Friends of Crater Lake National Park
Newsletter, Vol. 2 No. 3, December 1997

President's Report
by Greg Reddell

The board of the Friends of Crater Lake National Park elected a new board president following the annual meeting in October. I was the lucky member to be nominated and elected board President. I have been pleased to be elected board president, since I have enjoyed being a member of the Friends and serving on the board the past year. I have appreciated the wonderful projects, nature walks, seminars, and other events the Friends have had during the years I have been a member.

First of all, we should all thank Bev Hartell for being a superb board president. Fortunately for me, and for the Friends, Bev is still on the board and continues to have lots of ideas and energy for FCLNP. Congratulations to our new board members Debra Price, Donna Widmer, and Janet Wilson. Look for their introductions in this newsletter. I think the Friends is a very talented group with varied backgrounds which will be of benefit to the Park. We need to thank Cindy Cohen, Margaret Rasmussen, and Pat McMillen, our board members whose terms expired, for all their dedication and efforts. I am sure their talents will still be useful in future projects.

I still reside in Klamath Falls and enjoy the same things I told you about in a previous newsletter. I continue to play the tuba in the back row of the Klamath Falls Symphony and will participate in the annual Christmas Tuba Festival at the Rogue Valley Mall December 13. This summer I enjoyed a trip to Glacier National Park with my brother and family. Despite cold and stormy weather over the Fourth of July, we had a great time. Later in the summer I vacationed in Wisconsin and among other things, finally visited Mark Twain's boyhood home in Hannibal, Missouri.

The board meeting in November at Judy and George Buckingham's home at Crater Lake turned into a marathon session which lasted 3 hours. I barely had time during the meeting to enjoy the pot-luck lunch.

Being president of the board, I will do better with this agenda item at the next board meeting. As most of you are aware, 1998 includes lots of activities for the Friends, including regional seminars, winter snowshoe hikes and the winter information desk, volunteer summer fire lookout, summer volunteer weekend, and Project 2002. Watch for and plan to attend as many as you can, and bring friends.

Crater Lake National Park Releases Draft of New Plan

The recently released Draft Visitor Services Plan/Environmental Impact Statement is designed to help the park define appropriate levels and kinds of commercial visitor services and set the direction for the new concession contract. It will also guide the general levels and locations of NPS interpretive services. The "Proposed Action" is intended to improve protection of park natural resources while still providing enjoyable visitor experiences. The plan emphasizes interpretive services provided by park rangers and modifies commercial services to better serve the public.

The new plan is expected to reduce traffic congestion at Rim Village and facilitate pedestrian movement. The plan calls for a new visitor contact station at Rim Village that would provide information, interpretation and year-round views of Crater Lake. The Community House would be rehabilitated and used for summer evening programs. The cafeteria would be rehabilitated to its 1928 appearance and would provide a deli/fast food service and limited gift sales. The parking lot in front of the cafeteria would be removed and a new lot built behind the cafeteria.

The historic landscape of the 1930's would be restored along the caldera rim, recreating the designed environment of that era.

Mazama Village would become the focal point for most commercial visitor services. A new full service restaurant would replace the Watchman restaurant at Rim Village, and retail merchandise space for gift sales would be expanded at Mazama Village. Locating a new restaurant at Mazama Village would be more convenient for the more than 500 overnight guests staying at the motor inn and campground.

Boat tours at Cleetwood would be reduced from nine tours to seven per day. This would lessen impacts on Crater Lake and reduce parking problems during peak hours. New facilities would be built both and Cleetwood trailhead/parking area and the lakeside dock area.

Superintendent Al Hendricks encourages all interested persons to review the plan and submit written comments to: Superintendent, Crater Lake National Park, P.O. Box 7, Crater Lake, OR 97604. Copies of the plan area available for review at public libraries in Portland, Salem, Eugene, Bend, Roseburg, Klamath, Medford, and Grants Pass. A summary is also available on the Web.

CLNP Birthday Party 2002

Crater Lake National Park will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2002! Enthusiasm was high and many great ideas came from the brainstorming session at the Friends annual meeting. It's not too early to get started on plans for this big event. Contact Bev Hartell.

Seminars

Friends of Crater Lake National Park are sponsoring two seminars on Thursday, Feb 26, 1998 at the Douglas County Library in Roseburg. "Rim Drive As A Cultural Landscape" will be presented at 2:00 p.m. by Steve Mark, Historian at CLNP. The slide presentation and exhibit will explore why we design with nature, the origin of the built features constructed at Crater Lake in the 1930's, and will provide insight into the way we view our surroundings. Steve has 10 years experience as Park Historian, having previously earned a Ms in Social Science which focused on cultural and historical geography.

"Research Natural Areas in Crater Lake National Park" will be presented at 3:15 p.m. by Amy Mark. There are 4 research natural areas in the park: Sphagnum Bog, Llao Rock, Pumice Desert and Desert Creek. Amy will highlight the first, addressing a restoration project on Collomia Mazama, a rare plant discovered at Crater Lake in 1896. Amy is a biological illustrator and naturalist.

Meet Our New Board Members

Jan Wilson
I've done all those things like "try and visit all the National Parks in the country.", be a member of Sierra Club, Audubon, etc.. So, it is with this interest that I can't help being involved with Friends. Coos Bay is where home is, but I feel Crater Lake is my backyard. Almost! After arriving from Nebraska to the Oregon Coast, my family naturally explored the state, camped, hiked, floated rivers, skied and stuff. What I remember most about our first visit to Crater Lake was climbing Wizard Island and sliding down its snow filled crater on our windbreakers. I was hooked!

Locally, I have worked with Friends of Shore Acres and helped with beach cleanup, but now as a retired high school teacher, time allows more freedom. And, now having worked several years at the Winter Rim Information and the Summer Trail Project, I could enjoy helping.

Thanks for electing me to the board. I'm looking forward to assisting and supporting Friends. Hope to see you all.

Donna Widmer
A native of the Rogue Valley who lived elsewhere for fifteen years, I looked afresh upon the physical features of Oregon. I began introducing my non-native children to many of these, including Crater Lake. When my youngest was employed by NPS, I was exposed to other national parks, and was again awestruck by our unique Caldera and environs. I wanted to know more and meet the people who ran the place. A letter to David Morris, past Superintendent, put me in touch with FOCLNP. In the last four years I have accomplished this by working trails two years in July and doing fire watch at Watchman and Mt. Scott two years in August. Now, as a board member, I can be more than a fair-weather friend. Some of my energy goes to activism for conservation. I was involved in the proposed (and now, actual) expansion of the boundary of Oregon Caves National Monument.

I believe Congress needs to hear from the people and to act upon our desire to protect the irreplaceable National Park System.

Debra Price
(Info not available at press time. Watch for bio in next newsletter)

Crater Lake Natural History Association

CLNHA offers a 15% discount on bookstore purchases with FOCLNP membership card. Please present card before purchase is rung up. A big thanks to CLNHA for their help.

Newsletter Info

Send to Betty Anderson, Box 268 Keno, OR 97627 or e-mail: BettyCA@aol.com.