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Branch of Forestry and Vegetation Management Records
SEKI
22368
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Table of contents
Title: Branch of Forestry and Vegetation Management
records
Dates: 1897-2005
Bulk Dates: 1987-2002
Collection number: SEKI
22368
Creator:
Sequoia National Park (Calif.). Division of
Forestry and Vegetation Management
Collection Size:
13 linear feet
Repository:
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Museum and Archives.
Three Rivers, CA 93271-9700
Abstract: Records generated within the organizational divisions of
Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park concerning the branch of Forestry and Vegetation
Management.
Physical location: Sequoia Kings Canyon National Parks. Ash Mountain
Headquarters, Archive.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English
Collection is open for research by appointment.
Many collections are former federal government records and are in the public domain.
Other collections are from private sources; copyright has been transferred to the
NPS on most. Some collections have publication restrictions. Staff will assist
researchers in determining copyright status of selected materials. Researchers are
required to properly credit all materials used. The researcher assumes
responsibility for acquiring copyright permissions when needed.
Branch of Forestry and Vegetation Management records, SEKI 22368. Courtesy of the
National Park Service, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.
The collection came from the files of Tom Warner, the park forester for Sequoia and
Kings Canyon National Park, and covers the years 1897–2005 with the bulk of the
files dating from 1987–2002.
Biography / Administrative History
Sequoia and Kings Canyon were the second and fourth national parks to be established
by the federal government, in 1890 and 1940 respectively. The park’s superintendent
began dealing with the intricacies of park resource management by the 1930s. Sequoia
National Park, under the direction of park superintendent John R. White, was one of
the first parks to face issues associated with the collective effects of development
and visitation on the park ecosystems. The federal government established Kings
Canyon National Park as a separate park from Sequoia, but for the bulk of its
history, it has been administered jointly.
Originally the park services were split into three divisions: administration,
maintenance, and rangers. Rangers were trained how to do just about everything;
their responsibilities were very general. Then in the later half of the 20th century
the park service began refining the ranger division by pulling off groups of people
with increasingly specialized and professionalized skills into separate divisions.
Interpretation and resource management were two such divisions spun off from the
ranger division. It was not until 1976 that work functions drawn from throughout the
park’s administration were consolidated to officially establish the Division of
Natural Resources Management, including the Branch of Forestry and Vegetation
Management.
In 1926, the major fire that broke out in Glacier National Park inspired the park
service to create a forestry office, which was “the first formal organizational
designation specifically for natural resource management” (Sellars 1997, 83). Given
that Sequoia National Park was created to protect a species of trees, forestry has
been an important aspect of park operations. The primary functions of the Forestry
and Vegetation Management Branch are supervising tree crews in cutting down hazard
trees, coordinating timber sales, managing forest health projects, such as the
attempted eradication of dwarf mistletoe and white pine blister rust, supervising
soil and moisture crews in the preservation of meadows and the management of
grazing, coordinating crews in the construction and maintenance of fences, and
supporting revegetation and restoration projects.
The records amassed here were collected by Thomas E. Warner. Tom Warner has worked as
the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park forester since the late 1970s. The
forestry program has waxed and waned over the years, and with it, Tom Warner’s
responsibilities have fluctuated. The Forestry Division has continued to grow since
the first park forester was hired, but the principle responsibilities have remained
mostly intact.
Major projects included in this collection are the restoration of Giant Forest,
hazard tree mitigation, and forest health projects, such as dwarf mistletoe and
white pine bister rust.
Scope and Content of Collection
Overall, the collection is organized by various operational groups within the
Forestry and Vegetation Management Branch and individual files contain a full range
of record types. Such record types include: correspondence, reports, planning
documents, proposals, evaluations, contracts, guides, manuals, field data, surveys,
accomplishments, expenditures, photographs, negatives, and slides. Important topics
contained within this collection are the restoration of Giant Forest, hazard tree
mitigation, and forest health projects, such as dwarf mistletoe and white pine
blister rust.
Organized into VII Series: Series I Branch Wide Correspondence and Reports; Series II
Vegetation Management; Series III Hazard Tree Mitigation; Series IV Forest Health;
Series V Timber Sales; Series VI Meadow Preservation; and Series VII Photographs,
Negatives, Slides and Aerial Photos.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Sequoia National Park (Calif.). Branch of Forestry and Vegetation Management
Vegetation management
Forestry management
Timber sales
Central Files 1935 - 2001