So that was an early decision?
That was a given very early on. We were starting to get a little bit of flack from down in this [Humboldt County] area. So we decided that we would have a group district operation in Orick. This was very early in the game when we decided to have both of them. Then of course the subsequent legislation ten years later just exemplified the same thing. You had much more activity in there then, than with the staff that is up there now-visitor center and so on. The one thing that I am still arguing for is to make the park accessible to the people, you know. Well, we are getting it done now. It is about time….
[Bill] Yeah, there was kind of a lock up philosophy, at one time, just shut everything down.
That is one of the unfortunate aspects of the environmental movement. I guess we are all environmentalists; we could be called that at any rate. But, practically, the park are for people and there has to be an access for them. And yet, many of them are stringent environmentalists and don’t want any access other than by foot. When you talk about percentages and use and so forth, that will not float. Around here you have to have a road going right up the main highway and you should have access for people.
Did you have to deal with people like [David] Brower during the study period?
Yes, but not much with Dave, Mike Lamb, gosh I can’t remember the other guy’s name that used to be here, became Director of the Sierra Club and subsequently an attorney, dealt a lot with him (2). We were not close, although we conferred with each other, passed information back and forth.
Were you closer, as far as talking to the League during this time?
No very much. We pretty well had their input and whenever they come up we would meet with them, but by then things were pretty well crystallized.
I know several of the League members had talked about this idea of the Smith River and how that was a viable thing until the Sierra Club backing of Redwood Creek. Did that ever enter into the studies at the time you were involved?
We considered the Smith River yeah, but it was ruled out very early on. During the time I was here, Lenny Volz [who had been key man for Redwood] might have had a lot more involvement at that, but I didn’t. It was pretty well ruled out, we all liked it. It just wasn’t feasible.
The tallest tree became the very prominent political issue?
Right. To go back a little bit as I was saying, we had these four people involved, political people, and each one wanted something. Jackson wanted the Cascades, Aspinall wanted some stuff from Denver, and Ray Taylor wanted some stuff on the Blue Ridge Parkway; all those legislators has a vested interest and the key to the whole thing was the Redwoods. The local Congressman, Don Clausen, was opposed to it. Well, he had to be in order to survive around here. So they brought out the full Interior Internal Affairs National Parks Committee, twenty-one members, which was the only time they ever met outside of Washington. We had quite a fandangle with them, didn’t we Bill?
