HIGHLIGHTS FROM OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK
A SOCIO-CULTURAL ASSESSMENT OF INHOLDERS
IN THE OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK - LAKE CRESCENT AND ELWHA VALLEY AREA
by Kent Anderson [1981?]
for the Institute for Human Rights Research, San Antonio, Texas.
- Promises made "Private land inside park no different than outside...Owner may farm it
cut timber...do what he likes, Interior Secretary Ickes" [p4]. And others [Chapter 2]
- Big changes affecting inholder - Park Service relations started with the flood of money
provided to the Park Service by the LWCF in 1965. Previous good relations turned
disastrous. [p5]. More false promises. Very important to document these false promises
as they are the first things received by unaware targeted landowners that loll them into a
false sense of security and inaction with the result that critical legal deadlines to protect
their rights may be missed. [Chapter 2]
- Friends of Lake Crescent a model for effective landowner action and organization. It was
one of the first inholder groups in the US and at one time had virtually 100% landowner
participation. [p6-7] [Chapter 2]
- NPS holds blitz "take em by surprise" field hearing, gives only 8 days notice. Friends of
Lake Crescent able to assemble 100 to testify. Important lesson that landowners MUST
organize ahead of immediate threat to be ready to respond to surprise tactics used by the
NPS. [p9] [Chapter 2]
- NPS tries to restrict who can buy your property. NPS superintendent says "You can pass
your property to your family but if we catch you trying to sell it to someone else we'll
condemn it." [p9] [Chapter 2]
- NPS declares that multiple lot ownership is one tract to them (even if taxed and legally
subdivided as multiple lots). This means that parents not allowed to give adjacent lots to
children for extra cabin construction. [p11, Chapter 2], [p22 Chapter 3, Fred & Helen
Radke]
- Son of near legendary first Olympic National Forest Ranger John Morgenroth remarks on
NPS destruction of visitor facilities [p14] [Chapter 3, John & Mary Morgenroth]
- Benefits to park resources and security of having inholders resident in the park. [p15]
- Federal government employee Don Jones contrasts NPS ways of dealing with people with
that of his agency, the Coast and Geodetic Survey. "Taxpayer comes first" but not with
the NPS. Also, even as a non-land owner, he served well as the first chairman of Friends
of Lake Crescent. [p15] Don & Francis Jones
- NPS "appraisal shopping" [p19] and low balling practices [p21, 22] Anthony Hoars, Barb
Bothen, John & Betty Halberg.
- Elected official chooses words carefully, "lying, harassment, dishonesty" applied to NPS
management practices. [p22] Fred & Helen Radke.
- Disastrous results in jury trials setting values after NPS Declarations of Taking. [p23, 24]
Terry (Severs) Norberg.
- Petition with 1,755 signatures against wilderness proposal logged in by NPS as "one
entry" while at the same time NPS recruits hundreds of high school students and boy
scouts to come and testify in favor of the wilderness proposal. [p25] Dr. Don Bettger.
- NPS ranger retires early. Says, when he began with the agency, "people meant
something". "I couldn't stand it any longer." [p29] Jack Nattinger.
PLEASE READ ON FOR THE COMPLETE REPORT!
A volunteer in Olympic National Park is currently converting this report to electronic format for the internet. Hopefully it will be available soon!