During the mid-1970s Crater Lake park managers turned their attention toward the development of a resource management plan for the biological and natural features of the park. The plan was to be in compliance with both NPS management objectives and policies and the park’s “Statement for Management.” The objectives for resource management as adopted by the Park. Service in July 1975 provided that the “perpetuation of the full diversity of a natural environment of ecosystem . . . is and must remain a distinguishing aspect of the Service’s management of natural lands. Policy and management emphasis must be toward perpetuation of these natural processes, assuring that impacts are not irreparable.” Accordingly, the Park Service would continue “to perfect its expertise in ecosystem management, including programs relating to wildfire and prescribed burning techniques, wildlife ecology, necessary regulation and control of resource use and pollution control and abatement.” Critical resources were to be monitored for change and management of other practices having adverse effects on natural processes was to be modified.
The park’s “Statement for Management” developed in 1975-76 stated that it was the objective of the park “to conserve the Park’s ecological resources free from adverse influence of man while allowing those types of use and development that do not significantly impair park resources. ” For the purposes of natural resource management five land classification zones or ecosystems were recognized in the park: Crater Lake; ponderosa pine forest; lodgepole pine forest; mountain hemlock forest; and pumice desert.
With these objectives as a basis for planning the Crater Lake park staff developed a draft resource management plan in January 1977. Proposed management programs were outlined in the draft plan detailing characteristics of park resources and defining management strategies to achieve park objectives. [58]
To insure that resource management was fully integrated into the park administrative structure the position of Resources Management Specialist was established during the early 1980s. This event was significant in that it represented a change in the attitude of the National Park Service and the park toward a more professional approach with specially trained personnel in the field for local management of park resources.
After further study and refinement a Resource Management Plan for the park was approved in 1982 by Regional Director Daniel J. Tobin. The plan, which was to be revised and updated annually, consisted of two components–a “Natural Resources Management Plan” and a “Cultural Resources Management Plan.” The two plans documented resource management needs and priorities through a series of project statements which included proposed actions and specific management guidelines for implementation and essential research studies. The plans served park management as manuals for activities that would preserve resources in the park based on approved management objectives, congressional mandates, and NPS policies. The “Natural Resources Management Plan” had four principal objectives:
1. Resource Protection
a) Maintain or restore the natural systems within the park to those conditions that would now exist were it not for the influence of man since the 1853 Hillman party “discovery of Carter Lake.”
b) Preserve the caldera ecosystem as the principal resource of the Park.
c) Maintain ecological integrity of native plants and animals as part of the park ecosystem. Permit animal populations to be regulated by natural processes whenever possible. Encourage the reintroduction of native species and prevent non-native species from displacing indigenous ones.
d) Identify and locate plant and animal species unique to the park or having very limited distribution and control the use or access to habitats of threatened and endangered species.
e) Implement management fires (natural and prescribed) in designated areas based on research and guidelines provided in the approved Crater Lake National Park. Fire Management Plan.
f) Manage those units of the park recommended to Congress for wilderness designation in accordance with the NPS wilderness management policies and the 1964 Wilderness Act.
2. Information Acquisition
Encourage and participate in efforts to acquire and analyze information through research and other means in order to facilitate development of the best possible management strategies for protecting and interpreting park resources.
3. Interpretation and Environmental Awareness
Foster understanding and appreciation of the natural forces responsible for the evolution of spectacular geological features and diverse ecological communities, and to promote awareness of the natural environment through varied interpretive and educational programs that focus on natural processes and resources.
4. Visitor Use
Assure enjoyable visitor experience through the provision of necessary facilities and services on a year-round basis where possible and in a manner that is compatible with the park’s aesthetic, natural, and cultural values.
