Did you do monitoring at Odell and Waldo later on?
Doug was also working on Waldo Lake. I won’t call it a coincidence, but it is a similar situation where Gary Larson is getting involved on Waldo Lake through the Willamette National Forest. Doug Larson has been monitoring Waldo since 1986 or so, which was exactly the time I was working on Crater. I joined him for expeditions to Waldo Lake using his equipment. I would take my boat up there and work with him on the lake. He depened on me for the research boat end of it. When Burnett went bankrupt, I had all the equipment that could help him on various lake in the state. Waldo was a particular interest and still is because its also ultra oligotrophic, with even less nutrient availability than at Crater. At very clear, pure body of water.
He included several lakes in his Ph.D. research, which encompassed Odell, Waldo, Woahink, and Crater. There might be another lake in there, too. His Ph.D. dissertation compared various lakes, I think there were five or so. I’m still interested in Waldo Lake and am still working with the Willamette National Forest. Waldo is more connected now to Oregon State in research. Doug has worked for the Willamette National Forest mostly as a volunteer. He has made some Forest Service people mad regarding Waldo, but we have an amiable relationship at this time.
So there is some similarities with respect to issues?
The question you asked is there anything we could compare related to Crater Lake (19). The Forest Service has three gigantic campgrounds with septic systems. Thousands of people go to Waldo Lake each summer. Doug was really concerned with contamination of the lake. We didn’t really go over Doug’s theory for what the Park Service was doing to Crater, but of course, it had to do with septic leach fields up on the rim and I’m sure he had the same fears and feelings for the clarity at Waldo Lake (20). Doug has a way of alienating people when he wants something. He pushes very, very hard and has the ability to make people not want to listen to him. Doug wrote letters and the pressure to change comes from politicians, but where does that put him? You know he’s proud that his rubber raft on Crater Lake has led to a $160,000 a year program that funds lake monitoring. He’s really done some wonderful work. When Gary, Scott, and Mark—the people who work in the Crater Lake program—reflect on what Doug did, they are appreciative that this program came about because of his early work. They are really happy world class research is being done on a world class lake. Without what Doug’s actions, they wouldn’t be doing research at Crater Lake.
