Let me back up just a little bit. Prior to this, the Park Service was required to prepare a land classification map in our planning. This goes back to the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission chaired by Laurence Rockefeller (12). They recommended that there be these various management zones, consisting of six classes. Number one was high density public use and facilities. Two was less used than high density, but still with easy public access. Three was not for vehicle use except for what management might deem as necessary. Four was unique natural feature like a spring or a geyser. Five was wilderness. Six was historic, if I remember my zoning correctly. We had to develop these maps in our planning (13). So you had this zone 3 land around the wilderness, where the public could not drive their vehicle, but management could, if necessary. Management would use that zoning for protection, according to this philosophy. We had non-wilderness enclaves if a facility could not be removed. That leads us to North Cascades and Crater Lake, since planning for wilderness took place at roughly the same time (14). It might sound idiotic, but the draft proposal had a one eight mile management class 3 zone all the way around North Cascades National Park. If there was an established wilderness next to the park boundary, however, our wilderness boundary would eliminate the buffer, and, in those cases the management or buffer zone was not applied.
But not land that was simply under RARE I or II? (15)
That’s right. Otherwise we had to have this non-wilderness buffer zone around it. Therefore the one you saw at Crater Lake appeared in the era when we were directed to show it that way. But some of the public was screaming. The Sierra Club came unglued. The Wilderness Society opposed it. This was resolved by the North Cascades planning, which was under a two year directive to complete a wilderness review and master plan. When the final recommendations reached the Senate, the North Cascades wilderness recommendation went to Frank Church’s committee. What is key about Church was that he was the only remaining senator who had worked on that legislation for the establishment of the Wilderness Act. Church was also from Idaho and a strong supporter of wilderness. He looked at this and declared it was not in the minds of the legislative people and planners who developed the Wilderness Act. He directed the National Park Service to go back and eliminate that one-eight mike management zone and reconsider these non-wilderness enclaves, with facilities such as campfire circles, pit toilets and/ or small wells that might be used for wildfire management. He was trying to tell the NPS to get off this pure wilderness position. We had to change our plans accordingly and that’s why you would have seen the difference in the draft master plan for Crater Lake.
