What were the forces behind the expansion in the number of positions in administration?
You have to be able to, first, analyze what you don’t have. The pathetic administration system that we had was a complete disaster. The AO, the minute he found that I was coming to the park, quickly retired. We had a part-timer who could’ve developed into a very excellent computer guy, and would’ve, but he had some personal problems. But we just simply had to look and say hey, we’ve got nothing and establish the need and go after finding some people to do it. We use the same theme. If you’re going to compete, particularly from a distance, with the Mount Rainiers and the North Cascades and the Olympic national parks, you better get some people to help you compete. Because you ain’t gonna do it just as a superintendent. You need some AOs, personnel, procurement, and computers, secretaries, file clerks. You name it. You’ve gotta have it.
Did you ever compare the operation at Crater Lake with that of Lassen? I was struck by the parallels when I was there.
No, we never compared ourselves with Lassen. We considered ourselves above most of those types. We never tried to draw any parallels. That would get you into all kinds of trouble. If you play those kinds of games, it’s spinning in the wrong circles. You really need to be sitting back there and not trying to compare to another area. If you do, you will have limited your horizons. At Crater Lake, we had to look big. So the answer is no, we wouldn’t have bothered.
The rest of the historic buildings. It’s been difficult to get money for those.
It shouldn’t be. I know that that’s fairly easy money to get. I don’t know what’s happening there now. I simply don’t. I would just simply say. . . Okay, put it in this context. If you expect that there is going to be a big bright, shiny cloud suddenly appear over Crater Lake and throw all kinds of money to fix up the stone houses, it ain’t gonna happen. If, on the other hand, you beg, borrow, steal, connive, switch resources, do anything legal that you can, stopping just short of illegal, and do one house, just one, of the stone houses, just do one, the rest will follow. You do one and the rest will follow.
