Grant-Kohrs Ranch Administrative History

The dawn of the new year found the ranch entering a new phase in its transformation from cattle operation to historic site. During Con Warren's protracted negotiations with the NPS and the Park Foundation, some area residents had scoffed at the notion of his selling the ranch to the U. S. Government. Many in the community perceived the deal as nothing more than a financial scheme for Con's benefit. This was probably a reflection of the Warrens' unpopularity with some people stemming from the couple's private nature, seasoned with an element of envy. While there can be little doubt that Warren saw in the sale an opportunity to secure his future, he also was genuinely interested in establishing a permanent legacy devoted to the days of the open range, as illustrated through his ancestors. [41]

Once the ranch was purchased by the Foundation, however, the voices of the nay sayers were suddenly replaced by community leaders lauding the noble effort. This shift in attitude was evident when two officers of the Deer Lodge Chamber of Commerce solicited U. S. Senator Mike Mansfield for his support of proposed legislation to officially authorize the site. "We feel that such an area is desperately needed to alleviate the pressure on the two National Parks in the State and would be a substantial aid to the economy . . . ," they wrote. [42] Mansfield's counterpart, Senator Lee Metcalf, joined him in querying Director Hartzog for a report on the status of NPS plans for the ranch. The Service could respond only that planning would have be revised with a view to the property that was actually purchased, as opposed to the initial concept of acquiring a tiny holding of only 45 acres. However, the Service could take no particular action until a master plan was completed. [43]

The purchase of the Warren Ranch by the National Park Foundation gave renewed impetus to formal planning for the area. Just before Christmas 1970, Robert L. Giles, acting Midwest Regional Director of the National Park Service, notified Hartzog that it was urgent that NPS move forward on this project. He left unsaid what Hartzog already knew; the politically powerful Mansfield was not to be denied, Giles declared that since funding for new area studies was critically short, the region would defer two other projects in favor of Grant-Kohrs Ranch. Assistant Director Joe Holt thereupon suggested that the process might be further expedited by a request for money from the director's reserve, but that proved unnecessary when the Western Service Center found massive funding to underwrite several studies, including one for the ranch. By March, 1971 both the funding and a planning directive had been approved. A team was slated to meet in Deer Lodge on May 3 to begin work on the all-important plan. Significantly, the Park Service officially settled upon "Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site" as the formal name for the proposed area. [44]

With a growing public constituency now behind the creation of a national historic site, the Montana delegation initiated a request for the NPS to draft the enabling legislation for a House of Representatives committee hearing scheduled for late in April, 1971. [45] This was timely, in view of Director Hartzog's aggressive acquisition program to flesh out the historical wing of the System, according to the comprehensive National Park System Plan.

Grant-Kohrs Ranch was suddenly thrust in the fast lane of the legislative process. There was not time, of course, to complete a master plan within the deadline imposed by Congress. Legislative counsel for the Department of the Interior, Frank Bracken, forwarded the draft authorization bill to Mansfield's office on May 24. Although this draft called for a limitation of 2,000 acres of land to be acquired for the site, that amount was later reduced to a maximum of 1,500 acres. The Midwest Regional Office also supplied the senator with estimates for personnel and support costs for a five year period. [46] Following closely on the submission of these estimates, the Park Service sent copies of a hurriedly prepared preliminary master plan to the Washington Office in preparation for a site visit by the House Subcommittee on Interior and Insular Affairs in mid-August. The committee wanted to "get a better view and a better understanding of what the area is," according to site coordinator Vern Hennesay, [47]

Regardless of the House committee's timetable, Mansfield and Metcalf formalized and introduced their bill (S .2166) on the Senate floor on June 28, 1971. In his speech, Mansfield appealed his colleagues that, "Opportunities of this kind are very rare and I hope that the Congress will be able to expedite considerations of this legislation so that the National Park Service might proceed with the development of this site." Even though the Interior Department had not yet been asked for its opinion on the legislation, Deputy Director Tom Flynn prepared a draft favoring the bill, knowing the Senate committee would request it on short notice. [48]

The congressional committee's visit was a serendipitous opportunity for the NPS and the Deer Lodge community to advance their case for authorizing the site. The congressional inspection of Grant-Kohrs Ranch was one stop on an itinerary that included visits to two other proposed parks, Golden Gate recreation area in California and a recreation area on Snake River in Idaho. Preparations for the event moved into high gear to ensure that the Washington visitors were favorably impressed. Vein Hennesay coordinated plans with the Deer Lodge Chamber to host a luncheon for the delegates and approximately 100 community leaders and residents on the old Kohrs ranch house lawn. The committee, including Representatives Roy Taylor, Joe Skubitz, Don Clausen, Jim McClure, and John Melcher, arrived by chartered airplane on August 11. The Park Service was amply represented by Deputy Director Tom Flynn from the Washington Office, Regional Director Len Voltz, and Yellowstone Superintendent Anderson. Hennesay and Douglass led an orientation tour of the site, highlighted by a walk through the ranch house, for the congressional party and NPS central office staff The affair had the desired effect. In addressing the group, Montana Congressman Melcher pledged his full support to "prompt legislative action" on the ranch. Hennesay later gauged the committee's reaction as a positive one, noting that, "We are sure there is no doubt in their minds . . . of the value in having the Grant-Kohrs Ranch established as an historical site . . . ." [49]

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In the months following the committee's visit, the staffs at the Washington Office, the Midwest Regional Office in Omaha, and the newly-organized Service Center in Denver devoted full attention to preparing legislative support data for the ranch. [50] By the end of October 1971, all of the figures for land acquisition, easements, and development, in addition to projected personnel costs, had gone forward for congressional consideration. The Service finally proposed purchasing 208 acres in fee, and negotiating easements on an additional 1,280 acres to protect the integrity of the site. The total cost estimate for the first year of operation was $350,000.00 [51]

Deeply-rooted Kohrs family ties with Montana politics promoted strong bipartisan support for setting aside the ranch as an historic site. In July 1971, Congressman Dick Shoup weighed in with his own version of a House bill bolstering the Senate legislation framed by Mansfield and Metcalf a month earlier. [52] There was little surprise when the draft cleared the already thoroughly-buttered Interior and Insular Affairs Committee on February 10, 1972. "All of the hard work we have gone to get the Grant-Kohrs Ranch designated . . . is now paying off," Shoup proclaimed to the press. Hearings on the bill were slated to be held near the end of April. [53] Once past the hurdle of the congressional committee, albeit a low hurdle in this instance, the house bill was in the home stretch for consideration by Congress.

During the interim there was little that could be done by either the Park Service or the Deer Lodge community beyond continuing to beat the drum of support. Townsfolk now enthusiastically embraced the idea, even those who had previously suggested that Con Warren might be showing signs of senility in thinking the ranch had any significance. [54] The Chamber of Commerce, slow to back Warren initially, eagerly began calculating the financial benefits to be reaped from a major tourist attraction. At Chamber meetings and in coffee shops, area residents discussed how park visitors would need expanded lodging and restaurant facilities once the site was in operation. The forecast of an economic boom was no doubt fueled by the wildly speculative predictions that some 220,000 to 240,000 tourists would visit the ranch each year. [55] A national historic site on the edge of town, it was predicted, would be the salvation of Deer Lodge. "They were all going to get rich off of it," one former park employee recalled. "They thought it was going to be another Yellowstone." [56]

While the politicians competed for the laurels to be reaped by sponsoring the enabling legislation, the strategy of having separate bills before the two bodies of Congress had its advantages. Senator Metcalf served in a key position as a member of Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. His influence was vital to winning committee approval of the Mansfield-Metcalf Bill, S. 2166. Approval of the parallel proposals by both House and Senate committees practically guaranteed final passage with few alterations, In August the two pieces of legislation were considered and voted on by the respective houses, the Senate version passing easily on August 10, with Shoup's to follow a few days later. The latter was delayed when it was discovered that the number of acres for acquisition was not specified in the document. Consequently, the House bill had to be laid before the Senate for resolution, The Senate voted to adopt the less specific wording in the House version, which established a land ceiling of 2,000 acres, without limiting the fee acquisition to 208 acres. Once that was done, the amended and approved Senate bill was sent to the White House. The legislation eventually caught up with President Richard M. Nixon at his home at San Clemente, California, where he signed Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site into law on August 25, 1972. His signature officially put the Park Service in the cattle business. [57]

Before year's end the National Park Foundation conveyed its interests in the ranch to the NPS, In turn, the Service reimbursed the Foundation $257,544.00, the full amount of its investment, plus interest and administrative costs. That was the final action necessary to place Grant-Kohrs Ranch firmly and forever in the hands of its new stewards. [58]

The momentous events in San Clemente and Washington had little immediate effect on activities at the ranch. The site would remain closed to the public for the next two or three years, a disappointing revelation to the Deer Lodge community. "We want to discourage visitors now as we are not ready for them," Vern Hennesay told listeners at a Chamber luncheon within a month after the signing. "So please don't give it too much publicity." [59] While his comments may have dampened community enthusiasm, Hennesay was only being realistic. There was still no funding approved for the new park. The buildings were in no condition to be accessed safely, and the lack of visitor facilities and staff made it impossible to accommodate the public.

In the two years since National Park Service personnel had first occupied the site, only the most basic of maintenance activities had been carried out. "One man can only accomplish so much," Hennesay lamented in December 1972, adding that he would have to "continue operating on a very slim budget of whatever we can 'bootleg' from Yellowstone until after June 30." [60] Tom Pettet and his successor, Edward Griggs, were therefore limited to organizing and storing the many years of accumulated ranch material, as well as disposing of refuse scattered about the property. They mitigated the danger of fire somewhat by keeping the grass and weeds mowed around the grounds. Crude, stop gap means were employed in propping up sagging roofs and keeping the weather out of the decaying buildings by fixing doors and replacing broken window panes. Under Hennesay's direction, the caretakers attempted to provide the wagons and other ranch equipment with the best storage possible within the existing primitive conditions. It would remain for NPS professionals, and a large influx of money, to put the ranch back on the road to recovery.