As a means of streamlining park administration in the late 1960s the National Park Service established various group offices around the country to serve as “mini-regional” offices for isolated parks. The Klamath Falls Group Office was established on July 1, 1969, to consolidate oversight administration of Crater Lake and Lava Beds and Oregon Caves national monuments. The Klamath Falls Group was administered by a general superintendent (Donald M. Spalding–July 1, 1969-July 9, 1972; Ernest J. Borgman–September 30, 1972-February 29, 1980), and continued in existence until August 11, 1982. The superintendent of Crater Lake resided in the park and was responsible to the general superintendent for the management and operation of the park. Approximately one-third of the Crater Lake park staff was assigned to the new group office, thus heaving the park with a shortage of personnel. [82]
In line with management philosophy trends being enunciated by the Washington Office of the National Park Service, Crater Lake began to be administered on a management-by-objective basis in the early 1970s. Management objectives were approved for the park in June 19.70. The objectives for the general management of the park were:
General Management
a. Crater Lake National Park will be managed as a one district unit under the cluster management at Klamath Falls, along with Oregon Cave National Monument and Lava Beds National Monument.
b. Provide year-round access to the rim of the caldera for viewing of the lake by the visiting public.
c. Provide for the collection of appropriate park fees.
d. Relocate park administrative and residential facilities to a more suitable climatic location. Utilize present facilities for other management and visitor use purposes.
e. Coordinate the Service and Concessioner development programs to insure that the needs of the public and the interests of the Service are properly served.
f. Insure park staffing is commensurate to meet demands of the established program standards. [83]
By the 1970s the park organization had further developed along functional lines into a three divisional alignment. The three divisions were administration, interpretation and resource management, and maintenance. The division of administration consisted of the park superintendent and clerical staff. The division of interpretation and resource management was headed by a supervisory park ranger (chief ranger) under whom were supervisory park rangers in charge of protection and safety, resource management, and interpretation, respectively. The maintenance division was headed by a maintenance general foreman. All told, the park staff in 1974 consisted of 21 permanent full-time positions, 4 permanent less than full-time positions, and approximately 70 temporary employees during the summer season. [84]
Administration and management of the park came under intense scrutiny during the summer of 1975 after the park was closed for 21 days because its drinking water was contaminated with untreated sewage. During the spring a rock apparently became imbedded in the mouth of the six-inch sewer main below the lodge near the water catchment basin that fed Munson Springs, the water source for the Crater Lake water system. Sewage flowed into this line for the first time on May 21, when several employees moved into the lodge. After several days the line filled to the blocked area and began to overflow. The overflow went over into the catchment area and was not detected because of the snow coverage. By mid-June a number of persons in the park were ill with gastroenteritis, including park employees and their families, concessionaire employees, and Youth Conservation Corps personnel. No visitors reported illnesses until July 9 when a report was received in the park that, of a tour group of 18 people who had been in the park over the July 4 weekend, 17 were reported ill.
For several weeks park administrators took water samples and conducted inspections in cooperation with county, state, and federal health agencies. While the park water supply was suspect the cause of the outbreak of illness was not pinpointed until July 10 when raw sewage was found overflowing from a manhole below the lodge. On July 11 the Park Service, following the advice of the U.S. Public Health Service’s Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, closed the park to all visitors until further notice. It was later determined that by that date 288 people working in the park and more than 1,000 visitors had become sick.
