January 2023

By Ranger James

This photograph shows construction crews preparing an area to set box culverts. The culverts will elevate the road so that traffic can safely cross this creek in almost any weather.  Even though this creek typically has just a trickle of water flowing through it, these culverts will raise the road to about 15 feet above the creek bed. 

Those are large culverts!

Installing such large culverts may seem like overkill to many, but we chose these for several very good reasons.

One reason is that it simply allows the road to be flatter, which makes it easier to pull RVs across. However, the greater reasons deal with protecting people and protecting resources. This is the case with most of what we do.

In this case, the larger boxes allow for more time to evacuate the park in case of a flood event. The large boxes also allow for less restriction to the natural flow of water in this creek, even in a flood event. Less flow restriction means that flora, fauna, and other material can be carried more naturally through the area.

Dual purpose choices

Examples of this type of thought exist in other areas of our parks as well; from the placement of our campsites to the types of glass we choose for our buildings.

In fact, most of our rules and regulations serve this same dual purpose. Keeping pets on leashes helps keep them from harassing wildlife, and it helps keep them from being injured by other animals. Keeping vehicles on the pavement protects vegetation, mitigates harm to cultural artifacts, and helps prevent damage to vehicles. The list could go on and on.

Next time you are in a park I would encourage you to keep this in mind. Take a look around and try to see how some of these decisions were made. Think about why things are, where they are. What purpose do they serve and what can you do to promote that purpose? 

As always, if you can’t figure it out… ask a park ranger!