National Park 2nd Class Permit No. 373880 Steve Mather's family newspaper Courier VOLUME 24 NUMBER 10 WASHINGTON, D.C. OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 1977 To All Association Members: Courier & Newsletter Next month, members of the Employees and Alumni Asso­ altered in Nov. ciation will receive a different publication. It will be the NPS • Appointments of superin­ day's outlook for the national COURIER, Newsletter of the tendents and regional parks. National Park Service." directors. The outlook is that the Na­ • Activities of Park Women. tional Park System will continue For a long time, your Board • Letters, Books. to expand, that the Service will of Directors has had under con­ be expected to assume signifi­ sideration a change in publica­ • Alumni News. Park Briefs. Obituaries. People on the cant additional responsibilities, tions # policy—a change under and that it will have additional which we would no longer put Move. Another important reason for resources with which to dis­ out the National Park Courier charge those responsibilities. as a separate publication, hut this change in publications poli­ cy is that it will save money. A One who worked in the parks instead would pay for printing before I960 may find it hard to and mailing to our members substantial increase in dues would have been necessary to realize that the System now copies of a more complete NPS comprises almost 300 areas, and newsletter. cover rising printing and paper costs. Under the new arrange­ to comprehend the size of the At the last annual meeting, it Service's additional task in the was decided to make that ment, we can bring you articles about parks and Service people, preservation of cultural and his­ change, and it will be effected torical resources across the Na­ with the November edition. plus some of the alumni news you enjoyed before, and do it tion. All members of the Associa­ without raising the dues at this • For the new Director and tion will have the "COURIER•• time. Still only $5 a year, E& Deputy Director and the entire mailed to them. This means that AA membership is a real bar­ Service organization, this is a members employed by the Park gain. time of change and challenge, Service will receive one copy at As always the COURIER and they need the support work and another at home which a vigorous Association through the mail. staff seeks your help in provid­ ing interesting material for arti­ can provide. Over the years, many alumni cles. Those who have worked in As never before, your Board members of the Association the parks for many years can needs your help to increase have expressed a desire to re­ Chairman Fry provide stories of interest and Association membership, espe­ ceive the Newsletter. Now your cially among employees. The As space permits, the COUR­ • Policy statements and significance, or amusing or in­ membership in E&AA will as­ IER will provide a wide spec­ structive anecdotes about "how National Park Service is one of sure you of receiving it regular­ management directives of the most respected bureaus in trum of coverage of matters of general interest. we did it in Yellowstone." ly. An important advantage of interest to the Park Service Recently, another important Government. We enjoy a note­ the policy change, we believe, Family, such as: change was effected in the worthy heritage. Every employ­ is that the same publication will • Personnel matters — com­ status of the E&AA: the organi­ ee should belong to the E&AA, pensation, hiring practices, be available to all of the Park • News of significant devel­ zation became a Cooperating both to make a stronger contri­ Service Family—employed and grading of positions, retire­ Association of the National bution to the National Park opments in the Park Serv­ ment changes. retired. News of the alumni and ice and the Park System. Park Service. We believe this to cause, and to get the most from Association activities will be be a major step forward, one his or her relationship with oth­ carried—something that will • New parks for the System • Feature stories about park that will facilitate administration er Service people. mean better informed employ­ and other legislation enact­ people, attractions and ac­ of the Association, and one that ees. ed. tivities. is much needed in view of to­ George Fry, Chairman, E&AA First Lady presents awards to NPSers The visitor center site at Big former Director Connie Wirth. Horn Canyon National Recrea­ tion Area, Wyo., designed by The Nurserymen's Associa­ Wirth Associates under contract tion landscape award is the old­ with the national Park Service est given in this country for received one of the 17 annual outstanding design. With Asso­ landscape awards of the Ameri­ ciates designed the visitor cen­ can Association of Nurserymen ter building, which is heated in a ceremony in Washington, and air conditioned by solar D. C, October 5. The presenta­ energy, as well as the site at tions were made by the First Lovell, Wyoming. The facility Lady, Rosylnn Carter, in the has been in operation for about rose garden on the White House a year. grounds. • Theodore Wirth, whose firm has offices in Billings, Mont., The National Park Service and Phoenix, Arix., resigned was represented by Director from the Park Service in 1961, Whalen and Howard Wagner, after for 10 years in the West­ landscape architect, who ac­ ern Design and Construction cepted the award for the Den­ Office, San Francisco, and at ver Service Center. NPS Alum­ Grand Teton National Park nus Theodore J. Wirth, presi­ where he also did planning and Theodore J. Wirth (left), president of Wirth Associates, and Howard Wagner of the Denver dent of Wirth Associates, ac­ development work for Yellow­ Service Center pose with First Lady Rosalynn Carter in the Rose Garden on the White House cepted the award for his firm. stone National Park. He is vice grounds after receiving awards for design and development of the Big Horn Canyon Recrea­ He was accompanied by his president of the American So­ tion Area visitor center site at Lovell, Wyo. Mrs. Carter presented 17 top landscape awards mother, Helen Wirth, wife of ciety of Landscape Architects. from the American Association of Nurserymen Oct. 5. Page 2 NATIONAL PARK COURIER October/November 1977 Andrus asks for 92 million Alaska acres The Carter Administration's for the future, we must put this proposal to protect 92 million of in perspective. It is not our in­ Alaska's 375 million acres was tention to 'lock up' the State of presented to Congress Sept. 15 Alaska, and our plan provides by Secretary Cecil D. Andrus. sufficient latitude for needed The land recommended is al­ development. ready in Federal ownership. Largest of the national park • Recommendations were made proposals is that of the Wran- under provisions of the Alaska gell-St. Elias National Park and Native Claims Settlement Act. Preserve, a wild area of 18,000 These lands would constitute square miles in Southeast Alas­ approximately 45.1 million acres ka adjoining Canada's Kluane ' in National Wildlife Refuges National Park. It contains the and 41.7 million acres in the Nation's greatest collection of National Park System, more peaks surmounting 16,000 feet, than doubling the size of each including Mount St. Elias, at system. 18,008 feet, the second highest Andrus also recommended 33 in North America. An enor­ rivers and river segments for mous array of wildlife, includ­ inclusion in the National Wild ing the rare glacier bear, inha­ and Scenic Rivers System to­ bits an area large enough to talling some 2.45 million acres, contain the proposed wild and and nine rivers for study, plus scenic rivers. Most of the park additions of some 2.5 million is proposed as wilderness. acres to existing National For­ In the far north is the pro­ ests. posed Gates of the Arctic Na­ As Secretary Andrus told the tional Park, 8.2 million acres Interior Secretary Cecil 0. Andrus testifies before the House Interior and Insular Affairs Com­ House Subcommittee on Alaska mittee asking Congress to set aside some 92 million acres of land in the State of Alaska for with an abundance of rare spec­ lands and General Oversight: parks, refuges and wilderness. He is flanked by Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and ies of wildlife and seven wild Parks Robert L. Herbst. "Through enactment of our rivers. proposals, we can be certain Another is existing Mount that the crown jewels of Alaska McKinley National Park, estab­ Minneapolis honors Wirth family — its most spectacular natural lished in 1917 and enclosing environments, recreation areas, America's highest peak, Mount An expression of gratitude to different branches of the work. Sitka National Historical Park, and wildlife habitats—will re­ McKinley at 20,320 feet. The the Wirth family for its leader­ He paid tribute to Senator a direct descendant of the Tlin- main in trust for the benefit of park would be enlarged to 5.7 ship and service to the field of Humphrey as a public official git Indians who fought against our Nation's citizens." million acres and renamed Den- parks and recreation was pre­ "whose heart encompasses the the Russians for 10 years in "When we talk of conserving ali, the Alaska Native Indian sented to former NPS Director whole world of people and defense of their homeland. resources for our Nation and name for the great peak. Conrad L. Wirth and his wife, things." There they saw a fine visitor Helen, in the form of a resolu­ The former Director played center built during the Mission tion by the Park and Recreation golf on the Theodore Wirth 66 program instigated by Wirth.