By 1986 the limnological program at Crater Lake had become further institutionalized. First, a “Position Statement and Operational Plan for Winter and Spring Research on Crater Lake” was adopted, outlining standardized sampling and logistical procedures for lake research during the winter and spring. [45] Second, the Crater Lake park staff developed a comprehensive, interdivisional limnological program designed to monitor the lake water quality, protect the entire caldera ecosystem, and keep the public informed concerning lake research findings. The interdivisional program provided for clearly defined roles of various personnel and offices, including the Pacific Northwest Regional Office, principal park investigator, and park administrators, resource management specialists, biotechnicians, rangers, and interpreters. [46]
As the limnological program got underway a new threat to the water quality of Crater Lake surfaced. This threat stemmed from approval given in 1985 to the California Energy Company, a Santa Rosa-based geothermal production company, to test drill for geothermal resources in the Winema National Forest adjacent to the park. An environmental assessment prepared for the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service in 1984 foresaw no environmental impacts on the park as a result of incorporating various Park Service proposals: measurement of noise levels; testing of surface water for contamination that might occur during drilling; use of equipment to deter drill-hole blowouts; surveys to ensure no drilling inside the park boundaries; and testing of water from the drill holes to see if its chemistry matched that of Crater Lake. Despite these provisions, however, the Park Service continued to be concerned since no one was sure about the possible substrata connections between the geothermally heated waters and Crater Lake. This concern was based on fears that by tapping these hot waters, which would be only a few miles from Crater Lake, developers might jeopardize the water quality of the lake itself. [47]
B. WILDERNESS DESIGNATION PROPOSALS
A National Wilderness Preservation System, established by Congress on September 3, 1964, has had a significant impact on administration and management of Crater Lake National Park. The establishing act of the system (Public Law 88-577) stated that it was “the policy of Congress to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness.” Within ten years the Secretary of the Interior was to:
review every roadless area of five thousand contiguous acres or more in the national parks, monuments and other units of the national park system . . ., under his jurisdiction of the effective date of this Act and shall report to the President his recommendation as to the suitability or nonsuitability of each such area . . . for preservation as wilderness.
The National Wilderness Preservation System was “to be composed of federally owned areas designated by Congress as ‘wilderness areas’.” The law defined a wilderness as
an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. An area of wilderness is further defined to mean . . . an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions and which: (1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has at least 5,000 acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical values.
Areas included in the wilderness system would continue to be managed by the agencies having jurisdiction over them. [48]
