CHAPTER TWELVE: Resource Management: 1916-Present B. RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 1930-1942

A new method of pine beetle eradication was introduced in 1932. The method and rationale behind its use were described by Superintendent Solinsky:

This year the so-called solar method of pine beetle eradication was not found completely effective in thick forested areas and on northern exposures, due to extremely cold weather. Under such conditions a method of eradication by burning using an oil spray proved 100 percent effective. It is thought that the pine beetles are well under control and only a small allotment will be required each year to keep them so. [28]

The mountain pine beetle epidemic in the park was declared to be eradicated in November 1933 by Entomologist F.P. Keen of the U.S. Bureau of Entomology. He observed:

That the mountain pine beetle in the pine stands of Crater Lake National Park. was brought completely under control by the work conducted in the spring of 1932 was further verified by the scouting and control work conducted during 1933. While a few scattered infested trees could be found, there was no evidence of concentrated grouping of beetle activity. On most of the park units the beetles are all but exterminated. Therefore for the next few years, only a maintenance control program needs to be considered on Park forests.

A highly dangerous concentration of beetles in the Sun Pass area of the Rogue River National Forest a mile or so from the southeast corner of the Park. still continues as an aggressive epidemic and is a menace to the park in that at any time a migration of beetles back into the park may take place. It is hoped that this infestation can be completely cleaned up next spring.

Keen went on to describe control work during the spring of 1933:

The maintenance program for 1933 called for the treatment of about 5,000 trees at a cost of $4,000. This program was started early in June when spotting crews were placed in the field to mark the infested trees and some treatment at the lower elevations was started by the regular experienced control crews.

Then two of the Emergency Conservation Work camps were established in the Park, one on Anna Creek and the other on Sand Creek and the beetle control work made an important part of their activity. For a time as many as 200 men from the CCC camps were employed in the beetle control work. As a consequence a large area of the Park was thoroughly combed for infestation and a complete clean up secured. Even so only 7,026 infested trees of which 5,794 were lodge pole were found on the 30,750 acres covered. . . . [29]

In 1936 it was evident that white pine blister rust was rapidly approaching the park. It was determined that protection of the Cloudcap area and its homogeneous stand of whitebark pine was imperative. Accordingly the Cloudcap Blister Rust Control Unit was established as a cooperative venture with the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1937. Within three years more than 133,600 alternate host plants (Ribes sp.) were eradicated in a control unit of 3,632 acres. [30]

During 1936 a vegetation type survey of Crater Lake National Park was conducted as an Emergency Conservation Work National Park Service project under the supervision of the Branch of Forestry. Field work was started on May 21 and completed on August 15, and the office work. connected with the survey was done at the Berkeley office of the Branch of Forestry during the winter months. Personnel of the crew consisted of Martin H. Mitchell, Junior Forester Homer W. Marion, Assistant to Technician, and two men from the local Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp. Planimetering of the types was done by Dean F. Schlobohm, Junior Forester.

The vegetation type survey was conducted to meet an ever increasing need for a map showing the composition, extent, and character of the park vegetation. The data was to be used as a basis for:

1. Rating fire hazard and protection planning
2. Planning insect and disease control
3. Determining the proper use and treatment of land for recreation, campground development, wild life, reforestation, erosion control, etc.
4. Augmenting the supply of knowledge concerning the flora and other natural features of the area in question
5. Providing an inventory of forest lands

The ultimate objective of the project was to produce not only a vegetation type map but also a reference map, vegetation type sample plot records, narrative type descriptions, and illustrated herbarium specimens. One of the products of the survey was a condensed summary of vegetation types in the park:

Type


Acres


Lake 11,144.40
Barren 1,712.11
Herb–grass and semi-barren herb-grass 3,636.33
Residential 29.56
Chaparral 1,524.36
Weedland 11.99
Douglas fir belt 1,006.14
Ponderosa pine belt 6,014.33
Pine-fire belt 41,128.14
Lodgepole pine-hemlock 73,450.20
Fir belt 17,885.65
White bark pine 587.37
Spruce 14.20


Total 160,333.00 [31]