Temporary checking kiosks were placed in the center of the road at the east and north entrances during 1942. The kiosks proved to be “highly satisfactory, facilitating checking operations a hundredfold, and providing a safe and convenient place for ranger records and files.” Leavitt desired similar kiosks at the south and west entrances as the existing Annie Spring station serving those entrances was “unsatisfactory for proper control, orientation, and direction of visitors.” [21] (See the below for a copy of the “Crater Lake Ranger and Fire Organization.”)
American entry into World War II had a significant impact on the ranger organization and activities at Crater Lake. In June 1942, for instance, the annual field ranger school held in the park combined the normal training in fire control, law enforcement, and other protection services with civilian defense training. The latter included training in defense against war gas and incendiary bombs and understanding of civilian defense organizations and functions. [22]
Crater Lake was operated on a bare maintenance level during the war as a result of reduced park appropriations and personnel . Park rangers performed a variety of untraditional tasks during the war emergency in addition to their principal responsibilities for fire protection and safeguarding of government property. In June 1943 Superintendent Leavitt reported that the chief ranger and the park naturalist undertook the major responsibility for trail repair and other maintenance work and furnished crews to assist the park carpenter, plumber, road foreman, and engineer in their duties. Leavitt noted:
