Erosion in the Roaring River District, Kings Canyon National Park: A pictorial review after ten years

Black, BW (1952) Erosion in the Roaring River District, Kings Canyon National Park: A pictorial review after ten years. Photographed in Park archives, Three Rivers, CA.

To: District Ranger Bechtel
From: Ranger Bruce W. Black.

Erosion in the Roaring River Section — A pictorial supplement to ” Study of Grazing Conditions in the Roaring River District, Kings Canyon National Park by: John E. Armstrong, District Ranger, 1941″.

During the 1941 season, John E. Armstrong, then district ranger of the Roaring River District, took certain pictures of grazing conditions and erosion problems then existing in that region and incorporated them in a grazing report. It was your desire to start a series of pictures taken every ten years of certain specified scenes or subjects. The purpose is to maintain a check on changing conditions. Knowledge derived from these comparative photographs will be a valuable guide in the future toward intelligently administering this area. You selected certain photographs from the Armstrong Report and during the 1951 season, I took pictures of the same scenes, so that now we have two series of pictures taken ten years apart. All of the pictures tell their story and the value of this project will increase with the years. Some few places seem to show improvement others appear to have remained static, and in many instances it will be seen that the meadows have suffered and deteriorated in the ten year interval just past. Before and after photographs of Soil and Moisture Conservation projects should prove informative. I have purposely avoided any lengthy commentary as this has been well taken care of in several past reports. Extensive background material covering erosion and grazing can be obtained by reading “A Study of Grazing Conditions in the Roaring River District, Kings Canyon National Park”, April 21, 1942 by District Ranger John E. Armstrong; also the “Special Report on Range Management and Wildlife Protection in Kings Canyon National Park”, May 23, 1941, by Regional Biologist Lower Sumner (especially pp. 189-214). Further information may be gained by reading “Erosion in the Roaring River District, Kings Canyon national Park — A check-up after Six Years”, November 23, 1947, by Regional Biologist Lowell Sumner. Pages four to six, inclusive, of the 1947 report contain a very fine but brief analysis of the problem as it then existed.