Stephen R. Mark
Preserving the Living Past
John C. Merriam's Legacy in the State and National Parks
By Greg Reddell

Most Friends know Steve Mark is Crater Lake National Park historian, but few know that Steve is also an Adjunct Professor of History at the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls. You will remember Steve for the many articles he has written for this newsletter, especially leading up to the Centennial.

Steve's latest book is Preserving the Living Past, about John C. Marriam, a park pioneer.

From his efforts to protect California's wild lands--including the state's majestic redwoods and its dynamic coastline--to his novel ideas about the educational and inspirational value of wilderness that continue to provoke debates to this day, this first biography of John C. Merriam (1869-1945) tells the story of the prominent paleontologist who became a visionary in the American conservation movement.

Steve is the author of Floating in the Stream of Time: An Administrative History of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (1996). Last year Steve authored a guide to Crater Lake Rhapsody in Blue distributed by the Natural History Association. Friends will want to watch for this new book at Crater Lake this summer.

Volunteers Needed this Summer
by George Buckingham, President

If you have not read the Chief Ranger's article on the construction projects scheduled for this summer, please do so. It will become very apparent that major disruptions to the usual visitor use patterns will occur. Friends performing Roving Interpretation are badly needed this summer. If you ever had an urge to give this a try, this is the year to just do it. Many are nervous about their knowledge base and fear disappointing visitors because of their ignorance. It won't happen. VIP's are provided training, have immediate access to information resources and full support of park staff. Besides, you will know more than the visitor who is asking the question anyway! No NPS employee has ever known all the answers to every question. It is a Service maxim to always answer a question that you don't know the answer to with "I don't know, but I will find out and get you that information." Then you simply do just that. Park visitors always appreciate that response and are very impressed with someone who takes the trouble to find the answer.

Crater Lake National Park and the Friends have clarified their relationship with regard to certain volunteer projects. The park has chosen to exclusively utilize the Friends to recruit and coordinate volunteers for certain projects. These projects are: Adopt-a-Trail, Adopt-a-Highway, Winter Rim Desk and Roving Interpretation. The Friends will be seeking volunteers, giving them an overview of the activity and the procedures to follow to become a volunteer. While volunteering Friends are assigned a park supervisor who will approve the selection, schedule the work and provide training and supervision. The park is again providing a house for the Friends to use for Friends volunteers working on these projects. The Friends will manage the utilization of those quarters.

The park provided house has been modernized to the extent that it is clean, warm and comfortable. While not a four star hotel, it definitely has charm. There are two bedrooms, one having a double bed and one having a single bed. Occupants share a nice living room, equipped kitchen and a bathroom. We assign a volunteer(s) a private bedroom, but not the exclusive use of the entire house. Hence, one may find that they have "strangers" in the house. We regard this not only as a way to fully utilize the house, but also as an opportunity to meet and get to know fellow members of the Friends. Assignment is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Before making an assignment, we need to know that the Friends member wishing to volunteer has a current year Volunteer-in-Parks (VIP) agreement and that the park supervisor has approved the volunteer and scheduled the work. This takes a little time so plan ahead. Completion of the VIP agreement clarifies the work to be performed and provides the volunteer the same protection against tort claims and workman's compensation that a paid employee has.

The park and the Friends schedule training for these activities. In most cases, VIP's are required to attend training before being scheduled. However, on a case-by-case basis, the scheduled training may be replaced with other arrangements. This is entirely at the discretion of the park supervisor.

To get involved, contact a member of the Friends Board or call a park supervisor. The Board is listed elsewhere in this newsletter. Chief Ranger Dave Brennan (541-594-3051) handles the Adopt-a-Trail and Adopt-a-Boundary programs and Ass't Chief of Interpretation Martha Hess (541-594-3092) takes care of Roving Interpretation and Winter Rim Desk.

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