, combines private resources and ings in Colorado and Wyoming partnerships, in conjunction with sound business planning and dedicated building • Conversion of abandoned ranger stations management, resulting in shared success and near Buena Vista, Steamboat Springs, cooperative strategies for the preservation of Walden, and Delta, Colorado, into the agency’s most historically significant productive cost recovery sites buildings. The Rocky Mountain Region intends to During the formative years of the USFS, continue using this business model as long thousands of ranger stations, fire lookouts, as time and funding allows. Preservation and cabins were built. Their architecture is a partners and volunteers will continue to play reflection of the natural landscape and an an important part in the strategy to save our embodiment of the natural resource conser- important Forest Service legacy. vation legacy. Today many of these struc- Terri Liestman is the heritage program leader for tures are no longer needed as administrative the Rocky Mountain Region, U.S. Forest Service. facilities, so it has become difficult to justify For more information on historic restoration their maintenance and retention. As a business planning or our partners, contact Terri Liestman at [email protected] . response to an agency-wide need to decom- mission historic administrative structures, a result of unmet maintenance needs, the strategy has been to keep the most important historic buildings within the agency’s ownership, and make them viable busi- nesses. Over the past six years, in collaboration with partners, the successes of Liestman and Stephens include:

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