Crater Lake National Park: Administrative History by Harlan D. Unrau and Stephen Mark, 1987

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APPENDIX A10 : REGULATIONS GOVERNING CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK. (In effect May 1, 1917.)

GENERAL REGULATIONS.

The following rules and regulations for the government of the Crater Lake National Park are hereby established and made public, pursuant to authority conferred by the acts of Congress approved May 22, 1902 (32 Stat., 202), August 21, 1916 (39 Stat., 521), and August 25, 1916 (39 Stat., 535):

1. Preservation of natural curiosities. — The destruction, injury, or defacement in any way of the public property or the trees, vegetation, rocks, minerals, animal and bird or other life, or other natural conditions and curiosities in the park is prohibited.

2. Camping. — No camp will be made along roads except at designated localities. Blankets, clothing, hammocks, or any other article liable to frighten teams must not be hung near the road.

Many successive parties camp on the same sites during the season, and campgrounds must be thoroughly cleaned before they are abandoned. Tin cans, bottles, cast-off clothing, and all other debris must be placed in garbage cans or pits provided for the purpose. When camps are made in unfrequented localities where pits or garbage cans may not be provided, all refuse must be burned or hidden where it not be offensive to the eye.

Campers may use dead or fallen timber only for fuel.

3. Fires. — Fires constitute one of the greatest perils to the park; they must not be kindled near trees, dead wood, moss, dry leaves, forest mold, or other vegetable refuse, but in some open space on rocks or earth. Should camp be made in a locality where no such open space exists nor is provided, dead wood, moss, dry leaves, etc., must be scraped away to the rock or earth over an area considerably larger than required for the fire.

When fires are no longer necessary, they must be completely extinguished and all embers and bed smothered with earth or water so that there remains no possibility of reignition.Especial care must be taken that no lighted match, cigar, or cigarette is dropped in any grass, twigs, leaves, or tree mold.

4. Hunting. — The park is a sanctuary for wild life of every sort, and no one should frighten, hunt or kill, wound or capture any bird or wild animals in the park, except dangerous animals when it is necessary to prevent them from destroying life or inflicting injury.

The outfits, including guns, traps, teams, horses, or means of transportation used by persons engaged in hunting, killing, trapping, ensnaring, or capturing such birds or wild animals, or in possession of game killed on the park lands under other circumstances than prescribed above, must be taken up by the supervisor and held subject to the order of the Secretary of the Interior, except in cases where it is shown by satisfactory evidence that the outfit is not the property of the person or persons violating this regulation and the actual owner was not a party to such violation. Firearms will be permitted in the park only on written permission of the supervisor. Visitors entering or traveling through the park to places beyond should, at entrance, report and surrender all fire arms, traps, nets, seines, or explosives in their possession to the first park officer, and, in proper cases, may obtain his written leave to carry them through the park sealed.

5. Fishing. — Fishing is permitted with hook and line only, and never for profit or merchandise. Fishing in particular water may be suspended; or the number of fish that may be taken by one person in any one day, from the various streams or lakes, may be regulated by the supervisor. All fish hooked less than 8 inches long shall be carefully handled with moist hands and returned at once to the water, if not seriously injured. Fish retained should be killed. Five fish shall constitute the limit for a day’s catch from the lake, and 20 from other waters of the park.

6. Private operations. — No person will be permitted to reside permanently, engage in any business, operate a moving-picture camera, or erect buildings upon the Government lands in the park without permission in writing from the Director of the National Park Service. Application for such permission may be addressed to the supervisor of the park or to the National Park Service Washington, D. C.

7. Patented lands. — Owners of patented lands within the park limits are entitled to the full use and enjoyment thereof; the boundaries of such lands, however, must be determined and marked and defined, so that they may be readily distinguished from the park lands. While no limitations or conditions are imposed upon the use of such private lands so long as such use does not interfere with or injure the park, private owners must provide against trespass by their stock or cattle or otherwise, upon the park lands, and all trespasses committed will be punished to the full extent of the law. Stock may be taken over the park lands to patented private lands with the written permission and under the supervision of the supervisor, but such permission and supervision are not required when access to such private lands is had wholly over roads or lands not owned or controlled by the United States.

8. Grazing. — Allowing the running at large, herding, or grazing of cattle or stock of any kind on the Government lands in the park, as well as the driving of such stock or cattle over same, must be avoided, except where authority therefor has been granted by the supervisor. Cattle or stock found improperly on the park lands may be impounded and held until claimed by the owner and the trespass adjusted.

9. Saloons and bars. — No drinking saloon or barroom will be permitted upon Government lands in the park.

10. Advertisements. — Private notices or advertisements shall not be posted or displayed on Government lands within the park, except such as may be necessary for the convenience and guidance of the public and then only by permission from the supervisor.

11. Travel on trails. — Pedestrians on trails, when animals are passing them, must remain quiet until animals have passed.

Persons traveling on the trails of the park, either on foot or saddle animals, must not make short cuts, but must confine themselves to the main trail.

12. Horse-drawn vehicles. — Saddle horses, pack trains, and horse-drawn vehicles have right of way over motor-propelled vehicles at all times.

13. Concessioners. — All persons, firms, or corporations holding concessions in the park must keep the grounds used by them properly policed and maintain the premises in a sanitary condition to the satisfaction of the supervisor. No lessee or licensee shall retain in his employment a person whose presence in the park may be deemed by the supervisor subversive of good order and management of the park.

14. Employees of concessioners. — Transportation, camp, and hotel concessioners will require each of their employees to wear a metal badge with a number thereon, the name and the number corresponding therewith being registered in the supervisor’s office. These badges must be worn in plain sight on the hat or cap. Concessioners must also report the fact of discharge of employees; if for cause, such cause must be stated.

15. Dead animals. — All domestic animals that may die on the Government lands in the park at any tourist camp, or along any of the public thoroughfares, must be immediately removed to a point not nearer than one-fourth mile from such camp or thoroughfare, and there be buried at least 2 feet beneath the ground by the owner or person having charge of such animal.

16. Miscellaneous — Travel. — (a) Freight, baggage, and heavy camping outfits on sidehill grades throughout the park must take the outer side of the road while being passed by passenger vehicles in either direction.

(b) Wagons used in hauling heavy freight over the park roads must have tires not less than 4 inches in width.

(c) All vehicles must be equipped with lights for night travel. At least one light must be carried by horse-drawn vehicles, and it must be carried on the left front side of the vehicles in a position such as to be visible from both front and rear.

17. Miscellaneous — General. — (a) Campers and others must not wash clothing or cooking utensils in or in any other way pollute the waters of the rivers and creeks of the park, or bathe in any of the streams near the regularly traveled thoroughfares in the park without suitable bathing clothes.

(b) Stock must not be tied so as to permit their entering any of the streams of the park. All animals should be kept a sufficient distance from camping grounds not to litter the ground and make unfit for use the area which may be used later as tent sites.

(c) Campers and all others, save those holding licenses from the Secretary of the Interior, are prohibited from hiring their horses, trappings, or vehicles to tourists or visitors in the park. No pack trains will be allowed in the park unless in charge of a duly registered guide.

(d) All complaints by tourists and others as to service, etc., rendered in the park should be made to the supervisor, in writing, before the complainant leaves the park. Oral complaints will be beard daily during office hours.

18. Dogs and cats. — Cats are not permitted in the park, and dogs only to those persons passing through the park to the territory beyond, in which instances they must be kept tied while crossing the park. This rule does not apply to trained dogs used by Government employees in extermination of predatory wild animals.

19. Fines and penalties. — The supervisor is hereby authorized and directed to remove from the park all trespassers and all persons who render themselves obnoxious by disorderly conduct or bad behavior and to enforce these rules and regulations and the provisions of the acts of Congress in the premises, violation of which is punishable by summary ejection from the park or by a fine of not to exceed $500 or imprisonment not to exceed six months or by any combination of these penalties. Persons ejected from the park will not be permitted to return without permission in writing from the Secretary of the Interior or the supervisor of the park.

REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE IMPOUNDING AND DISPOSITION OF LOOSE LIVE STOCK.

Horses, cattle, or other domestic live stock running at large or being herded or grazed in the Crater Lake National Park without authority from the Secretary of the Interior, will be taken up and impounded by the supervisor, who will at once give notice thereof to the owner, if known. If the owner is not known, notice of such impounding, giving a description of the animal or animals, with the brands thereon, will be posted in six public places inside the park and in two public places outside the park. Any owner of an animal thus impounded may, at any time before the sale thereof, reclaim the same upon proving ownership and paying the cost of notice and all expenses incident to the taking up and detention of such animal including the cost of feeding and caring for the same. If any animal thus impounded shall not be reclaimed within 30 days from notice to the owner or from the date of posting notices, it shall be sold at public auction at such time and place as may be fixed by the supervisor after 10 days’ notice, to be given by posting notices in six public places in the park and two public places outside the park, and by mailing to the owner, if known, a copy thereof.

All money received from the sale of such animals and remaining after the payment of all expenses incident to the taking up, impounding, and selling thereof shall be carefully retained by the supervisor in a separate fund for a period of six months, during which time the net proceeds from the sale of any animal may be claimed by and paid to the owner upon the presentation of satisfactory proof of ownership, and if not so claimed within six months from the date of sale such proceeds shall be turned into the Crater Lake National Park fund.

The supervisor shall keep a record in which shall be set down a description of all animals impounded, giving the brands found on them, the date and locality of the taking up, the date of all notices and manner in which they were given, the date of sale the name and address of the purchaser, the amount for which each animal was sold and the cost incurred in connection therewith, and the disposition of the proceeds.The supervisor will, in each instance, make every reasonable effort to ascertain the owner of animals impounded and to give actual notice thereof to such owner.

REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE LOCATION OF MINING CLAIMS.

The following rules and regulations governing the location of mining claims in Crater Lake National Park are hereby established and made public pursuant to authority conferred by the acts of Congress, approved May 22, 1902 (32 Stat., 202), August 21, 1916 (39 Stat., 521), and August 25, 1916 (39 Stat., 535).

The organic act establishing the park provides that under such regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe the reservation shall be open “to the location of mining claims and the working of the same.” It was not the purpose of this provision to extend the mining laws to the park without limitation, but only to authorize the location and working of mining claims thereon, under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and in such manner as not to interfere with or prejudicially affect the general purpose for which the reservation was established. It is therefore prescribed —

(a) That persons desiring to locate mining claims within the park shall enroll their names and addresses with the supervisor of the reservation, and shall file with such supervisor a description, in writing, of the land desired to be located. They shall also file with the supervisor evidence that they are severally qualified to make locations under the mining laws, and before entering upon the park for such purpose they must obtain from the Secretary of the Interior through the supervisor a written permit to do so. Such permit will be issued only upon condition that the applicant or applicants therefor, while upon the reservation, will not destroy or damage any game, fish, timber, or natural objects therein, and will strictly observe and comply with the requirements of the law and these regulations.

(b) Lands in the park upon which valuable deposits of mineral shall have been or may be found may be located under the mining laws by any person or persons duly qualified and holding a permit, such as is described in the preceding paragraph, and such person or persons, his or their successor or successors in interest, may work the claim or claims so located; but in carrying on the work he or they shall in all respects observe and comply with the provisions of the statute creating the park and with these regulations: Provided, That such person or persons may, as the proper working of such mining claim or claims shall require, be permitted to use, for mining purposes, such timber or stone found upon the land located as in the judgment of the supervisor may be so used without injury or damage to the reservation “as a public park or pleasure ground”: And provided further, That within 30 days after the location of any mining claim the park, and before development work thereon shall be commenced, a copy of the notice of location shall be filed with the supervisor, together with proof satisfactorily showing that discovery of a valuable mineral deposit has been made within the limits of the location, and if it be a placer location, that every 10-acre tract embraced therein has been found to contain valuable deposits of mineral.

(c) The statute does not authorize the purchase of or the acquisition of the legal title to lands located as mining claims within the park. The rights of the locator or locators, therefore, will be at all times subject to forfeiture upon breach of any of the conditions mentioned in the permit herein provided for, or upon refusal or failure to comply with any of the provisions of the statute or of these regulations.

(d) Upon breach of any such conditions, or upon refusal or failure to comply in all respects with the provisions of the statute and of these regulations, or where locators of mining claims do not appear to be acting in good faith, or who after location do not work their claims in such manner as to show good faith in the assertion thereof, the supervisor will revoke their permits, forthwith remove them from the park, and report the facts to the Secretary of the Interior.

AUTOMOBILE AND MOTORCYCLE REGULATIONS.

Pursuant to authority conferred by the act of Congress of May 22, 1902 (32 Stat., 202), and the act of August 25, 1916 (39 Stat., 535), the following regulations governing the admission of automobiles and motorcycles into the Crater Lake National Park are hereby established and made public:

1. Entrances. — Automobiles and motorcycles may enter and leave the park by the western or Castle Creek entrance, the eastern or Sand Creek entrance, and the southern or Anna Creek entrance.

2. Automobiles. — The park is open to automobiles operated for pleasure, but not to those carrying passengers who are paying, either directly or indirectly, for the use of machines (excepting, however, automobiles used by concessioners under permit from the department). Careful driving is demanded of all persons using the roads. The Government is in no way responsible for any kind of accident.

3. Hours. — Automobiles or motorcycles will not be permitted to enter or leave the park before 6.30 a. m. or after 8 p. m., except in case of emergency.

4. Motorcycles. — Motorcycles are admitted to the park under the same conditions as automobiles and are subject to the same regulations, as far as they are applicable.

5. Permits. — Permits must be secured at the ranger station, where the automobile enters the park and will entitle the holder to go over any or all of the roads in the park. This permit must be the conveniently kept so that it can be exhibited to park rangers on demand. Each permit must be exhibited to the checking rangers for verification on exit from the park. Permits will show (a) name of station where permit is issued, (b) name of owner or driver, (c) State and license number of automobile.

6. Fees. — The fee for an automobile or motorcycle permit is $2.50 and is payable in cash only. The permit is good for the entire season, expiring on December 31 of the year of issue.

7. Distance apart; gears and brakes. — Automobiles while in motion must not be less than 50 yards apart, except for purpose of passing, which is permissible only on comparatively level or slight grades. All automobiles, except while shifting gears, must retain their gears constantly enmeshed. Persons desiring to enter the park in an automobile will be required to satisfy the ranger issuing the automobile permit that all parts of machine, particularly the brakes and tires, are in first-class working order and capable of making the trip, and that there is sufficient gasoline in the tank to reach the next place where it may be obtained. The automobile must carry at least one extra tire.

8. Speeds. — Speed is limited to 10 miles per hour, except on good roads with straight stretches, and when no team is nearer than 200 yards the speed may be increased to 20 miles per hour.

9. Horns. — The horn will be sounded on approaching curves or stretches of road concealed for any considerable distance by slopes, overhanging trees, or other obstacles, and before meeting or passing other machines, riding or driving animals, or pedestrians.

10. Lights. — All automobiles must be equipped with head and tail lights, the headlights to be of sufficient brilliancy to insure safety in driving at night and all lights must be kept lighted after dark when automobile is on the roads. Headlights must be dimmed when passing other automobiles or horse-drawn vehicles.

11. Muffler cut-outs. — Muffler cut-outs must be closed while approaching or passing riding horses, horse-drawn vehicles, hotels, camps, or checking stations.

12. Teams. — When teams, saddle horses, or pack trains approach, automobiles will take the outer edge of the roadway, regardless of the direction in which they may be going, taking care that sufficient room is left on the inside for the passage of vehicles and animals. Teams have the right of way, and automobiles will be backed or otherwise handled as may be necessary so as to enable teams to pass with safety. In no case must automobiles pass animals on the road at a speed greater than 8 miles an hour.

13. Accidents. — When, due to breakdowns or accidents of any other nature, automobiles are unable to keep going, they must be immediately parked off the road, or, where this is impossible, on the outer edge of the road.

14. Stop-overs. — Automobiles stopping over at points inside the park must be parked off the road, or, where this is impossible, on the outer edge of the road.

15. Reduced engine power, gasoline, etc. — Due to the high altitude of the park roads, ranging between 4,000 and 7,000 feet, the power of all automobiles is much reduced, so that about 40 per cent more gasoline will be required than for the same distance at lower altitudes. Likewise, one gear lower will generally have to be used on grades than would have to be used in other places. A further effect that must be watched is the heating of the engine on long grades, which may become serious unless care is used. Gasoline can be purchased at regular supply stations as per posted notices.

16. Fines and penalties. — Violation of any of the foregoing regulations for government of the park shall be punishable by revocation of automobile permit, by immediate ejectment from the park, or by a fine of not to exceed $500, or by any combination of the three, and be cause for refusal to issue new automobile permit to the owner without prior sanction in writing from the Secretary of the Interior.

Regulations Governing Crater Lake National Park [In Effect May 1, 1917], pp. 1-7.

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