Presenting Nature

Cover

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Overview

Stewardship

Design Ethic Origins
(1916-1927)

Design Policy & Process
(1916-1927)

Western Field Office
(1927-1932)

Park Planning

Decade of Expansion
(1933-1942)

State Parks
(1933-1942)

Appendix A

Appendix B

Bibliography

Presenting Nature: The Historic Landscape Design of the National Park Service, 1916-1942

III. A POLICY AND PROCESS FOR DESIGN, 1916 TO 1927 (continued)

STATEMENT OF POLICY, 1918

The need to forge a policy for developing and managing the national parks was great. On May 13, 1918, Secretary of the Interior Franklin Lane approved a statement of policy to guide the administration of the National Park Service. This document set forth broad principles and objectives that would guide the service in its stewardship of the parks and its efforts to make parks accessible and enjoyable to the public. First of all, criteria set for new parks, called park projects, required areas to possess "scenery of supreme and distinctive quality or some natural feature so extraordinary or unique as to be of national interest and importance." [21]

The statement set forth three fundamental principles, echoing the language of the 1916 enabling legislation:

First, that the national parks must be maintained in absolutely unimpaired form for the use of future generations as well as those of our own time; second, that they are set apart for the use, observation, health, and pleasure of the people; and third, that the national interest must dictate all decisions affecting public or private enterprise in the parks. [22]

This policy made the public interest preeminent in all national park matters, present and future, raising several practical implications and limitations. Summer homes were prohibited, as were commercial uses not specifically authorized by law or incidental to accommodating and entertaining the public. Sheep grazing was prohibited in all parks. Other forms of grazing were prohibited in Yellowstone National Park, but allowed in other parks in isolated areas not frequented by visitors and where it was unlikely to injure natural features. The cutting of timber was allowed only where it was needed to construct buildings or other improvements and where it could be removed without damaging the forests or disfiguring the landscape. Cutting was also allowed to thin forests or clear vistas to improve scenic features or to eliminate insect infestations or diseases common to forests and shrubs. [23]

All parks were to be open to automobiles, motorcycles, and other vehicles of all kinds and were to provide a variety of facilities for the comfort of tourists. Outdoor sports were to be allowed and aided as far as possible, except hunting and other activities that would injure park wildlife. [specially favored were mountain climbing, horseback riding, walking, motoring, swimming, boating, and fishing. Winter sports were to be developed in parks that were accessible throughout the year. Parks were to provide opportunities for classes in science and establish museums containing exhibits on park flora and fauna. [24]

Accommodations were to serve various classes of visitors and included low-priced camps as well as comfortable and even luxurious hotels operated by the concessionaires. As funds allowed, the government was to create and maintain a system of free campsites by Clearing areas and equipping them with water and sanitation facilities.

Above all, the 1918 statement of policy established the mechanism for a process of park design and planning based on the principles of landscape preservation and harmonization. Responsibility for carrying out such a process was placed under the aegis of a landscape engineer. The policy stated,

In the construction of roads, trails, buildings, and other improvements, particular attention must be devoted always to the harmonizing of these improvements with the landscape. This is a most important item in our program of development and requires the employment of trained engineers who either possess a knowledge of landscape architecture or have a proper appreciation of the esthetic value of park lands. All improvements will be carried out in accordance with a preconceived plan developed with special reference to the preservation of the landscape, and comprehensive plans for future development of the national parks on an adequate scale will be prepared as funds are available for this purpose. [25]

Concern for landscape preservation and the harmonization of all built features would guide park development and management for years to come. Through these principles, the 1918 statement aligned park development and natural conservation, thus upholding the dual mission of the National Park Service. Mather's thinking was clearly influenced by the landscape architecture profession's position on the stewardship of natural areas and the growing movement for parks across the nation. Common practices used in country or rustic areas of city parks were immediately adopted. Construction was to disturb the ground as little as possible. Improvements were to be of native materials and rustic in character. Obtrusive development was to be avoided altogether or placed in inconspicuous locations and screened from public view.

Despite the detailed writings of Henry Hubbard and Frank Waugh and the naturalistic intent of numerous parks and parkways that had sprung up in and around American cities, nowhere had the landscape profession dealt with natural character on such a large scale as in the national parks of the West. Never before had there been the need or the opportunity for the federal government to institutionalize a policy for landscape preservation and harmonious design. While practitioners such as the Olmsted firm could design a park and make recommendations for its future, efforts to maintain naturalistic parks as they were designed were often impeded by political power and ambition. To the landscape profession and to the future landscape engineers of the National Park Service, the 1918 statement of policy posed a great challenge and a momentous opportunity to advance the principles and practices of naturalistic landscape gardening.

In the fifteen years following the 1918 declaration of policy and preceding the massive expansion of park development that began in 1933, National Park Service landscape architects and engineers forged a cohesive style of naturalistic park design. This style would be rooted in the fundamental twofold philosophy, first, that landscape be preserved, and second, that all construction harmonize with nature. It evolved as designers encountered landscape problems and arrived at practical and aesthetic solutions. This style—translated into a set of principles and practices—would have lasting influence on the character of national, state, and metropolitan parks and public highways across the nation.

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