PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

Planning and Development

A number of plans were prepared during the 1980s to provide management guidance at Pipe Spring. Plans included a Collection Preservation Guide (July 1980), Statement for Management (November 1981), Water Resource Management Plan (Draft, 1982), Basic Operations Declaration (January 1982), Development Concept Plan for the Residential and Maintenance Area (July 1982), Safety Plan (1985), Cultural Resources Management Plan (last draft, 1987); and Wayside Exhibit Plan (1988). [2369]

On a Friday in August 1979, the seven-layer paper roof on the old maintenance building was removed. No protective covering was put on it that day. As luck would have it, the next few days it rained steadily, soaking power tools and supplies before they could be covered with plastic. Belatedly, plastic was put on the roof to prevent further water damage before the new roofing could be installed.

There had long been discussion about removing the monument's residential area and maintenance yard to a nearby location on the reservation. The monument's approved 1978 master plan expressly called for such a change. The developed area was seen as visually intrusive on a landscape viewed by its administrators as historic. While from the north, staff residences and the utility area were partially screened from view by vegetation in the warmer months, the area was painfully visible the rest of the year. It was especially visible looking toward the monument from the south by those driving along State Highway 389. In May 1979, a draft Assessment of Alternatives and Residential Analysis was completed for Pipe Spring. Only two alternatives for action were considered feasible: provide more vegetative screening for the developed areas or relocate them in a small cove located about one-half mile north of the monument. By early 1982 the study had evolved into a Development Concept Plan, this time recommending leaving the residential and utility areas in situ and screening with more vegetation. As Herr greatly enjoyed planting trees, this posed no problem for him.

In the spring of 1979, a Zion work crew excavated a hole and installed a 1,000-gallon gas storage tank to replace the 500-gallon above ground tank that served the monument. A new gas pump was installed and put into operation. Archeologist Ronald E. ("Ron") Everhart from Glen Canyon National Recreation Area oversaw Section 106 clearance on the project. [2370] It was originally planned to put the tank under part of the residential parking area. A flagstone flooring was encountered about six inches below the asphalt, so a new site for the tank was chosen 20 feet further north. [2371] (This flagstone was almost certainly the old floor of the monument's garage that burned to the ground in 1951.

Heaton later surrounded the floor with four-foot high cinder block walls on three sides as a place to park the government truck. The stone floor was presumably covered over during the construction of the residential parking area about 1960.) No cultural material was found in the site chosen for the tank.

During August 1980, an old, underground storage facility was filled in for safety reasons. Originally built in 1942 for fuel storage, it was later used for paint storage. Also that year a block wall "fence" was erected along the west side of the utility yard to help prevent erosion and to delineate the edge of the service area. Approximately 400 new fence posts were installed around the grazing pasture and around the monument boundary. New gates were installed in the branding corral below the east cabin.

In the fall of 1986, major rehabilitation work began on the monument's maintenance building, thanks to an unexpected fiscal year-end funding windfall from the regional office. All siding and windows were removed and replaced with new materials. A new roof was installed, including new joists. Work began on October 19; exterior work was completed on November 2, with most other work finished by the end of the year. [2372] The work doubled the size of the building and created a proper collection storage room. A new septic tank and leach field were also completed for the building. During December 1986, the monument's old museum storage trailer was surplused to the Kaibab Paiute Tribe for storage at their maintenance yard. No longer needed at the monument, two metal sheds were relocated from the monument's utility area to Zion National Park.

Roads, Walks, and Nature Trail

On April 30, 1979, the Zion Roads and Trails Crew began construction of a new soil cement walkway from the visitor center to the fort, built a wheelchair path around the ponds, and cleaned up the maintenance area. Work by the crew continued through late June. In late September, the road crew returned to chip seal the monument's utility road and residential parking area and to build a new 50-foot section of road from the culvert-bridge to the monument's east boundary gate. During 1982, additional work was done to the soil cement walkway in order to make the walk to all audio stations and wayside exhibits accessible to the handicapped. [2373] The project involved completing the last 500 feet of walk with soil cement. In October 1987, a contractor (Norris-Brown) removed about 300 feet of sidewalk and laid new walks within the monument to make them more handicap-accessible.

In 1980 the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Utah Highway Department improved signage along Highway 389 at Herr's request. The monument's nature trail suffered from erosional damage by the early 1980s. In 1981, thanks to pick and shovel work by Doug Dewitz along with the installation of juniper water bars across the trail, the trail was put back into good shape.