PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

Monument Administration (continued)

Administration Gets Back to Normal

Since the new visitor center had public restrooms, during 1973 the monument's cinder block comfort station, built in 1957, was razed. To further restore the historic landscape at Pipe Spring, the Park Service had long encouraged the Tribe to develop a picnic area on the reservation. A picnic area just east of the monument was under development by the Tribe in 1973, thus the Park Service decided to remove its over-taxed picnic area within the monument. By 1974 the monument's picnic area was removed as well as the old asphalt-surfaced parking area on the monument's east side. Trees and other vegetation were planted to obliterate the site.

The monument finally instituted collection of entrance fees on July 30, 1973. This was the first time that fees were ever collected in the monument's 50-year history. Tracy attributed the 21 percent decline in visitation figures from 24,051 in 1973 to 19,007 in 1974 to a number of factors: 1) reduced travel due to the energy crisis in the early part of the year; 2) removal of the picnic grounds from the monument; 3) institution of fee collection; and 4) improved accuracy of counting resulting from fee collection. Many of the monument's past visitors were local residents who had been coming to the monument for picnics and recreation several times a year for decades. Once they were required to pay an entrance fee, Tracy reported, many chose not to visit the monument or came less frequently. [2150] While that may have been the case initially, a report three years later by Tracy stated that local residents came "as many as six to eight times per year," bringing visiting family and friends. [2151]

With the Arab oil embargo in place by the fall of 1973, all park units were required to conserve energy and to report how they implemented this policy, beginning with 1973 Annual Reports. Tracy reported from 1973 through 1975 that temperatures and lighting were kept at minimum levels. No more reports on monument energy use were made until the Superintendent's Annual Report for 1979. On November 15, 1979, emergency building temperatures were put into effect and several other measures were taken to reduce energy consumption. New wood burning stoves were installed in both Mission 66 residences and six-inch under floor insulation was also installed. (Former Custodian Leonard Heaton, who once complained of the residence having no backup heating system and cold floors, would have given his whole-hearted approval to both measures!) Old incandescent lighting fixtures in bedrooms, dining rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms were replaced with fluorescent ceiling fixtures, resulting in an additional energy savings.

On June 25, 1975, an official operations evaluation was conducted at Pipe Spring. A later report stated, "The team was impressed with the monument as a little gem of a historical area especially in the manner in which it is presented to the public." [2152] The team thought the historic buildings were well maintained and had that long sought after "lived-in" look that gave visitors the feeling of stepping back in time. The new visitor center and concessions run by the Tribe were an improvement in visitor services, they reported. Although the Tribe's maintenance of the building was not quite up to Park Service standards, the working relationship with the Tribe was satisfactory. [2153] The team praised the monument's interpretive program, but cautioned that care needed to be taken "to keep it within reason as far as staffing and costs are concerned." Among the needs identified was for permanent positions for a clerk-typist, to help with office work, and a ranch foreman, to handle the farm and ranch work of the interpretive program. In its long list of recommendations, the team wrote that the construction of a new maintenance and storage structure should be given high priority.

During 1976 the monument began monitoring air quality with readings taken twice daily, morning and evening. Visibility observations were made in order to establish visibility standards for the monument and the Arizona Strip to the south. The data was sent for use in developing a model to the Assistant to the Regional Director James R. Isenogle for Utah who coordinated the Park Service's air quality control program. [2154] Also that year the Kaibab Paiute Tribe proposed to build a large, one-story, multi-purpose center about one mile north of the monument using grant funds from the Economic Development Administration. The center was needed, the Tribe stated, to combat the problem of alcoholism among its members. [2155] The new project would serve a population of about 200 Kaibab Paiute. The estimated cost of the new building was $250,000. The construction of the building took some time. Dedication of the Tribe's new multi-purpose building took place on December 22, 1978. Merle Jake was master of ceremonies at the event. Bill Fields, Southwest Region, gave the keynote address and Gevene E. Savala conducted the ribbon cutting. Paul Smith (Tribal Operations, Phoenix Area Office) made closing remarks, with Mel Heaton offering the closing prayer. [2156]

At the beginning of the 1976 travel season, Tracy met with the tribal chairperson to make suggestions for improving the appearance and operation of the visitor center. He later submitted a list of suggestions to the Tribe's chairperson, not "to be construed as a request or directive," he wrote, trying to be diplomatic. [2157] This appears to be the first time that Park Service expectations were so clearly spelled out to the Tribe for its upkeep of the building.

A problem arose in the fort during 1976 that took much time and money to address. Water seepage along the fort's north wall worsened that year. The consulting firm of Conron and Muths, Restoration Architects, from Jackson, Wyoming, was engaged to research the problem and make recommendations for treatment. (See "Historic Buildings" section for details.) Emergency action was required during November 15- 16, 1976, which resulted in the removal of the fort's parlor and kitchen floors. This created a new storage problem for the monument. A place was needed to temporarily store all the furnishings that were removed from the two rooms. It was decided that a room in the visitor center would be used. There was much concern about moving the artifacts from a cool area of high moisture to the warmer and much drier visitor center. Regional Curator Ed Jahns provided the monument with a sling psychrometer in January 1977 for relative humidity readings to be taken in the new storage room, as well as in the storage trailer. He provided instructions for increasing the humidity where the "damp room" (i.e., parlor) furnishings were stored, and advised staff to gradually lower it over several months until it reached the normal humidity of the fort. He advised that the furnishings not be kept in the visitor center for longer than a year. [2158]

Tracy did his best to control the humidity in the visitor center storage room. Without introducing humidity through mechanical means, the normal humidity was about 25-26 percent. When he attempted to humidify the room by mechanical means to the 40-50 percent that Jahns recommended as a "starting point," the furnishings began to accumulate a surface residue, which appeared to Tracy to be mineral in nature. In addition to his concern about the collection, Tracy was also concerned about visitors' complaints about the closure of the two rooms of the fort. Local residents in particular were in the habit of bringing their out-of-town guests to see the fort and couldn't understand the lengthy closure of the rooms. Tracy asked Heyder for permission to construct a temporary plywood floor in the fort rooms so furnishings could be put back in and full tours could be given again. Heyder forwarded Tracy's request to the Rocky Mountain Regional Office, stating that he opposed doing anything in the two rooms before the report of Conron and Muths was received. [2159] (That report was submitted in November 1977. See "Historic Buildings, The Fort" section.)

Another serious problem occurred during the summer of 1977, this time interfering with normal operations in the visitor center. The building was connected to a 1,500- gallon septic tank, which proved inadequate to meet the needs of visitors and staff. During the summer, the system became blocked and inoperable. Sewage backed up into the snack bar, forcing its closure for a short period. The visiting public and staff were without restroom facilities for three days. As a temporary measure the septic tank had to be pumped out about once a week. Visitors inconvenienced by the problem at first held the Park Service responsible, but were usually appeased after the problem was explained to them. [2160] The problem was solved with the Tribe's installation of a new sewage lagoon prior to the 1978 travel season. [2161]

In the spring of 1978, the Government Services Administration renegotiated a new five-year lease between the Park Service and Kaibab Paiute Tribe for rental of the monument's office space and visitor center. Tracy reported the lease was improved over the earlier lease. [2162]

The most noteworthy event of 1978 was the completion of the monument's master plan in March. Much had transpired in the way of Park Service-Tribe cooperative developments since the previous master plan of 1972. By 1978 Glen Canyon National Recreation Area was drawing increasingly large numbers of motorists from southern California past the monument on Highway 389. The master plan recommended additional exhibits, the development of a self-guiding nature trail and audio stations, and the re-creation of ranch land, orchards, vineyards, and vegetable gardens. It also proposed relocating the monument's residential and utility areas to tribal land, either in the Tribe's new housing area east of the monument or in a small cove located about one-half mile north of the monument. This proposal would receive thorough study in early 1979, after Tracy had retired (see Part XII).

In late 1978, Tracy advised the Park Service of his plan to retire, which he did on January 12, 1979. He agreed to oversee the monument as a retired annuitant until the arrival of Superintendent William M. ("Bill") Herr, GS-11, on April 8, 1979. [2163] After that date Bernard and Ruth Tracy moved to Moccasin and lived there until 1996, when they moved to Salt Lake City to be near family.