To streamline and strengthen protection operations at the entrance stations Crouch recommended establishment of ranger checking stations at each of the four park boundary entrances. He stated further:
The checking kiosk itself, it is believed, should constitute a separate unit from the station. The stations should consist of quarters for personnel, storage space for equipment and supplies, a garage for a government vehicle and a small work shop. It is not within the scope of this report to offer a design for the quarters and other buildings, but the suggestion is made that the quarters consist, in addition to standard units of living room, kitchen, bath, etc., an attached dormitory room or “bull pen” sufficiently spacious to accommodate the single men who may be assigned to the station and with separate bath facilities, thus eliminating the necessity for temporary quarters.
Crouch recommended that campgrounds be established near the projected ranger stations since campgrounds “located in close proximity to a station and handled by personnel of that station are operated far more efficiently and are used far more considerately than those located at some isolated site.” In addition campgrounds near the park boundaries could be used by park visitors several months longer than the existing ones at the Rim, Annie Spring, and Cold Spring which often could not be opened until mid-June or early July because of snow.
Winter access to the park, according to Crouch, added increasing year-round responsibilities to the park ranger force. Control of snow sports and the participants themselves made it necessary to hire more rangers. According to Crouch, the “size and number of snow sports areas consistent with the use must be controlled as must the ski trails, snow fields, cross country trips, and the actions of people anywhere near the rim of the lake, on the highways and elsewhere.” Aid to injured persons as a result of snow sports activities also was a major component of the rangers’ duties.
Crouch strongly recommended that a permanent ranger station be built at Rim Village (a temporary station had been in use at the rim) since it was “the destination of the majority of visitors to the park and the tremendous concentration of visitors in this relatively limited area calls for definite regulatory and protection activities.” The recommended permanent central ranger station would “serve as a clearing house for the multiplicity of protection work required”–parking, traffic control and regulation, information and campground services, police protection, and emergency first aid.
Competent ranger personnel were necessary, according to Crouch, for exclusive service on the lake and around its shores. The majority of fatal or serious accidents in the park occurred on the lake or in the crater, including drowning, recovery of bodies of individuals who fell into the crater, rescues of marooned persons, and search for lost persons. Protection of the forest cover in the crater and on Wizard Island from fire and other destructive elements should be provided as well as enforcement of fishing and marine regulations. Thus, a patrol boat was needed to provide park rangers with the necessary means to carry out their duties on the lake.
