THE LAST WORD: ART ALLEN
Most taxpayers do not realize that the vast majority of the units of the National Park System are not huge, natural areas like Yellowstone or Grand Canyon, but rather hundreds of scattered rare gems of American history and culture. Like most gems, they are small in size, often a few hundred acres or even less.
The majority of these sites are what Harvard's Dr. Robin Winks referred to in his quote about the National Park System being "A great University with 388 different campuses scattered across the nation."
It is our job to teach and reteach American History. It is what the Smithsonian would like to do nationwide, and what the NPS actually does tolerably well nationwide
We reteach American History because when Billy was in High School he was more interested in Becky Sue than the importance of the Battle of Saratoga. Now he is married to Becky Sue, has 2.3 children, the hormones are no longer raging, and he is now eager to learn about the importance of the Battle of Saratoga.
In the absence of a time machine, The Park Service has the next best thing, artifacts from the period and many ways of interpreting them to help Americans understand their history and culture.
In order to acquire and safeguard these artifacts, we have an elite corps of museum specialists to see that the above happens.
These museum specialists are the behind the scenes heroes of the NPS, working tirelessly to preserve the fabric of American history and culture.
One of them, Art Allen, had the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of museology in the National Park Service and have the fun and challenge of a pioneer.
As we shall see, his life and career was not entirely in museum work, which gives him a unique prospective on the Preservation scene.
Art Allen was born and raised in Texas, served a hitch in the Army in Germany, graduating as sergeant, attended the University of Texas, graduated in petroleum geology, worked as an undertaker(!) He then worked for Humble Oil, and then joined the NPS in 1960. He served as a park ranger at Blue Ridge Parkway, Naturalist at Big Bend National Park, Assistant Chief of Interpretation and Resource Management at the new Canyonlands National Park. He worked as park planner in Washington, DC and became Chief of the newly formed Division of Museum Services in 1970, a post he held for 12 years. He became assistant superintendent of his original park, Blue Ridge Parkway in 1983 and retired in 1990.
Along the way, the affable Mr. Allen made many friends. One of them, Jim Fox, commenting on Allen's management style said "Art had this rather quaint notion that in order to be an effective park manager, it was necessary to get out into the park from time to time and actually look at whatever the hell you're supposed to be managing. Since I was the new guy and needed to learn my way around, I learned to be flexible. I'd begin working at my desk on some project and Art would stick his head in the door and say "Come on, Fox! We're going out on the Parkway!" So I'd drop my planned task of the day and we'd be off, meeting with various employees in various jobs and locations and getting familiar with the issues of the day."
Doug Evans recalls a memorable day on the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park when they were hosting Lady Bird Johnson on a trip through Mariscal Canyon. Their raft contained Mrs. Johnson, The Secretary of Interior Stewart Udall, Doug Evans, Art Allen, and the First Lady's Secret Service agent.
The First Lady was very interested in nature in general and Big Bend geology in particular and was not at all interested in the raft loads of raucous, shouting reporters and politicians behind them. Could they escape so that Art could teach her something about Mariscal Canyon? Stewart Udall, grinned and suggested they could, so all four men bent to their paddles and blasted ahead of the rest of the party, allowing Art to provide a memorable floating geology lesson, for which Mrs. Johnson expressed heartfelt gratitude.
Kent Bush, Regional Curator of Pacific West, said "During the last half of the 1970's, Art took a rag-tag bunch of misfits at Harpers Ferry and augmented that core with other misfits he recruited from other museum operations and put together the foundations of the Museum Management Program as we know it today. He rebuilt the "Curatorial Methods" training course which proved to be the most popular course of the time in the training schedule. He expanded the object conservation program and HFC, and put it on a professional footing equal to that of the Smithsonian in the late 1970's using the Hubbell Trading Post model, Art instituted the park Collection Management Plan as a primary planning document within the Service in order to base logical funding and decision making in museum management in the parks. Art was a tireless advocate for the position of Regional Curator in each region."
So, let's get on to talking with Art himself:
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TB: Art, you are from the great state of Texas, and a graduate of the University of Texas with a degree in geology. Are all Texans born looking for oil?
AA Texas owes a lot to oil and oil owes a lot to Texas. When I graduated from the University of Texas (1957), foreign oil was just coming into play. I signed up with Humble (now EXXON) Oil in haste because it looked like a good career. TB However, before you were a geologist, you were a funeral director. What took you into the undertaking business? AA When I was on the GI Bill at the University of Texas, I got a part time job driving an ambulance since I had experience in teaching battlefield first aid while in the Army, assigned as ROTC instructor at Tulane University. At that time in Texas, ambulances were dispatched from Funeral Homes. After awhile, I got involved in the funeral end of the business as well. It was a great part- time job as it gave me time to study! I found funeral directors to be fine people, very professional, but with their own strange sense of humor. TB: You had one of the most demanding and exciting jobs in the oil business; a production geologist on Humble Oil's offshore rigs. What were some interesting things that happened? AA I started working as a rookie geologist on rigs in Black Bay and Barataria Bay in the Louisiana Delta. Rigs were fairly primitive; 60-80 foot derricks on a barge. The rigs I worked on were anchored in waters less than 60 feet deep, but we were drilling holes to 14,000 feet. My job was to keep an eye on the cuttings (dirt coming up with the drilling mud) to look for signs of oil bearing sediments. One time we were drilling near a salt dome and hit a gas pocket of extremely high pressure. The mud dropped into the cavity letting the gas work its way up the hole. I didn't know exactly what was happening, but when I saw the chief driller yelling for everyone to jump on a tender barge NOW! I definitely went with the flow! A couple of souls went to the bottom of the barge to close the blowout preventer (A device that squeezes the drilling casing) but soon they saw it wouldn't work. Gas started bubbling up around the casing immediately under the barge. Huge bubbles of natural gas were erupting all around the barge. The tender barge pilot wouldn't start his engine because of the gas, so he just untied the tender and we drifted away----way too slowly it seemed. When we were about a quarter mile away, we saw the drilling barge topple, and in a minute or two the activity ceased (no fire). The hole had "cratered"Šmeaning enough pressure was released to allow the mud on the bottom to settle back into the drilling hole. That was excitement enough! TB Do you believe we can meet a significant part of our energy needs through off shore drilling, not only in the Gulf, but along the Florida, Carolina, and California coasts? AA I certainly am no expert in today's oil business. I abandoned that career in 1959 to enter the NPS. But we knew way back that the Gulf Coast had significant oil resources, and only a part of that had been tapped. On the other hand, it was plain to all geologists in the late fifties that the industry was turning to foreign oil. It was cheaper and there were no unions and few environmental controls. Part of the reason I left the industry was the unrelenting greed of the top layers of industry managementŠprobably similar to all other industries. TB What caused you to consider a career with the NPS? AA It was a casual conversation with a Ranger/Naturalist at Carlsbad Caverns that I knew from my days at the University of Texas that got me thinking along those lines. I researched federal jobs and as a lark, took the Federal Service Entrance Examination. I was working for Humble Oil, and because of high test scores and veteran status, I started to get dozens of job offers, from different agencies. I eventually received a job offer from the Blue Ridge Parkway, and when the wife and I talked it over, we thought we could get by on the measly salary of $5,000 pa they offered, because the parkway provided a house for $18.00 a pay period. We felt that a park environment would be the best place to raise our children, and through the various park visits I had experienced, it was apparent that the Park Service was a "noble cause". I had come to realize that the oil business was not a "noble cause" TB As a geologist, how would you respond to Creationist views of the Grand Canyon, such as Tom Vail's "Grand Canyon: A different View" AA If I've learned anything in my 70 + years, it is one cannot argue belief systems. I personally believe that there are just too many undeniable and obvious facts that support the scientific paradigm for the geological forces that created the Grand Canon. One of the principles of Geology is the theory of Uniformitarianism: A basic concept that says existing processes that we can witness should be used as the framework for understanding the geologic history of the Earth. We can watch sediments being formed today in many places and by measuring those processes; we can measure the time it takes for layers similar to the rock in the Grand Canyon to form. We can watch the slow but sure cutting of new canyons in various places on earth and from these we can gauge the rate of such a process, and by applying those measured rates, we can estimate how long it took to carve the canyon. Those are examples of Uniformitarianism. For someone to believe that the immense canyon of the Colorado was formed in a few days or weeks or months, flies in the face of basic scientific knowledge and human experience. Some argue that Evolution is only a theory, in spite of all the examples of evolution of species happening all around us and studied by scientists. Well, the concept of gravity is also a theory, but I'll bet it's unlikely that a person will step off a tall building on the assumption that they will not fall, because "Gravity is only a theory" In my view, people can believe whatever they wish, there is a wide variety of different faiths to choose from and each of their followers believes they have the sole possession of the absolute truth. Scientists, on the other hand, believe that there is no absolute truth and remain open to refinement and alteration of the principles and theories they work with to explain the workings of our world. These two approaches are not likely to agree on much of anything The problem is when belief systems masquerade as Science. Scientific principles should be taught in Science classes and belief systems should be taught in Philosophy or Social Science classes. TB Assistant Secretary of the Interior Paul Hoffman has stated that his controversial (and confidential) plan to reshape the national parks as venues for heavy duty motorized industrial recreation was actually just a form of "Devil's Advocacy" to stimulate discussion. Do you believe that? AA No, I think that hundreds of pages of Hoffman's red-lined editing are more than mere "Devil's Advocacy. I believe that Hoffman was carrying out the intent of the Administration to convert the Park System toward a more recreation-oriented playground, at the cost of permanently impairing the resource. There are also a number of business interests that would benefit from such a transition, namely, the American Recreation Council. Even though the Hoffman changes have been exposed, it is likely that others in positions of power in Interior and NPS will carry this effort forward. I have never witnessed a period of such stonewalling and outright denial of facts. It is hard to accept any of their statements at face value; one has to check everything out. TB One highly respected park superintendent and "Greenblood", suggested that some form of non-violent resistance to the anti-environmentalism of the Bush Administration. Do you agree? AA I suppose it would bring more of the anti-science and anti-environmentalism to light, but it won't change the course of the Administration. They are "staying the course" on everything. I can't imagine any protest that would deter the Administration's total sellout to business interests. TB On a more pleasant topic, what were some of your favorite memories of Big Bend National Park? AA The list would have to include horse backing on the South Rim and the Mesa de Anguilla, hiking the Window Trail, experiencing a record Chihuahuan Desert bloom, and total immersion in the National Park Experience (living 100 miles from the nearest small town). During my two and a half years, I became a river rat, making 27 river trips through Santa Elena, Mariscal and Boquillas canyon in raft, canoe & skill. This was a record at that time. The fauna of Big Bend was fascinating, and I became a willing student of Doug Evans and Dick Rasp, both now members of the Coalition. I spent quality time with Ladybird Johnson on the Rio Grande and hiked several of the Chisos mountain trails with Justice William O. Douglas. Such experiences are the rewards of working in the National Parks. TB Captain E.E. Townsend of Texas Rangers and "father" of Big Bend National Park, envisioned a Big Bend International Peace park on the border with Mexico, similar to Waterton-Glacier on the Northern border. That was visionary. Do you regard it as a possibility? AA I see it as a Utopian dream, not likely in this day and age. The International Peace Park has been discussed for over 60 years, but making it happen would require an immense amount of work on the part of the Mexican government, which has other priorities on its plate. The area in Mexico, including the magnificent Sierra Del Carmen ranger, certainly qualifies for such status. Wish that it could happen. TB As a park planner, do you believe that any of the NPS units should be deaccessioned? If so, which ones? AA The problem of adding or eliminating park areas is as controversial as the subject of Religion. Let's not refer to any specific park, but discuss it in general terms. I have a concern that the Congress, in their zeal for voter approval, overextended its reach and the burden of the NPS. When the NPS was smaller (with a smaller budget) the annual costs were easier to justify. What legislator wants to cut budgets for the nation's crown jewels? Now with 388 sites, the NPS is a much bigger target with plenty of detractors who use weak parks as "unnecessary spending" examples. Unwarranted growth of the NPS plays into the hands of the Grover Norquist philosophy, which wants to point out overextended and/or inefficient agencies and proclaim that private enterprise could do it better. Heaven forbid that this should happen, but just ask yourself, what if some administration "whiz kid" such as say, Congressman Pombo, should propose a park being "let out" for private management, or to sell our parks to business interests, which park would they want to experiment with? I realize that some folks react strongly to the spectre of limiting or even deauthorizing or divesting existing parks, and that we should love them all equally as a family loves all their children. However, families can initiate birth control so that they do not end up with 388 children. Also, while I understand that each park is a "Jewel in the Crown" and to disparage one park possibly diminishes them all, I suspect that the concept of delisting is mainstream with the NPS community, even though park people are reluctant to speak about it... Someone should take this survey: First give 1,000 park employees a list of all 388 parks. Second require that they rank all 388 from # 1 "most worthy to be part of the National Pak System" down to #288 "Least worthy to be in the National Park System" I would venture that the numbers 288 -388 would be very similar among NPS employees. That would prove a common opinion among professionals is that some parks aren't worthy of being included in the system. TB What caused you to make the transition from largely natural science parks to becoming Chief of Museum Services for the entire NPS? AA In the 60's and 70's, opportunities abounded for anyone willing to try their hand at something different. I was given the tremendous opportunity to take a program that desperately needed identity, mission clarity, and cohesion, and establish a new Division of Museum Services. Several positions with similar purpose were scattered among different organizational entities. This position combined curatorial efforts and grew to be an important force and voice for curatorial work. TB What are some of your favorite stories from that period of your career? AA As with all jobs we hold in the NPS, an individual's tenure in a particular job represents one step in a linear record of accomplishments. Lots of work was accomplished before and after my 10 years with the program. I like to think that during my time we brought al lot of attention to the truly huge collective value of the NPS museum collection, established accountability for the objects in care of the parks; strengthened the role of the curator in parks and in the Region; and established the first conservation laboratory for the NPS. One of the best stories I used frequently during curatorial training was this one. During a visit to a civil war park (this was the height of "living history" programs) I noticed that the seasonals were using materials from their museum collection. One demonstrator was wearing a very rare Confederate Officers Uniform given to the park by descendents of the officer. The seasonal was also wearing and dry firing a very rare Colt revolver with history tied to the Civil War and the battlefield. No interpreter at the park saw this consumptive use as a problem. Later discussions on this widespread use of museum specimens brought about a policy change protecting original historic objects from such abuse. TB You completed your career as Assistant Superintendent managing all ranger activities, interpretation and resource management in America's most visited NPS unit, the Blue Ridge Parkway. What were your greatest challenges? AA When I came to the Blue Ridge Parkway in 1982, the boss asked me to encourage the concept of the Generalist Ranger. I had some experience along those lines at Canyonlands, but I predicted that it would be next to impossible to achieve this concept in the light of the specialization path the NPS had taken with the commissioning of the Ranger staff. We had some success with some employees who wanted a wide range of duties, but this effort was going against the current. Ranger specialization is a very controversial and inflammatory subject. The Rangers are trying to be prepared for all the criminal activity that is occurring in park lands and the only way they can accomplish this preparedness is by becoming more law enforcement oriented. Taking this step has resulted in a major shift in image from the old type Generalist Ranger to today's more police oriented Ranger. This is not wrong, it is just different The strain from this metamorphosis continues today as evidenced by more and more Rangers calling for a separate (outside the control of the Superintendent) line of supervision. TB Blue Ridge Parkway has been described as a "470 mile illusion ". That is the visitor thinks that the forest and farm vistas he/she is looking at has somehow been preserved as federal land or scenic easements not subject to development. In reality, most of the "viewshed" is in private hands with no restrictions. Is this a problem? AA A daily problem. The basic legislation for the Blue Ridge calls for a "recreational driving experience". Management constantly copes with trying to provide that enjoyable experience with only an 800 foot wide corridor of federal land. Parkway managers have established partnerships with local government, private landowners, and business enterprises long before that became the current management trend Illusion? Maybe. But the effectiveness of this cooperative work in evidenced by the beauty of the 479 mile route which has only been marred by unsightly development in a very few places. Viewshed preservation requires constant maintenance as local government changes regularly as well as land and business ownership. Parkway managers must constantly be aware of these changes and update their contact and renew cordial relationships to insure the view remains scenic. TB Although the Blue Ridge is our most popular park, some say that is the problem. It is literally possible to tour the entire park without once getting out of one's motor home. Do you see that as a problem? AA No stoplights or stop signs on this 479 mile stretch of Parkway! Such a thought attracts over 17 million visitors a year! Yet, except for the October Fall Color season, you rarely will meet up with a traffic jam. RV's are the biggest road jammers, as they often struggle at a snail's pace climbing the mountain road. Frequent pullouts minimizes that annoyance, proving that even at this level of use, the Parkway has not reached its ultimate carrying capacity TB What is the greatest threat to the National Parks? AA Money to maintain is crucial, but even worse is the lack of spirit and dedication to maintain and protect our parks. The Bush administration reviles government employees and its hacks take measures to destroy progress made over decades with a smirk and a stroke of the pen, or by a rewrite of the policies that govern park management. They ignore and disdain science and research of any sort; they have stacked the deck with appointments of officials that are proselytizers for business interests, and extractive, damaging uses of the parks; commercialization and privatization are at the threshold of taking over the parks. The NPS will be facing the leanest budgets since WWII and park resources will suffer. If this administration remains in power, there will come a time when NPS management falters because of insufficient funds. The Administration will proclaim "The NPS can't do the job, so let's turn it over to private industry." The fallacy of fees is affecting decisions that will alter the park's visitor base. The noble concept that the nation has an obligation to provide access to the national parks for every one is changing to access only to those that can afford it. The lie that obtaining fees will solve underfunding is obvious: In the long run, appropriation will drop the same amount taken in by fees TB Would it be useful for the NPS to leave the Department of Interior and combine with the Smithsonian to become a super agency directly responsible to Congress? AA In my opinion, the mission of the NPS is so fundamentally important to the US that it deserves to be placed in some sort of special niche. The concept of preservation for the few remaining examples of original America and the physical remains of America's history and culture justifies the NPS to stand independently. As long as the NPS is buried within the Interior where the interest is primarily focused on extractive uses of the public lands, the Agency will continue to be underappreciated. The Independent NPS could report to the President or to the Congress, or could be combined with the Smithsonian as a quasi-government agency. Many other federal museum operations have missions very similar to NPS objectives and might be included in this new organization. I'd like to see a serious study to be undertaken on this issue. TB Several members of the Coalition took exception to the apocryphal survey that indicated that 87.3 percent of NPS managers were Republican. In your experience of 30 plus years have you met those apocryphal 12.3 Liberal Democrat park managers? AA How does one know the politics of the voting booth? I would say the mangers in my acquaintance go to all ends to avoid stating their partisan preferences. That said, I agree that most probably tend toward conservative politics. But even the most arch-conservatives are hard-put to accept the way this administration treats public lands. TB Could you tell us a bit about your famed stained glass business and hobby; how you got into it, and where it is now that you have retired? AA In l968, the job was getting to me at the time. Ever since day one with the NPS, I (as many NPS employees do) spent entirely too much time at or on the work agenda. I looked for a hobby that would distract me from work issues. I took up leaded stained glass. Soon I was making more pieces than I could give away, so I started selling them. I applied for membership in the prestigious Southern Highland Craft Guild and was accepted in 1970 as a member. Since that time my work has been sold in the Guild shops. This mini-business has now been taken up by my daughter and her husband to continue the craft. I have developed over 1,000 glass designs including around 50 different flowers and over a hundred different bird patterns. I certainly recommend this strategy to all those employees who work long hours and feel the pressures of the workplace. A hobby or craft that you can immerse your self in will help you maintain your sanity, at least to a small degree. TB Park managers are usually not regarded as artists, but a surprising number are quite gifted. Clay Cunningham of Denali made collector quality hunting knives, Roger Siglin of Yellowstone is a fine landscape painter and you do stained glass! Should the Coalition of Retired NPS Employees open a gallery featuring members work and use the proceeds to support the National Parks? AA It may come to that! (laughter) TB Many thanks! AA you're welcome |
THE SAFETY MESSAGE
Well, neighbors, what else could it be? This issue's safety topic would have to be the greatest breakdown in public safety in the history of the United States; There have been bigger natural disasters in the history of the United States, but none of them, not even the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 which killed between 6,000 and 10,000 prompted such a total collapse of infrastructure, civility, lack of response, lack of information, incompetence and even lack of care or concern on the part of the "authorities"
The whole Katrina thing had a surreal ring to it as if you were reading a Reuters news report from one of those God forsaken, earthquake prone, former Soviet republics called "Gafoonistan" or something: i.e. "Travelers recently returned from the Interior report sc gunfire and widespread looting in Gafoonabad, largest city in Gafoonistan, strickened today by a 10.3 earthquake. Eyewitnesses report almost total chaos, with very little organized relief effort. The army and police have either disappeared or are completely overwhelmed. The death toll is unknown with estimates ranging from 2,000 to 200,000. Survivors are believed to be completely without food, medical supplies or even water, with many trapped under the rubble. Gafoonistan's dictator, General Abdul Wazoo, vacationing on the French Riviera told an inquiring reporter "Why are you bothering me with this crap?"
But this was not Gafoonistan, but rather a sizable portion of the richest and most powerful country on earth, and the person in charge was not some tin pot dictator, but George W. Bush, admittedly not the sharpest tool in the fire cache, but duly elected by the American people.
So what went wrong?
Well now, that's an interesting question, so much so that the President is willing to appoint himself as judge, jury and prosecutor to investigate himself!
During the interim, the President's spokesperson Scott something or other, kept reminding us that "There would be plenty of time to play the blame game".
So who is to blame?
Well now, neighbors, I guess I will have to manfully step up to the plate and accept some of the blame on behalf of God and myself.
You see, more than a decade ago, I was the Unit Manager of the French Quarter Unit of Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve. Along with that grandiose title, one of my jobs was to represent the NPS at the New Orleans Hurricane Disaster meetings.
Now in case you were wondering, the Mississippi River levees within the city are fairly impregnable, and there is a last ditch fail safe in that floodgates can be opened above Baton Rouge that will divert the entire Mississippi into the Atchafalaya Basin (Hopefully after informing Morgan City what was on the way) and save New Orleans.
However, the Achilles heel of New Orleans hurricane preparedness has always been Lake Pontchartrain and the Lake Pontchartrain Levee system. You will recall on a mental map of New Orleans that Lake Pontchartrain sits like the Devil's monocle directly above the Crescent City.
Lake Pontchartrain is a large, shallow lake, about 20 miles across and 20 feet deep, almost circular, and very prone to seiches.
Seiches are what happen when you leave your four year old son unattended in the bath tub. He will shortly discover that by moving himself in a rhythmical way from one end of the tub to the other, he can also move most of the water to one end of the tub, creating a most satisfactory tidal wave that will empty the tub onto the bathroom floor, to his delight if not to yours.
A hurricane in Lake Pontchartrain works pretty much the same way, its circular motion mounding up the water until the levee is either overtopped or breeched. This is something to be avoided as much of the city is below sea level.
Now the person in charge of among other things, the Pontchartrain levees, got up to speak. He was guardedly optimistic. "Within the next two years, we will be able to upgrade the Pontchartrain Levees to withstand a Category 3 hurricane, providing it is fast moving". As I recall, this was regarded as a considerable achievement.
However, an unasked question hung in the air, so much so that I decided to ask it. "But what about a Category 4 or 5 hurricane?
"Sir!" the man said, with the florid gravity of a Louisiana politician "We cannot afford a Category 4 or 5 hurricane in Lake Pontchartrain!"
I nodded understandingly, and took some notes.
I would have to do a memo for Thunderbear, the extra terrestrial Celestial, who was Facility Manager for this planet, and thus the Deity's representative on Earth, who would then pass it on to God, reminding Him in the strongest possible terms that Category 4 or 5 hurricanes could not be permitted in Lake Pontchartrain , and Category 3 hurricanes only if they were fast moving. (The longer a hurricane loitered over Lake Pontchartrain, the bigger the Seiche.)
O.K. Very well. But had I remembered to pass the memo on to Thunderbear? Did Thunderbear place the memo in the correct in box so it could work it way up the Celestial Chain of Command. (Heaven, as you know, is a Federal Bureaucracy, which is why God is apparently slow to respond to your prayers and petitions. For example, your desperate appeal to the Almighty to let you hit a homerun in a Little League game 37 years ago, is only now reaching the outskirts of the Heavenly Bureaucracy.)
Obviously, a Category 4 storm had gotten into Lake Pontchartrain. Either myself or Thunderbear had dropped the ball. The buck has to stop somewhere.
So much for prevention, now what about response?
Response was remarkable for its almost total absence. With the spectacular and heart warming exception of the U.S. Coast Guard, which rescued more than 32,000 people, folks were pretty much on their own.
The President was amazingly uninvolved. The whole nightmarish scenario did not seem to interest him. Finally, he managed to get underway, responding in true Greedhead mode by rescinding the federal laws that require paying workers the federal mandatory wage for work done on federal contracts, thus insuring that wealthy corporations would get wealthier. He finally got to ground in the disaster area, remarking famously to his discredited FEMA Director Michael Brown "Brownie! You're doing a heckofa job" a phrase that will live forever in the lexicon of famous presidential quotes, and was soon to be shouted derisively at the President's spokesperson by enraged reporters.
Everything collapsed as if this was Gafoonistan , but this was not Gafoonistan and the disaster was not an unpredictable earthquake or Tsunami. This was a hurricane that was under close observation from its inception to its landfall.
From a Safety and Loss control standpoint, could anything have been done to have prevented or mitigated this disaster?
Well for starters, if you are going to insist on having a city below sea level, the levees must be capable of withstanding a category 4 or 5, even if. Slow moving. However, according to the risk assessment people, would not such mega levees be prohibitively expensive? Not if you're trapped in the attic, hoping the water won't rise.
Then there is the interesting idea of Nature as a Safety barrier. A whole, complete ecosystem of marsh grasses and other plants once stretched for scores of miles out into the gulf, absorbing the force of the hurricanes. It was dirt cheap, self maintaining, self repairing safety system. Removing the Louisiana marshes was a bit like removing the air bags and seat belts from your car as you hadn't used them lately and could use the space for something else.
And then there is always the sage remark that sooner or later falls from the lips of the television weatherman "Hurricane winds and storm surge tends to weaken once the storm moves inland."
Well now, neighbors, that might be considered an Environmental Clue, if not a suggestion from God. It might not be a good idea to build hotels, casinos, and houses on barrier islands or beach front property. Perhaps such lands and the area immediately behind them would be best used as local, state or federal recreation and natural areas with very light infrastructure that could be easily replaced in the event of a storm.
Would such an idea occur to our perky President? Apparently not.
The President consoled one of the victims of Katrina, Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, who, according to the President, "Lost his whole beachfront house". The President reassured us that "Trent would rebuild better than ever" and the President looked forward to sitting on the new porch with Trent. Actually, neighbors, it is you and I who will rebuild Trent's Folly, thanks to federal flood insurance that permits and even encourages irresponsible building in dicey locations (And Trent will not invite us to sit on his taxpayer built porch!).
Any other hurricane safety tips that we can pass on to the President?
Well, yes, Mr. President. Abolish poverty in America
Now one may not think of poverty as a safety issue, but of course it is. This was illustrated in the starkest possible terms in New Orleans. If you were middle class you lived, if you were poor, you died (or came very close to doing so).
The Middle Class put the family, the pets, and personal papers in their cars and left.
The poor waited patiently for buses that never came.
So the answer for hurricane safety is for the Federal Government to buy each poor person a good used car with a full tank of gas that would be parked outside the poor person's shack or housing project? No, for a variety of socioeconomic reasons, that car would not be available for long.
In addition to having cars, the Middle Class has an inventory of resources that the poor do not have, and they are not all monetary. Part of the middle class safety net is family and friends who are usually also middle class and can provide housing and even job opportunity. The poor usually have family and friends that are in the same desperate straits as themselves.
So, provide the Poor with a course "Middle Class Values 101"? No, but you're getting close. Massive funding of community colleges along with reduction of tuition would help the poor "lift themselves up by their boot straps" as the well off are always quick to say, failing to note that the poor have no boots.
Then of course, there is that perennial safety & loss control idea of making adequate medical care available to all Americans, regardless of where they were located geographically or whether their employer was flush with payroll and benefits. This is the case of most developed nations and even some not so developed nations such as Mexico.
This is no bleeding heart liberal idea, but simply good Safety & Loss control. Labor could be more mobile and flexible as could employers if they were not burdened by finding and providing health care. Lack of a proper national health insurance plan could be likened to a park superintendent who does away with the park EMT program on the grounds that the visitors and employees who might need such a program are careless losers who should be taken out of the gene pool anyway.
On the other hand, perhaps we should not give this greedhead Administration ideas, even in a Safety Message.
HARD TIMES AT INTERIOR JUNIOR HIGH
Now as far as bullies went, Interior Junior High was no worse but certainly no better than most junior high schools.
The lead bully at Interior Junior High was a large loud kid with an oleaginous grin by the name of Paulie Hoffman. His assistant bully was an evil kid by the name of Little Stevie Griles, trusted by no one in their right mind.
Now there is no point in being a bully unless you have someone to bully.
Norbert Percy Suggs filled that bill exactly
Norbert Percy Suggs or "NPS" as the rest of the kids called him was the school nerd. Tall and ungainly, he was a very earnest solemn child that never quite seems to fit in with the rest of kids at Interior Junior High. His classmates liked to take things apart and try to sell them. "NPS" liked to preserve things and would tiresomely lecture anyone who would listen as to why this was important. Naturally, this didn't make him popular with his classmates.
Nor did it make "NPS" popular with the Interior Junior High principal, Ms Norella, who considered "NPS" to be an insufferable prig and a goody two shoes who might make her look bad.
Now it is the job of the school administration to control bullying and some school principals do the job better than others. Ms Norella was not one of these.
Many of the townspeople were aware that "NPS" was being bullied. Since they regarded "NPS" as the most lovable kid in town, they asked Ms Norella to do something about the bullying.
Ms Norella called Paulie and Little Stevie into her office and told the boys that there had been some complaints. She said she didn't want to hear that anything really bad happen to "NPS" and that they really had to get along.
Now Paulie and Little Stevie could understand a wink and nudge as well as anyone. They grinned their buttery grins and said "Yes, Ma'am!"
One day, Paulie and Little Stevie cornered NPS in the locker room.
"Hi Goody-goody" sneered Paulie, giving NPS a derisory shove.
"You're gonna be like everyone else at Interior Junior High or else! Glowered Little Stevie
"You can't make me hurt Mother Nature! " Said NPS bravely.
"Wanna bet! Snarls Paulie "Ya ever hear of Dickie Pombo?"
"NPS"'s blood ran cold. He had indeed heard of Dickie Pombo. Pombo was a bully's bully. Mean, not too bright, greedy, and sufficiently cruel for all occasions.
"Dickie's our best friend!" proclaimed Paulie, with relish. "We told him about you! Dickie doesn't like goody-goodys!
Little Stevie outlined what would happen next. "If you don't do what we tell you, Dickie and us are going to stick your head in the toilet and flush it!"
"And keep flushing it!" chortled Paulie in happy anticipation.
WHAT'S GOING ON HERE! Boomed a voice from around the corner
It was Steve Wilson of the ILLUSTRATED PRESS. It was a rhetorical question. Wilson knew exactly what was going on. He had been listening just around the corner. As a reporter and School Board member, he had become concerned about stories that "NPS" was being bullied.
"Nothin' Mr. Wilson! Honest! Stevie and me were just askin' NPS if he'd like to be on our team! We want to be his friends!"
"I don't think so!" Said Mr. Wilson. "NPS, you wait here! I'm taking you two up to the Principal's office, grabbing each boy's ear as an attention getting steering mechanism. Wilson neither liked nor trusted Ms Norrella, who had gotten her job through political patronage, but he had to go through channels.
"I caught these two bullying NPS and I think it should stop!" Said Mr. Wilson, pushing the boys into Ms Norella's office.
"Indeed it should!" said Ms Norella, with mock indignation, "Thanks for bringing it to my attention!"
After Wilson had left, Ms Norella sat down at her desk, fingers drumming ominously on the blotter.
The two boys stared at the floor, "Shucks! Ms Norella, We didn't do nothin' wrong! Stammered Paulie.
"Yes, you did, Paulie." Hissed Ms Norella, "You got caught!"
DOES GOD BELIEVE IN EVOLUTION?
The Bear was sitting in the rocker reading the WASHINGTON POST when I entered the den. He was wearing horn rim glasses; something that I had not seen before.
"I didn't know you wore glasses" I said.
"Only for reading" Thunderbear replied, grumpily and somewhat defensively.
As God's representative on Earth and Facility manager for the planet, it had been necessary that he take on tangible form. It would have been flattering had he decided to take on human form, but as that had rather famously been done before, Thunderbear elected instead to take on the combined form of a bear and an eagle. His thought being that nobody messes with Grizzly bears and they are famously omnivorous, everything tasting good to them. The eagle component supplied wings which cut down on commuting time and corrected the notoriously poor vision of bears. Thunderbear thought he had come up with the perfect creature combination.
"However, I did not realize that while eagles eyes are spectacularly far sighted, spotting the ripple of a fish two kilometers away, they are not well adapted for reading a newspaper, something not normally in an eagle's job description.
"One cannot plan for everything" I conceded what are you reading?"
A very interesting article on Evolution and Intelligent Design. It appears that your President Bush would like to have both.
"Say what?" I inquired.
"That is, according to your president, if Children study Evolution in school, perhaps they should also study Creationism and Intelligent Design.
"Well, which should it be? I asked breathlessly
"Oh, I don't know!" The Bear said carelessly "One or the other, maybe both, or" He added cheerily "perhaps you might teach them Scottish Country Dancing or Icelandic poetry. It really doesn't matter to us!"
"But it must matter! Which is it? Evolution or Intelligent Design."
"That's what I've always admired about your species!" The Great Bear laughed jovially "Here you are, marooned on an orphan planet in a half forgotten frontier galaxy at the far end of the Universe and you believe that the Supreme Bureaucrat gives a good god damn about your opinions!"
"He doesn't?"
"As a matter of fact, no." The Great Bear said impatiently, reaching for another pawful of honey flavored popcorn "Why the hell should He?
Thunderbear saw my look of consternation, and continued in a more conciliatory tone.
"Look, it's nothing personal, but your species and planet Earth are simply one of billions of experiments that We are conducting simultaneously throughout the Universe. Do you seriously think We become emotionally involved in each and every one of them?
"Think of this analogy: Suppose a technician at a water quality lab here on planet earth was examining a sample of pond scum from the local sewerage treatment plant. Everything had been going pretty routine for years, but this one day, the technician looked through his microscope and found that the pond scum had arranged themselves on the slide to spell out the words "We Love You".
"You think we humans are pond scum! I said angrily.
"Just an analogy! Thunderbear said "Let me finish"
"After the technician had his sanity and sight checked by independent observers, he would continue to observe the pond scum. He might be touched by the pond scum's claims of love. Upon further contact with the pond scum, he might be amused to learn of the opinions of the pond scum of life within and beyond the little drop of water that is their universe. The technician would be even more amused and perhaps embarrassed to find that the pond scum had developed opinions on the motivations and character of the technician who was apparently granting them the gifts of light, water, and nutrient; opinions that did not remotely resemble the reality of the situation."
"Then we are an experiment?" I said incredulously.
"And a very interesting one at that! The Bear said reassuringly "Not the oldest or the biggest, but certainly one of the more interesting experiments!"
"But why is God doing this?
"Everyone needs a hobby, Evolution happens to be God's hobby!" The Bear said gaily.
But isn't there some sort of Intelligent Design?"
The Bear stopped in mid beer reach and stared incredulously at me "That would spoil all the fun! If there were a plan or a design, then we would know what was going to happen next and that would be no fun at all, particularly if you are going to around for all Eternity and God doesn't want to be bored."
"But there must be a plan?" I persisted
"For a sentient species, you Humans seem to have an overarching need for a plan!" The Bear said wonderingly.
Look at it this way" Thunderbear intoned patiently; think of the Universe as a sort of Home Depot. We supply you with the stuff you need to make things, we don't require that you show Us a plan; We don't care what you build or what you do as long as you don't inflict pain on another creature; that is called "Doing Evil" and we do forbid it and do punish it, though not as often and as severely as I would prefer. There is, of course, a corollary of being nice to other creatures, that is called "Doing Good" and we do reward that.
"Then God is a cashier in a Celestial Home Depot"? I asked excitedly
"You're screwing up the analogy and missing the point! " Thunderbear said irritably. You humans have no concept of Time, the vastness of the Universe or the number of objects therein, or the paltry insignificance of your world. There are, last time we did a Celestial inventory, some 13 trillion, odd billion stars. Quite a few have planets, live or dead, revolving around them. Each of those planets thus has its own year. Now do you think that of all those planets, God sets his watch to Earth time; that he wears a gold Rolex set to Arkansas Standard Time?"
I had to admit that it did seem statistically unlikely.
"Then why do you humans pester yourselves about a non-problem like Evolution. It doesn't bother God; He finds it an enjoyable hobby! So why should it bother you?"
I had to admit that I had no idea.
"Perversity!" answered Thunderbear Sheer human perversity! Your species has a perverse way of inventing non-problems when you are confronted with real problems. Speaking of which, how is the challenge of Global Warming coming along.
"Our President now admits that it exists. " I said stoutly.
"Excellent! That will be the title of my next Celestial Memo to Celestial Central: I will title it "The Evolution of Thought in the Mind of George Bush."
KAYAKING THE C & O
If you like French Impressionist painting, you should visit the Mellon Gallery on the Mall. On the other hand, if you would like to be IN a French Impressionist painting, then you should go for a paddle on the C & O Canal in the autumn of the year. It is one of the great treats of life in the Washington, DC area.
The autumn leaves are 6 shades of yellow, along with reds, an occasional purple and some remaining greens. They hang over you in a glorious arch that is reflected in the canal you are traversing. The water is mirror still with only your bow wave and the slap of your paddle disturbing the calm. The sky is bellflower blue and has that crisp feeling of completeness that only an Eastern Fall day can possess. If it is a good year, with exactly the right amount of rain at exactly the right time and the frosts are not too early, then you can count on six weeks, sometimes two months of blissful French Impressionist paddling.
The oft told story of how Associate Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas saved this treasure, not from the clutches of avaricious businessmen but from the dull brained plodders of the National Park Service, has been recited many times, sort of like an environmental version of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.
It seems that the railroad had unloaded the derelict canal on the US Government and the NPS was encouraged to find a use for it. So what do you do with a long, narrow strip of land with a dry canal in the middle of it?
Umm, fill in the canal and turn it into a "park way", so that folks could drive up to Cumberland, Maryland, turn around and drive back down again? What's in Cumberland, Maryland? Not much, but a parkway seemed like a good idea at the time, at least to the NPS, which had experienced some success with the "motorized nature experience" at Shenandoah National Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, and Natchez Trace.
Enter the hiker and mountaineer, Justice Douglas, who suggested the obvious, that is, the status quo. That automobiles be kept out and people simply walk or bicycle or ride a horse along the tow path. Requiring bicycle, Shanks mare or a real mare as transport was a way of increasing the psychic size of the park without increasing its physical size. Unlike the casual Sunday afternoon drive envisioned by the NPS planners, "doing" the entire 184.5 mile long C & Canal Trail would become a gentle adventure, requiring some planning. You will be able to camp in well appointed campgrounds spaced 6-8 miles apart. If you bicycle, it will take you around 3 to4 days, if back packing, consider around 8 days. Riding your great horse, Silver, isn't too practical as horses are forbidden on the last 20 miles of the towpath into DC.
The idea of non- automotive transport proved inviting, and on the basis of a few well publicized hikes with famous people, Justice Douglas shamed the NPS into doing something original.
Now how long does it take to paddle the canal? Well, I don't know. That's something that hasn't been done for 80 or more years. You see, the majority of the Canal doesn't have any water in it. That was one of the dozen or more reasons why the C & O Canal never made much money. Floods were always knocking out dams and locks and drying up various sections. Canals with water in them are very expensive to maintain as both Panama and the NPS has discovered.
The surprising thing is how many miles of the Canal are watered and how far you can go in a kayak or canoe. This is something not even the visionary Justice Douglas could have envisioned. There are some 20 miles of water at the DC end and three much shorter watered sections in the upper portion of the canal, divided. The Army Corps of Engineers in cooperation with the NPS, plans an additional watered section at the Cumberland end of the Canal
As it was a glorious fall day, Joan and I decided to go kayaking on the C & O. In addition to its usual Autumnal splendors, the Canal offered yet another tourist attraction, The Dan Snyder Memorial Clear-cut.
You will remember a scandal a few months back in which Dan Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins football team, had decided to remove some of the trees on his property abutting the Canal that were obstructing his view or otherwise causing him some problems. The problem was that the trees were part of a scenic easement that did not allow cutting without permits. It seems that Snyder did not have the permits.
Joan and I planned to paddle past the clear-cut and inspect the damage. If it proved interesting, I would write an article about it for THUNDERBEAR. It seemed a good use of time.
The only problem was that I did know the exact location of the Snyder Clear-cut on the 184.5 mile canal.
When in doubt, ask a ranger!
Asking a ranger has become light years easier due to an innovative and enterprising effort on the part of the National Park Service. Thanks to the NPS and the Internet, the collective wisdom of the 8,000 permanent members of the park service lies at your fingertips. Sort of like your own Library of Congress!
You need only to type in www.nps.gov/refdesk/, punch it in and the list of the 388 units of the National Park System will appear. They are arranged alphabetically and so you scroll down the list from Abraham Lincoln Birthplace to Zion, stopping at the park needed. Punch in the name ( C & O Canal National Park, for example) and a list of the names of the park permanent employees will appear democratically listed alphabetically, along with their job title and telephone number.
Say that the first person in the list, Alvin Aardvark was exactly the person you wanted to contact, it is not necessary to call him up, wasting your nickel and his valuable time. You simply type in the person's first and last name, separated by an underscore, then the @ followed by nps.gov as in Alvin_Aardvark@nps.gov.
Unlike a telephone call, this will allow Ranger Aardvark to look up the information and e mail it back to you, all in good time.
Naturally, if the question is somewhat complex or controversial, such as "Is it true that the Director of the National Park Service, Fran Mainella, is an Environmental Quisling?" Ranger Aardvark may prefer to buck it up to his supervisor or even the superintendent for reply.
It was not necessary to bother the superintendent of C & O Canal NP with requests for directions and site locations, so I e-mailed my request to the first C & O interpreter that I came across in the C & O employee list, adding that I planned to do an article on the clear cut.
However, the day was so beautiful and the soft autumn sun so inviting that we decided not to wait for the e-mail response, but simply go down to the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center and inquire locally, so we lashed on the kayak, packed a picnic lunch and headed for the River Road.
I asked the ranger at the C & O entrance kiosk where, exactly, was the "Dan Snyder Memorial Clear-cut". Now I'm sure this tourist attraction has other names, but the ranger knew exactly what I was talking about.
"You can put your kayak in the canal down at the end of the parking lot, and then paddle upstream for about 2 miles till you get to Swain's Lock. You'll have to portage the lock or, if you like, just tie up and walk upstream about 200 yards. You can't miss it!" He said, smiling.
So we put our tandem kayak into the Canal and begin paddling.
There is surprisingly little traffic on the Canal even on a Saturday. Justice Douglas may not have appreciated it, but the C & O Canal is best enjoyed from the water, that is, from the Canal boatman's perspective rather than the mule's.
The towpath, the mule's former domain, was filled with grimly puritanical joggers, who were constantly being notified "ON YOUR LEFT!" by equally determined and self-centered bicyclists. "The Capitol of the Free World" exercises and recreates with the same humorless intensity it approaches everything else.
Ah, but a voyage on the Canal! Now there is nature and recreation for you at the proper pace. Yachting on the Canal has certain inherent advantages over jogging or even walking. There is the matter of the picnic lunch & libation for example.
You cannot, in all good form, swig from a bottle of red wine as you jog or bicycle along the C & O Canal. It is not illegal, it is just bad form and is not done as it tends to mark one as an ordained alcoholic, who might attract the attention of the Authorities ("Ranger, there a drunk on a bike near milepost 15, nearly ran me into the Canal"!) You don't want this if you are a Senator or even a senatorial intern.
Ah! But a glass of frosty Chablis passed over the thwart of a canoe or kayak to complement a bagel load of Stilton Cheese and smoked salmon, now that is canal boating at its best. You could name your French impressionist to commemorate it.
You are below the towpath level and thus closer to the vegetation and the animal life, of which there is a surprising abundance, both native and exotic. The Canal is of course an artificial body of water, but has created its own ecology. The water is not clear, but a rather attractive translucent tourmaline gray with suspended silt and organic particles from the streamside soil and vegetation. The canal water is not stagnant. There are little algae. There is no perceptible current, but there is water movement and exchange. Innumerable brooklets that in George Washington's time fed directly into the Potomac now trickle into the Canal, providing water to operate the locks, with water being added or subtracted through a series relieving dams and wiers. This keeps the hydrology perfectly in balance , if Nature cooperates and does not provide a hurricane remnant or a cloudburst in the Maryland side of the Potomac drainage. Nature does not cooperate of course, and both the C & O canal company and the National Park Service have experienced extreme difficulty in keeping water in their canal.
The canal ecology is healthy with a respectable population of small, but numerous fish, catfish, perch, bass, bluegills, and yellow suckers, supporting a devoted population of spin fishermen who practice catch and release and Great Blue Herons who don't. The Canal also boasts one of the largest, easily viewed collections of wild turtles in North America. The NPS does not require them to exhibit themselves during daylight hours, but that is the way it works out, as the Park Service has allowed a certain number of fallen trees to slope gracefully into the water, providing numerous sunning stations for Red turtles, Eastern Painted, turtles and that emblem of armored truculence, snapping turtles As you unavoidably glide toward them, they reluctantly slide into water. Fish jump healthily, making bulls eye patterns in the leafy surface of the Canal. All is peaceful, save for muted conversations drifting down from the towpath and the hissing chuff of bicycle tires on gravel and the plash of your paddle.
The discerning kayaker could detect history, even family history in the cliff side portion of the Canal. Drill bit holes where the powder was placed for blasting out portions of the Canal a 175 and more years ago. Blasting was and is dangerous business. Slaves could not be used as they were too valuable for such work. The Irish were worth nothing, so they were hired. According to family tradition, some of them were my ancestors. They proved to be difficult employees. I poured a toast to my sweating, cantankerous forbearers, who as they wrestled shattered rock out of the way, could not imagine a grateful descendant making use of their labor to glide along in a kayak drinking white wine and eating smoked salmon.
The Greenblood Ranger, Roger Siglin, once remarked that "National Parks are an Illusion: Nature or Wilderness as we imagine or would like it to be."
So it is with the C & O Canal; an illusion. In its gritty industrial heyday, the C& O Canal probably didn't look very pretty or smell very pretty. What became of all the mule crap? What became of the human waste and the garbage of the boatman and his family living in tight quarters on the barge? Was there a majestic riparian forest here along the Potomac and Canal side as there is today? In a wooden fuel economy of the mid 19th century, probably not. Trees were something you tried to prevent, as they tended to fall into an across the Canal.
However, like most National Parks, The C & O Canal is a mighty fine illusion, but one that can easily be shattered.
We arrived at Swain's lock, jump off point for a visit to the "Dan Snyder Memorial Clear-cut. Obviously, you don't have to paddle or walk two miles up the Canal; you can take the Swain's Lock road off River Road and put your canoe or kayak in at Swain's lock. If you don't have a boat, you can rent a canoe or kayak at the Swain's Lock concession and perhaps buy an ice cream bar if it is a warm day.
The day was getting on and the shadows lengthen with that Autumnal speed that tells you the endless summer days are over. We elected not to portage Swain's Lock but to walk the last 200 hundred yards to the clear-cut.
This we did and there it was: The Dan Snyder Memorial Clear-cut
As previously remarked, wild nature is an illusion. The US Forest Service rather cynically and mendaciously conceals its clear cuts behind a narrow "beauty strip" so that the naïve hick from New York City thinks he is driving through an old growth forest carefully preserved and protected by stout hearted forest rangers; his tax dollars at work.
The C & O Canal Illusion is a bit more complex. The suburb called "Potomac" is one of the richest in the US. Its 5 to 12 million dollar homes abut the National Park like a Maginot Line of extreme wealth. Like the Maginot Line, they are camouflaged; In this case by the almost Amazonian denseness of the Eastern deciduous forest, which masked their presence almost completely. The casual visitor from Mongolia, walking along the tow path, could assume that the stately forest he admires might extend inland a hundred miles or more inland. There is nary a millionaire or a mansion to be seen to be seen.
However, the owner of the Washington Redskins has broken the illusion.
The green curtain of vegetation has been removed and Dan Snyder's home stands naked before the public. It is not a bad mansion as mansions go. Sort of Neo Loire Valley French Chateau style, three stories, with porches, from which, presumably, Mr. Snyder finally has his view of the Potomac River.
But does he? While the visitor on the tow path has an excellent view of Mr. Snyder's house, the area between the Canal and the Potomac remains heavily forested. I am not sure what kind of view Mr. Snyder was able to obtain. I will have to wrangle on invitation from him for afternoon sherry on the porch to see if there is a view worth all the fuss.
Mr. Snyder's cutting the trees on the scenic easement on his property resulted in a local and even national uproar, with the usual "Malefactors of Great Wealth" undercurrent that is never far from the surface of our supposedly classless society.
"How did he get away with it" bawled the environmental press, hinting some dark collusion with the Bush Administration or other Forces of Darkness.
Actually, he didn't get away with it, or at least not entirely.
Snyder clear cut 1.5 acres of his land that was in a scenic easement in violation of Montgomery County ordinances (which in this case, are a lot tougher than DOI regs.). In recompense, he must reforest the 1.5 acres with native trees and protect a total of 5 acres of his property not affected by the cutting under a new scenic easement that forbids the cutting of all trees and even all brush with the exception of noxious or invasive species. In addition, he may not dig, build, or conduct any commercial activity on the protected acreage. The new, strict easement will be attached to the Snyder property in perpetuity, even if Snyder sells the property, decreasing the value of the property by roughly the amount of any increase in property value accrued by the alleged improved view.
In addition, Snyder agreed to purchase the equivalent of three acres of off site forest for the Montgomery county forest conservation bank at a minimum cost of $37,000. To make sure all this happens, Snyder must allow Montgomery County Reps. on his property after notification and must provide documentation of expenditures for the Forest Bank.
All in all, it turned out to be an expensive and embarrassing way to look at a river.
Joan and I retraced our steps to Swain Lock, recovered our kayak and paddled back to The Great Falls Visitor Center and the ride home.
Back home, there was a message on my computer from the formidably named Ranger Justice, Chief Interpreter for the C & O Canal, providing direction to the Snyder Clear-cut and suggesting that I might like to discuss the matter with him before writing the article.
Now, neighbors, you just can't ignore anyone named Justice, so I rang him up for some questions; some routine, some mischievous.
According to Bill Justice, there are some 192 NPS scenic easements on the Canal, including that of Dan Snyder. The easements were pretty standard, telling the participants that they may not cut trees over 6 inches at breast height. The problem was that the easements allowed for the cutting of the understory less than 6 inches ("brush" in George Bush parlance) This understory, not the big trees, is what effectively masked the mansions. In addition, the easement allowed the removal of "noxious, invasive exotic species" such as the notorious "Tree of Heaven."
Now most participants in the NPS easement program were more than glad to leave well enough alone, including the understory as it provided privacy, something the well-to do's generally cherish. This was not true of the extroverted Mr. Snyder, who apparently does not mind being on permanent exhibit. (My conclusions, not those of Ranger Justice.)
In addition, Mr. Snyder's people misled the perhaps overly trusting NPS when they were asked if they had the requisite permits from Montgomery County. They claimed that they did. Turns out they did not.
Did they lie? Well now, to paraphrase one famous politician, that would depend on how you define "lie."
As a homey example, consider the occasion you are approached by an alcoholic roofing contractor who tells you he can do your roof for half his competitor's bid. You dubiously ask him if he is licensed, bonded and insured. He will answer "Yeah."
In the case of the alcoholic roofing contractor, the statement "Yeah" does not mean that he has any of the above documents, it merely means that he has heard your question and understands your concern, and yes, will eventually, some day, acquire all these documents, but the present lack of which should not prevent your doing business with him in the interim.
This is the similarity between multi-millionaires and alcoholic roofing contractors; their word is not their bond, but is subject to interpretation -- or you can wisely demand to be given copies of their documents before proceeding.
I asked Ranger Justice one last mischievous question: Had the Park considered putting up an interpretive sign at the site of the Dan Snyder Memorial Clear-cut, detailing what had happened.
There was an understandable moment of silence.
Nooo..., the park had not considered doing that, but I had a feeling that the idea might be brought up at the next staff meeting.