REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF NATIONAL PARKS. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, Washington, November 10, 1916. SIR: It is with pleasure that I submit to you my first annual report as Superintendent of National Parks. The primary reason for this is that I feel, although we have just begun the solution of many of the numerous questions that have to be dealt with in the national-park work, and for the handling of which we have until recently had no coherent organization, yet a great deal has been attained through the efforts of yourself and the assistant to the Secretary in bringing to the country and to Congress a more intimate knowledge of the national parks and in administering them in an efficient manner and to the end that all of our people may get the greatest possible benefit and enjoyment from them. These efforts have borne fruit in the display this year of more interest by people all over the country in the national parks, and in the enactment by Congress of laws which there is no doubt will have greater results toward the efficient and proper management of the parks than anything that had theretofore been done. The national parks and their possibilities, both in the way of enjoyment by the people and of profit to the Nation, have in the past been greatly neglected. Our scenic domain can and will be made as readily accessible to all of our citizens as are similar scenic and recreation areas in other countries, and much has recently been done to effect this. FUNCTIONS OF THE NATIONAL PARKS. The following is an extract from the report made by former Superintendent Daniels last year, which I believe to be worthy of repetition, as it so ably explains the functions of the parks: That the expenditure of money for the maintenance and development of our scenic reservations has an economic as well as aesthetic justification there can be no doubt, for each year large sums of money have left this country to be spent by tourists in foreign lands in search of scenic beauty. The fact that no material proportion of this sum returns is only less provoking than the knowledge that the money thus taken abroad by Americans is spent to view natural attractions that are inferior to those which may be found at home. In your report of 1913 you stated that land is not always land, but is sometimes coal, sometimes timber. One might add that it is sometimes scenery and, as such, merits the careful study and development that would be extended to other national resources. The condition of travel in foreign lands has stimulated the interest of our people in the merits of similar pleasures in this country. Never in history has there been so great a volume of travel in the United States. Surely it is the part of wisdom to retain this great advantage and to crystallize upon a general policy for the administration of our national parks. The first step in the consideration of a general policy for the administration of the national parks is the determination of just what functions they perform. Clearly they are not designated solely for the purpose of supplying recreation grounds. The fostering of recreation purely as such is more properly the function of the city, county, and State parks, and there should be a clear distinction between the character of such parks and national parks. The latter should constitute a class that is of national interest. In the category of national parks should be no reservation that is of local interest only. What, then, are the functions of our national parks as distinguished from State and local parks? As I view this question our national parks should serve three distinct functions: 1. The stimulating of national patriotism. 2. The furthering of knowledge and health. 3. The diverting of tourist travel to the scenic areas of the United States. NATIONAL PATRIOTISM. We, as a people, have been accused of lacking in that love of country with which our neighbors in Europe are so plentifully blessed. Whether such a criticism is merited or not, it is certain that local patriotism has rapidly grown in this country more or less at the expense of patriotism for the country as a whole. This condition would not exist if our people knew their country. To love a thing one must know it. The Belgian knows each hill and dale of his small country and loves it with an intensity that has become proverbial. And so it is with the Swiss, the French, the English. These peoples know their lands and love them. But ours is a great country, stretching from sea to sea, and a knowledge of all its glories is given to but few. What more noble purpose could our national parks serve than to become the instrument by which the people shall be lured into the far corners of their land that they may learn to love it? For one who will encompass the circuit of our parks, passing over the great mesas of Colorado, crossing the painted desert, threading the sparkling Sierra Nevada, and viewing the glaciers and snow-capped peaks of the great Northwest will surely return with a burning determination to love and work for and if necessary to fight for and die for the glorious land which is his. KNOWLEDGE AND HEALTH. I have said that it is my opinion the Federal Government is not justified in maintaining a national park for recreation purposes alone, yet it is readily seen from the character of our reservations that each has its recreational feature. I do believe, however, that objects and districts of great educational value should be reserved and placed in the category of national parks. Natural phenomena, great canyons, ruins of antiquity, waterfalls-all are objects of great interest and possess an educational value that can not be estimated. In Yellowstone are the geysers, in Yosemite the highest of waterfalls, in Sequoia the largest and oldest trees on earth, trees that were 3,000 years old when Christ was born. In Wind Cave National Park is a cave that comprises over 90 miles of sparkling passages. At Arkansas Hot Springs and Platt National Park are medicinal waters that have dispelled the pain of legions of sufferers. In Mesa Verde National Park are the crumbling dwellings of a forgotton race. Pregnant with mystery and romance, these ancient ruins beckon the traveler across the great green mesa and cast about him the spell of endless conjecture. If for no other reason, the value of these treasures as a medium for the furthering of knowledge and health fully justifies the plea for further aid, both moral and financial, from our Federal Government. If this aid is granted and a systematic effort is put forth to send our people out into the hinterland of this country, we shall be confronted by the problem of caring for a flood of tourists whose needs must be anticipated. THE TOURIST. The first logical step to be taken in an analysis of the conditions of tourist travel is a study of the tourist himself. Primarily, the tourist takes the line of least resistance. This means that he seeks the path that presents the best accommodations for the least cost. From a record of travel in our parks it may be shown that the finest scenery without accommodations will not receive so large a travel as an inferior character of scenery which has a better type of accommodation. The tourist who, upon the strength of literature issued by the department, travels to our parks is more or less justified in holding the Federal Government responsible for his comforts or discomforts while there. Nor is he backward with criticism. He demands that he be instructed as to the merits of this trail or that, this camp or that. He not infrequently is disappointed in not finding luxuries that he would not expect in similar places under other than Federal control. He invariably overlooks the fact that he, in a way, is part of the Government, and therefore indirectly responsible for the conditions he finds. Nevertheless, his demands must be respected if it is hoped to direct his footsteps to travel in our country. The three potent factors in influencing tourist travel are publicity, accommodations, and transportation. Obviously, the tourist must be informed of the merits of the district to which it is desired to bring him. He must then be shown that the accommodations at that place are satisfactory; and, last, he must know that the transportation facilities to, through, and from the location are good and may be had at reasonable cost. These three factors should constantly be borne in mind in any planning for the development of tourist travel. The three general classes of tourists who visit our parks are: Those to whom the expense is of little moment; those who, in moderate financial circumstances, travel in comfort but dispense with luxuries; and, third, those who, fired with the love of God's out-of-doors, save their pennies in anticipation of the day when they may feast their eyes upon the eternal expanse of snowclad peaks and azure skies. It is of this latter class that I would speak. Many of our parks are truly vast in area, encompassing within their boundaries innumerable wonders. To reach these the tourist, upon arriving at the park, must hire saddle animals, pack animals, a guide, cook, and other help. The expense of such an outfit is prohibitive to all but the wealthy. Those who have waited and saved their money are denied the fuller enjoyment of our parks, for they can not bear the expense of transporting their supplies over the trails. There is but one solution of the problem of caring for this class of tourists, and that is the establishment of small inns at convenient intervals, so that tourists may travel the trails afoot, purchasing their provisions and other necessities as they go. As you are aware, the first steps in an effort to bring about such a condition have been taken in Yosemite National Park. If this work is carried through a blessing will have been conferred upon those whose lack of money has shut them from the greater part of our national parks. It will also be, in my opinion, the most potent factor in retaining, through the medium of our parks, a material percentage of tourist travel and will necessitate a careful consideration of the problem of a general policy. Any plan, however, which may be devised for the management of our national parks should not be predicated upon the assumption that their function is solely to accommodate and retain our tourists in this country. A GENERAL POLICY. A policy to be efficient must be functional. One for the parks, therefore, must take into consideration the distinctive characteristics of national parks which, as before stated, are relative to the furthering of a national patriotism, public knowledge and health, and tourist travel in the home land. Upon consideration it will be seen that the first two follow as a natural consequence of the last. In the consideration of a general policy we are concerned primarily, therefore, with tourist travel. To foster tourist trayel it will be necessary to develop the roads, trails, and other accommodations in the parks to a point where the traveler will not be subjected to serious discomfort. This means the expenditure of money upon, a larger scale than has been the practice heretofore, and the first question that should be settled is, What shall be the source of supply? There are but two practical sources from which funds may be secured, namely, by Federal appropriation and by revenues from the parks themselves. Both resources are now resorted to, each of which is inadequate. If the Federal Government is to support the parks then they should be operated so as to make the cost to the tourist as low as possible. If not, then the various sources in the parks themselves should be developed sufficiently to supply the needed money. The sources of revenue from the parks fall into four classes: 1. Automobile permits. 2. Concessions of various kinds. 3. Receipts from public utilities operated by the Government, such as light, telephone, etc. 4. Natural resources, such as timber, stone, fuel, etc. Of these four sources it will be seen that they may all be classified as taxes in proportion to the benefit received rather than the ability to pay. An analysis of this character may help in the decision of the policy to be pursued, but it can do no more. The decision must be made in the light of public needs, and the park supervisors should know whether they are to develop the park revenues to their maximum or whether the park is to be administered at the lowest possible cost to the tourist. If the question of finances were settled, in so far as the source is concerned, and a well-crystallized policy looking toward the development of the parks along lines that will foster the increase of tourist-travel in this country is established much of the delay and confusion in the field will be eliminated. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE. There has heretofore been no service to which the duty of administering the national parks has been delegated. The work has been done by a small and inadequate force in your office, the members of which have had their regular departmental duties to perform and have given such time and overtime as has been possible to the park work. Upon your recommendation Congress has recently enacted a law (Public, No. 235) establishing the National Park Service. This act provides for the appointment by the Secretary of the Interior of a director, assistant director, chief clerk, and other employees of the National Park Service, and puts under the director, subject to the supervision of the Secretary, the supervision, management, and control of the national parks and monuments and of the Hot Springs Reservation in Arkansas, which have heretofore been administered by the Interior Department. The act also provides that the Secretary may make rules and regulations for the use and management of the reservations and prescribes punishment for the infraction of such rules and regulations; it also gives power to the Secretary to grant privileges, leases, and permits for the use of the lands, for the accommodation of visitors in the reservations, for periods not to exceed 20 years and for areas not to exceed 20 acres in any one place, and to grant grazing privileges in any of the reservations except the Yellowstone National Park when such use of the lands does not interfere with the primary purpose for which the park was created. This act, however, carried no appropriation for the organization of the service and no such appropriation has as yet been made. Each of the national parks has been created by a law differing more or less from the law creating each of the other parks, and heretofore they have been administered as individual reservations with no particular relation to each other. This method of handling the parks has, for reasons that are quite apparent, been both inefficient and unsatisfactory. The work of administering the national parks has been intrusted to the Department of the Interior. On June 5, 1914, you appointed Mark Daniels, a landscape engineer, of San Francisco, Cal., general superintendent and landscape engineer of national parks, and on December 9, 1915, he resigned to continue his private business. On December 10, 1915, I was detailed from the United States Geological Survey to the department as Superintendent of National Parks. This park, besides its geysers, has many hot springs, which build YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK. THE HIGHEST WATERFALL IN THE WORLD-THE YOSEMITE FALLS. This park, in addition to its celebrated Yosemite Valley and |