ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER: IDENTIFYING TRENDS IN HISTORJC FIRE LOOKOUT PRESERVATION THROUGH SELECTED CASE STUDIES AND A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
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Date
2013-06
Authors
Hill, John Peregrine
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Although time, weather, and the lack of public visibility present great challenges in the
preservation of historic fire lookouts, other issues such as preservation policy and incoherent
trends in lookout preservation contribute to the vanishing state of these purpose-built structures.
Not only do fire lookouts represent a brief historical period where men and women actively
occupied thousands of remote stations throughout the country, but they also convey the
subsequent decline of fire lookout observation, culture, and preservation. At the beginning of the
21 " century, many of the remaining fire lookouts are disappearing into the landscape as both
limited federal funding, and the lack of preservation attention, creates conditions which promote
lookout deterioration and neglect.
This study chronicles both past and present patterns in lookout preservation while
exploring and developing historic preservation approaches in order to further promote future fire
lookout preservation. A collection of statistical data has been analyzed in order to identify and
quantify fire lookout typology, rarity, and vulnerability based on a set of predetermined
parameters. Selected case studies will provide a narrative element to the statistical analysis, and
provide support for the hypothesis that certain fire lookout building construction types fair better
than others. Lookout case studies and examples include fire lookouts from two states (Oregon
and Washington), though field research and site visit documentation has also been conducted in
five (California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Arizona).
Description
108 pages
Keywords
historic preservation, fire lookout, Pacific Northwest, historical archaeology, wildland fire suppression, wildland fire history