Background
Bishop Mountain Look was constructed between 1936 and 1938 by members of Company 2515 of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), based at Camp Porcupine (F-405), as a fire lookout for the United States Forest Service in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. [2]
When Franklin D. Roosevelt first ran for the office of President of the United States, America was in the midst of The Great Depression, with economic recovery uncertain. Roosevelt campaigned in 1932 on the promise, "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people." [3] The CCC, which operated 1933–1942, was part of his New Deal program, providing unskilled manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state and local governments. In Idaho, the CCC, employed 80,000 men, a larger per capita ratio than any other state. [4]
The 72-foot (22 m) steel construction fire lookout tower is topped by a steel cab manufactured by Aermotor Company of Chicago. It is situated at an elevation of 7,810 feet (2,380 m) on the summit of Bishop Mountain, an extinct volcanic vent on the rim of the Island Park Caldera. [5]
The log cabin was built as a 16'x24' one-room, screened-porch structure, with a "vault toilet" in a separate building. [6] The cabin, which has no running water, electricity, bed linens or other basic amenities, is currently available for rental through the National Forest Service. Much of the road access is paved with only gravel, and can only be accessed by snowmobile during many of the winter months. [7]
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. Robert Fechner was the first director of this agency, succeeded by James McEntee following Fechner's death. The CCC was a major part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal that provided manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state, and local governments. The CCC was designed to provide jobs for young men and to relieve families who had difficulty finding jobs during the Great Depression in the United States. Maximum enrollment at any one time was 300,000. Through the course of its nine years in operation, three million young men participated in the CCC, which provided them with shelter, clothing, and food, together with a wage of $30 per month.
Schonchin Butte is a cinder cone on the northern flank of Medicine Lake Volcano in the Cascade Range in northern California. Frothy lava, cooled in the air, created the large cinder cones throughout Lava Beds National Monument. It is named for Old Schonchin, a chief of the Modoc people during the late nineteenth century. Erupting more than 30,000 years ago, the volcano spewed ash and cinders into the air much like a can of soda when shaken. A lava spatter rampart is at the very top.
Petit Jean State Park is a 3,471-acre (1,405 ha) park in Conway County, Arkansas managed by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. It is located atop Petit Jean Mountain adjacent to the Arkansas River in the area between the Ouachita Mountains and Ozark Plateaus.
F.D. Roosevelt State Park is a 9,049 acres (36.62 km2) Georgia state park located near Pine Mountain and Warm Springs. The park is named for former U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who sought a treatment for his paralytic illness in nearby Warm Springs at the Little White House. The park is located along the Pine Mountain Range. The western portion of the park, formerly named Pine Mountain State Park, was named a National Historic Landmark in 1997. F.D. Roosevelt State Park is Georgia's largest state park.
Caribou–Targhee National Forest is located in the states of Idaho and Wyoming, with a small section in Utah in the United States. The forest is broken into several separate sections and extends over 2.63 million acres (10,600 km2). To the east the forest borders Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Bridger–Teton National Forest. Most of the forest is a part of the 20-million-acre (81,000 km2) Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Roosevelt State Park is a public recreation area located off Interstate 20 on the southwest side of Morton, Mississippi. The state park surrounds 150-acre (61 ha) Shadow Lake at the western edge of Bienville National Forest, between Jackson and Meridian. It is managed by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.
Oconee State Park is a state park located in the Blue Ridge Mountain region of South Carolina. This 1165-acre (472 ha) park has several recreational opportunities to choose from. They include cabins, camping, fishing and boating in the two small lakes located on the park grounds, hiking on eight nature/hiking trails, and several picnic and meeting facilities.
Watoga State Park is a state park located near Seebert in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The largest of West Virginia's state parks, it covers slightly over 10,100 acres (41 km2). Nearby parks include the Greenbrier River Trail, which is adjacent to the park, Beartown State Park, and Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park. Also immediately adjacent to the park is the 9,482-acre Calvin Price State Forest.
A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. The fire lookout tower is a small building, usually located on the summit of a mountain or other high vantage point, in order to maximize the viewing distance and range, known as view shed. From this vantage point the fire lookout can see smoke that may develop, determine the location by using a device known as an Osborne Fire Finder, and call fire suppression personnel to the fire. Lookouts also report weather changes and plot the location of lightning strikes during storms. The location of the strike is monitored for a period of days after in case of ignition.
McKenzie Bridge is an unincorporated community in Lane County, Oregon, United States, on the McKenzie River and within Willamette National Forest. It is along Oregon Route 126, about 53 miles (85 km) east of Eugene, between Rainbow and Belknap Springs. The McKenzie Bridge State Airport is about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of the community.
Kooser State Park is a 250-acre (101 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Jefferson Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The park, which borders Forbes State Forest, was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, who also built the 4-acre (1.6 ha) Kooser Lake by damming Kooser Run. Kooser State Park is on Pennsylvania Route 31 a one-hour drive from Pittsburgh. The park is surrounded by Forbes State Forest.
Douthat State Park is a state park located in the Allegheny Mountains in Virginia. It is in Bath County and Alleghany County. The park is 4,545 acres (18 km2) total with a 50-acre (20 ha) lake.
DeSoto State Park is a public recreation area located on Lookout Mountain 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Fort Payne, Alabama. The state park covers 3,502 acres (1,417 ha) of forest, rivers, waterfalls, and mountain terrain. It borders the Little River, which flows into the nearby Little River Canyon National Preserve. The 104-foot-tall (32 m) DeSoto Falls, the state's highest waterfall, is found in a separate part of the park 6 miles (9.7 km) north of the main park.
Moose Brook State Park is a New Hampshire state park in Coos County, New Hampshire in the United States. The park occupies 755 acres (306 ha) and sits at an elevation of 1,070 feet (330 m). The park, which was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression, was opened to the public in 1936.
Civilian Conservation Corps Camp in Koke'e State Park is located at Hawaii Route 550, in Waimea, on the island of Kauai, in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It was built in 1935 with lumber that was put into the saltwater and floated to the shore at Port Allen, the seawater adding a natural termite protection to the lumber. The camp was in continual use for forest management, until Hurricane Iwa devastated it in 1982. In the 1990s it was restored through the efforts of the non-profit Hui O Laka environmental group, and is currently open to the public. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Hawaii on December 20, 1996.
Architects of the National Park Service are the architects and landscape architects who were employed by the National Park Service (NPS) starting in 1918 to design buildings, structures, roads, trails and other features in the United States National Parks. Many of their works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and a number have also been designated as National Historic Landmarks.
The Lake Guerin Shelter Lookout/Cabin, historically the Lake Guerin West Shelter Cabin is a historic backcountry shelter in the Admiralty Island National Monument, part of the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. It is one of a number of such facilities built by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) on the Admiralty Island Canoe Route between 1933 and 1937. This cabin, a three-sided Adirondack-style log structure with shake walls and roof, was built in 1936. The cabin continues to be maintained by the Forest Service.
The Mitchell Bay Shelter Lookout/Cabin is a historic backcountry shelter in the Admiralty Island National Monument, part of the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. It is one of a number of such facilities built by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) on the Admiralty Island Canoe Route between 1933 and 1937. This cabin, a three-sided Adirondack-style log structure with shake walls and roof, was built in 1936. The cabin, situated overlooking a tidal flat near the head of Mitchell Bay on the west side of the island, continues to be maintained by the Forest Service.
The Mole Harbor Shelter Lookout/Cabin is a historic backcountry shelter in the Admiralty Island National Monument, part of the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. It is one of a number of such facilities built by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) on the Admiralty Island Canoe Route between 1933 and 1937. This cabin, a three-sided Adirondack-style log structure with shake walls and roof, was built in 1936. The cabin, situated overlooking a tidal flat near the head of Mole Harbor on the east side of the island, continues to be maintained by the Forest Service. It is accessible via water, or by a trail from Lake Alexander.
The Windfall Harbor Shelter Cabin is a historic backcountry shelter in the Admiralty Island National Monument, part of the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. It was one of a number of such facilities built by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) on the Admiralty Island Canoe Route between 1933 and 1937. This cabin, a three-sided Adirondack-style log structure with shake walls and roof, is located near the southern end of Windfall Harbor, an inlet on the east side of Admiralty Island. The shelter underwent repairs in 1986. The Forest Service is in 2014 in the planning phases of a project to relocate the cabin a short distance to move it away from a major bear travel path.
