can justly be said that motorists visiting our parks have a right to demand from the Government, as they do, as good, if not better, roads in the national parks than are furnished by the States and counties as approaches to the parks, especially as the Government exacts an entrance fee from the automobile owners for using the park roads.

The greatest immediate need for permanent paving is found in Yellowstone, Yosemite, Crater Lake, and Mount Rainier National Parks, and in order to meet these needs I have incorporated in my estimates for the 1921 fiscal year items for starting the pavment of the most needed sections of the roads in Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Crater Lake Parks and for graveling and providing a sub-base for the pavement of roads in Mount Rainier Park, and I trust that Congress will realize the economic advantage and real necessity for this work. The annual cost of sprinkling and maintaining to a satisfactory standard certain sections of the heaviest-traveled roads in some of the parks will provide the interest on the cost of paving them, their maintenance expense after being paved, and establish a sinking fund to repay the indebtedness in from 20 to 40 years, at the same time adding to the enjoyment and comfort of travel and lessening the expense of those who will use the roads.

As will be noted in the following discussion of the activities of the National Park Service, there are a number of important new highway construction projects ready to be undertaken, all necessary surveys and estimates having been completed and approved. This is the time for the Nation to adopt a broad-guage road extension and paving program for the national parks, and I sincerely trust that it may be approved by Congress in connection with our budget for the next fiscal year.

GENERAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT.

Much important work has been accomplished during the past year in development and execution of general engineering projects under the direction of Civil Engineer George E. Goodwin. The general engineering division is charged primarily with the formulation of plans for new roads and trails, the gathering of all data relating to such projects, and the preparation of the same for the approval of the Service and final submission to Congress when adopted by the Service and the department. As necessity arises, however, engineering work is carried to completion by the civil engineer. Throughout the working season of 1918 he supervised the maintenance and improvement of the roads of the Yellowstone.

NEW ROADS PLANNED AND SURVEYED.

During the past year the most important project to be developed was that covering a transmountain road connecting the east and west sides of Glacier Park. The survey was undertaken during the autumn of 1918, and the project, with all quantities and estimates, was framed during the winter. It is now ready to submit to you for final approval as a part of the Glacier Park budget for the 1921 fiscal year.

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Another very important survey undertaken and now approaching completion is a part of a road project which contemplates the connecting of the Yosemite Valley with Tenaya Lake on the Tioga Road by a highway up the Merced Canyon to Little Yosemite Valley, thence along the route of the trail to Clouds Rest and Forsyth Pass, and thence along the upper reaches of Tenaya Canyon to the lake.

Of equal value from almost every standpoint is the survey of a road in Sequoia Park, which has just been completed. This highway will connect the road in the valley of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River with the Giant Forest and will ascend the steep slopes of the mountain of which the famed Moro Rock is the commanding feature. Construction work should begin on this road next year.

ENGINEERING STUDIES IN GRAND CANYON AND OTHER PARKS.

Reconnaissance and other surveys and preliminary examinations of prospective road routes were also conducted in Grand Canyon and Mount Rainier National Parks. A road along the rim of the Grand Canyon from El Tovar Hotel to Grand View is the important project of the former park, and in the latter a highway up the Carbon River to the mouth of the Carbon Glacier is the next improvement to be made.

Another proposed highway route examined by the general engineer is known as the Trail Ridge "Y" route in Rocky Mountain National Park. This road, when constructed, will leave the Fall River Road and run along the crest of the Rockies for several miles. At some future date it will be constructed down Windy Gulch to the lower levels of the park. Work on this road should begin next season.

ROAD PROJECTS OF THE EARLY FUTURE.

Among other projects to be surveyed and developed in the early future are the proposed highways to Fern Lake and Loch Vale in Rocky Mountain Park, and a road from Moraine Park to the region of Longs Peak post office in the same park; a road to the top of Mount Evans, if the territory including this mountain is added to Rocky Mountain Park; a road from Grayling Creek to the Madison River in Yellowstone Park, thus greatly improving access to the main highway system of this park from the Gallatin Valley; and new roads to Leigh and Jenny Lakes in the area proposed for addition to Yellowstone Park; a road to Diamond Lake from Crater Lake, in the event that the Diamond Lake region is added to Crater Lake National Park; and roads to Wetherill Mesa and to the Shiprock highway from the existing highway system of Mesa Verde Park.

TRAIL ROUTES EXAMINED AND BRIDGES DESIGNED.

Trail surveys and studies conducted by the general engineering division include several important projects in the Grand Canyon Park and in the Belly River district of Glacier Park. The most important engineering project completed under the direct supervision of this division during the year was the construction of the new road in the Gardiner River Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, thus eliminating the menace of a sliding hill which has endangered traffic in the can

yon for many years. Another valuable piece of construction work accomplished directly by the division was the installation of a water system in Muir Woods Monument.

Several very important bridges were designed by the division, and the projects were carried forward to the point of letting contracts for actual construction work. Among the bridges designed were the new Marble Fork Bridge for Sequoia Park and an under-pass bridge for Sylvan Pass, Yellowstone Park, to replace the well-known "corkscrew" bridge. Plans are now in course of development for a new bridge over the Flathead River at Belton at the western gateway to Glacier Park.

USE OF T. N. T.

Even in this brief discussion of some of our engineering problems in the national parks I do not want to overlook giving credit to T. N. T. for the splendid results which it has been possible to accomplish with this material. Of the great quantities of surplus explosives which the War Department had on hand at the close of recent hostilities, the National Park Service was successful in securing a considerable amount of trinitrotoluene, or T. N. T., as it is popularly called. This powder has been utilized for blasting purposes in road and trail building and the like and has given uniform satisfaction, besides effecting no small saving by making it unnecessary for us to purchase large quantities of dynamite and blasting powder as has been done in the past. Where justified, we have obtained quantities of T. N. T. for some of the parks suflicient to care for our needs for the next several years.

VALUABLE ENGINEERING WORK AND ADVICE.

I am greatly pleased with the accomplishments of the engineering division, and I feel that in establishing it for the purpose of planning new road and other development, and advising the park superintendents, as well as performing extremely valuable inspection service, the field force of the bureau has been greatly strengthened. On the other hand, the existing satisfactory method of managing the individual parks-that is, through centralizing all powers relating to administration, protection, maintenance, and improvement in the superintendents-has been constantly maintained.

LANDSCAPE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT ESTABLISHED.

In my last annual report I mentioned the appointment of Charles P. Punchard, jr., as landscape engineer in the field forces of the National Park Service. In recommending the establishment of the position of landscape engineer, I had some very definite objects. in mind as possible of attainment only through the advice and assistance of a man trained in landscape architecture and yet possessed of the ability and willingness to take a very practical view of the problems to be solved, and to attack them always with full appreciation of the limitations of the park appropriations and the relation of these problems to other features of improvement of the park system. Mr. Punchard has met the difficult requirements of the place and has already made his department one of the most important influences for the betterment of the national parks.

The landscape engineer devoted a considerable portion of the year to travel in the parks of the West for the purpose of studying their various types of scenery and analyzing in some detail the landscape problems that awaited early solution, while broadly observing conditions requiring treatment according to his advice in the more or less distant future. The parks visited during the year were Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountain, Mount Rainier, Crater Lake, Sequoia, General Grant, and Hawaii. Inspections were also made of Muir Woods, Casa Grande, Papago Saguaro, and Tumacacori National Monuments.

PERMANENT CAMP IMPROVEMENTS PLANNED.

In Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks several months were spent by Mr. Punchard in planning the location and development of permanent camps or the rehabilitation of existing camp systems. The rearrangement and the improvement of the big camps of the Yellowstone Park Camping Co. and the reconstruction of Camp Yosemite, owned by the Yosemite National Park Co., presented exceedingly important problems that are still receiving much attention.

The location and improvement of automobile camps for private motorists has been another extremely important task of the landscape engineer. During the year a complete camp system was outlined for Yellowstone National Park, and satisfactory progress was made on similar plans for several other reservations, notably Yosemite and Sequoia Parks.

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND PARK GATEWAYS.

One of the most complex problems of park development is that relating to the marking of park entrances with appropriate gateway structures. This landscape problem has been studied in a number of parks with very satisfactory results. Plans are now complete for several gateways that will be a distinct credit to the service. They will be entirely unique, yet as harmonious with their surroundings as any similar structures that I have seen. For some parks special appropriations must be secured before necessary gateways can be built, but I feel certain that the funds for these improvements will shortly be forthcoming. In all of my reports I have emphasized the advantages of the park gateway, not the least of which are the sense of pride and the thrill of pleasure that are inspired in the American tourist as he passes through imposing pillars or arches that announce to him that he is entering a great playground that belongs to him and to all America.

ATTRACTIVE BUILDINGS DESIGNED AND SITES SELECTED.

Besides the designing of gateways, it has been the duty of the landscape architect to plan employees' cottages, ranger stations, gasoline and oil stations, automobile checking stations, comfort stations, etc., or to criticize plans submitted by the superintendents for such buildings. Locations for buildings of all kinds, whether they are to be erected by the Government or by the business interests catering to the needs of the public, are selected by the superintendents of the parks in conference with the landscape engineer on the ground, and all timber of the parks necessary in construction of such buildings is selected and marked for cutting by these officers.

FORESTS AND LAKES RECEIVE SPECIAL ATTENTION.

The landscape engineer has also given his attention to forest improvement and vista thinning in certain parks with excellent results. Closely related to this is the problem of preserving stands of trees along highways crossing private holdings, the clearing up of brush. and down timber along roadsides, and the elimination of dead timber in flooded lakes, such as Lake Eleanor in Yosemite Park. These problems are especially hard to solve in some cases because of the expense involved in making the necessary improvements, and in others because of the lack of interest in this work on the part of private individuals or corporations possessing property rights in the park waters or along the roads, or positive unwillingness on the part of such parties to cooperate in any way.

STRICT CONSERVATION PRINCIPLES GOVERN LANDSCAPE BETTERMENT.

In all of our landscape work the guiding principle followed is that the natural conditions of the parks must be disturbed as little as possible consistent with necessary development in the public interest, and where such conditions have been unnecessarily or carelessly or wrongfully changed in the past they must be restored where this can be done, and in any case made less objectionable if restoration to a state of nature is impossible. This principle is a corollary of the governing rule in our general policy that "the national parks must be maintained in absolutely unimpaired form for the use of future generations as well as those of our own time.”

For lack of space I have only briefly discussed a few of the functions of the landscape engineering department, and have touched only two or three of the salient features of our landscape betterment program. The details are to be found in the report of the landscape engineer in Appendix B and in the reports of the superintendents of a number of the parks. They are worthy of careful perusal. It is desirable that the public know of this progressive and enlightened landscape work, and it is to be hoped that this work will be helped by the encouraging and assisting criticism of the people using the parks. Unfortunately there has been some recent adverse criticism of landscape conditions in the parks by tourists who know our policies regarding betterments, but who refuse to consider the practical difficulties in the way of accomplishing everything in a single year.

VALUABLE AID IN LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS.

Time and opportunity have combined this year to make it possible to give a great amount of consideration to the preservation and, in some cases, the restoration of the native landscape of the national parks. In this activity I have been fortunate in receiving the advice and assistance of several noted architects and landscape engineers. For instance, Mr. Charles Moore, chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts, accompanied me on a tour of inspection of Yosemite National Park and a part of the proposed Roosevelt National Park. On this trip his helpful criticisms were the source of inspiration and greatest encouragement to me.

Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted, former chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts and always interested in national park progress, visited