Indiana Dunes A Signature of Time and Eternity: The Administrative History of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

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Increases in visitation can probably be attributed to two basic reasons. First, we have greatly increased our "image" through activities such as the urban initiative efforts, increased participation in the Folk Festival, the new transportation program, etc. Secondly, the increasing costs and lowered supply of fuel have made a visit to Indiana Dunes more attractive to regional visitors.

Superintendent J. R. Whitehouse explaining the "extraordinary increases" in Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore visitation during 1979. [1]

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Operations, 1977-1979

1977

Under provisions of the 1976 expansion bill, eight new permanent, full-time positions were filled to bring the park employee total to twenty-seven full-time, five part-time, and thirteen subject-to-furlough. The eight new positions were two supervisory park rangers (one for law enforcement, the other for interpretation); supply clerk; maintenance mechanic foreman; administrative clerk; two park technicians (one for law enforcement, the other for interpretation); and a tractor operator. To coordinate research and help perform two studies required in the 1976 bill, Senior Scientist William H. Hendrickson transferred from the Midwest Regional Office to Indiana Dunes. There were eighty-four seasonal employees to round out the staff.

In March 1977, the Division of Interpretation and Resource Management split into two separate entities: Resource Management/Visitor Protection and Interpretation. Each new division increased by three employees. New facilities for interpreters and rangers to operate included the West Beach bath house and Bailly Homestead/Chellberg Farm structures and trails. Environmental education, an on-going popular program, could only accommodate sixty percent of the requests from schools. With priority given to schools with environmental education programs, 201 groups composed of 9,336 students were served in 1977.

The year saw the completed interior renovation of the visitor center. With the popular Harpers Ferry Center-designed museum exhibits, the visitor center also featured an information desk and sales area. Unfortunately, because of the need for office space, the Eastern National Parks & Monument Association (ENP&MA) sales space had to be appropriated and ENP&MA used a double-faced rack in the lobby for an interim reported. Fee collection began for the first time in the national lakeshore at West Beach on July 18, 1977. A user fee of one dollar per automobile was implemented with only slight difficulties.

In the Maintenance Division, the Buildings and Utilities subunit oversaw a total of forty-two structures: fourteen quarters, fourteen historic structures (including those at the newly-acquired Chellberg Farm), and fourteen other buildings including those at West Beach and the visitor center. The Grounds subdivision maintained four interim picnic areas and cleaned five miles of beach of an increasing number of alewives. With a four-person mowing crew, it also cut eighteen acres of grass and eight miles of roadside. The Roads and Trails unit maintained twelve miles of trails with the three-person crew while four people tended to eight parking areas. The unit also maintained the lakeshore's growing arsenal of mechanical equipment.

Guidelines for energy conservation, developed in the mid-1970s, were surpassed each year as the lakeshore continued to expand and evolve. In only a few years, the number of employees, equipment, and vehicles had more than doubled while buildings and facilities had tripled. With annual growth unabated, it was impossible to impose energy consumption constraints on the national lakeshore.

The park's second residential Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) camp operated under contract with George Williams College of Downers Grove, Illinois. Forty enrollees and a staff of twelve engaged in maintenance, conservation, building demolition, and historic restoration projects.

In a similar vein, Congress authorized the national lakeshore to operate a Young Adult Conservation Corps (YACC) camp of up to one hundred enrollees. The program, implemented by various agencies in the Departments of Interior and Agriculture, was designed to employ young adults and help reduce the backlog of needed work projects on public lands. Eligible candidates between sixteen and twenty-three years of age had to be referred through the state employment services offices. YACC tackled many of the same tasks which YCC enrollees performed. Indiana Dunes hosted one of the Park Service's twenty-seven authorized YACC camps with Assistant Superintendent Don Castleberry serving as park project manager. Castleberry oversaw YACC camp director Jon Evans and an annual project budget of one million dollars. While the Indiana Dunes YACC camp was one of the first to become operational in October 1977, by the end of the year, fifty-three people were enrolled and a staff of six, out of an authorized total of fourteen, administered the non-residential camp. [2]

The Indiana Dunes Land Acquisition Office devoted considerable attention to acquiring the large tracts of open land owned by industry which were included in the 1976 expansion bill. Because industry cared very little that indiscriminate off-road vehicle (ORV) usage and dumping was occurring, the Park Service acquired most of the properties by declaration of taking in 1977. With immediate jurisdiction over the abused areas, rangers increased patrols in order to discourage adverse activities. To curb ORV usage, the lakeshore erected barriers at all access points. With no funds to purchase barriers, the park staff improvised and devised ingenious barricades. Old railroad ties were used from abandoned rail lines within the lakeshore's boundaries, and thick steel cable came from the periodically replaced elevator cables inside the Gateway Arch at Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, Missouri. With a determined program in place and the seizure of one vehicle, the word locally spread that ORV use and dumping were not to be tolerated. Local residents aided the lakeshore's enforcement program considerably by immediately reporting incidents. [3]

Completion of restoration work on the Bailly Homestead chapel, caretaker's cabin, and fur storage building resulted in an official complaint from the Midwest Regional Office to the Denver Service Center (DSC). A DSC professional oversaw a local contractor's execution of the restoration effort which proved to be less than satisfactory. In some places, telephone poles were used as replacement logs. The tell-tale stenciled identification numbers were plainly visible to visitors as was the creosote preservative which had begun to bleed from the logs. The color and texture of the poles failed to blend with the existing historic fabric. On the cut ends, power chainsaw marks were covered by a light gray paint or wood stain in an effort to "age" the new materials. Regional Director Merrill D. Beal admonished, "We request that more consideration and thought be given to the type of materials and techniques used in the restoration of our historic structures." [4]

In an effort to mitigate the impact on the historic scene, the Denver Service Center arranged with the contractor to scrape off the creosote and cleanse eight telephone poles which were used in the chapel reconstruction. Steps to shroud the southeast corner with vegetation and move the audio/visual stations back from the structures were also taken. Chainsaw markings and "aged" areas on the ends of logs were removed by using a handsaw to resaw the offensive surfaces. The time and attention DSC devoted to the Bailly structures resulted in the first Historic Structures Preservation Guide (HSPG) prepared in the Midwest Region. [5]

On January 17, 1977, Superintendent J. R. Whitehouse joined local residents in testifying before a hearing of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). The Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad petitioned the ICC for clearance to terminate passenger service between Chicago, Illinois, and South Bend, Indiana. Whitehouse addressed the need for railway passenger service in the long-range transportation plans of the national lakeshore.* Striving to save the last electric interurban railroad line in the United States, a group of residents formed to boost passenger use by publicizing recreational events along the route. The group especially targeted recreational opportunities in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes State Park. A tremendous impetus to the campaign came in October when National Park Service Director William Whalen rode the train from Chicago to the National Lakeshore to address the Save the Dunes Council's twenty-fifth anniversary dinner. Upon receiving increased government subsidies, the South Shore Railroad subsequently withdrew its petition. [6]

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*Superintendent Whitehouse believed reliance on mass transit to the Lakeshore was not practical because of the public's strong tie to the automobile. During the 1970s and early 1980s, visitors destined for the lakeshore on the South Shore Railroad did not exceed one hundred per day. Whitehouse interview, 12 March 1987.

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An operations evaluation report conducted from July 21 to 27, 1977, saw many improvements since the last evaluation in 1974. The six-person team included Dave Lane, Superintendent of Pipestone National Monument; Betty Webster, Personnel Specialist and Hal Garland, Chief, Division of Contracting and Property Management, Midwest Regional Office; and Hugh Beattie, Tom Weeks, and Betty Readnour from the Midwest Region's Office of Operations Evaluation. Of principal difficulty was the lack of mid-level supervision and the ineffective utilization of manpower. The report stated, the "evaluation and control of operations is extremely lax especially in the area of effective manpower utilization. [We] observed repeated instances of over-staffing, questionable personnel assignments or priorities, lackadaisical work ethics, and misguided or misdirected priorities."

The report held that the sixty-three-acre Goodfellow Camp, acquired from the Illinois Steel Company Welfare Association, was too dilapidated to be used by the national lakeshore and should be evaluated through a recreational feasibility study. It also drew up a new organization chart for the Maintenance Division, thereby equitably distributing supervision duties. The team praised the "professional and creative manner" in which the management staff handled delicate, external affairs. The team saw little need for the lakeshore to generate an aggressive publicity campaign because of the intensive media scrutiny already experienced on a daily basis. It accurately stated, "Indiana Dunes gets more than its share of attention in both the public and political arenas." [7]

1978

In 1978, the Interior Appropriations Bill featured an add-on clause authorizing five additional permanent positions for Indiana Dunes. Three persons joined the newly-formed Science program led by Dr. Bill Hendrickson,* Chief Scientist, and two rangers improved the Lakeshore's law enforcement capability. The establishment of a Science Office, headquartered at the Rostone House in Beverly Shores, reflected the concern of Congress (specifically Representative Sid Yates) that the Park Service should have its own expertise to research and monitor environmental conditions in the ecologically delicate dunelands. It now had the capability to monitor air and water quality as well as conduct its own resource-related research projects and oversee contracts for other scientific studies. Indiana Dunes thus became the only unit in the National Park System to have both an air and water resource specialist. Efforts concentrated on Cowles Bog, the centerpiece of the Service's opposition to Bailly I. The continued growth of the Park Service force brought the total of permanent positions to twenty-nine, permanent less than full-time to twenty-seven, and seasonal employees to ninety-one.

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*Dr. Hendrickson's research indicated Cowles Bog was not a bog at all, but rather a fen. A fen is different from a bog in that a fen has water flow into it, while a bog does not. Hendrickson's position infuriated environmentalists whose own case rested on the premise that Cowles Bog would be neutralized by acidity. By disputing the "bog" designation, many believed the Chief Scientist was trying to cheapen or nullify their argument. Denouncing Hendrickson as a tool of industry, environmentalists worked to have him transferred, a move blocked by Superintendent Whitehouse. Nonetheless, it was Hendrickson's efforts in proving NIPSCO's dewatering was also pumping water out of Cowles Bog that produced the greatest blow against Bailly I. See Whitehouse interview, 11 March 1987.

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In early 1978, after serving at Indiana Dunes for four years, Assistant Superintendent Don Castleberry transferred to the superintendency of George Washington Memorial Parkway. Entering on duty July 16 was Castleberry's successor, Dale B. Engquist, a native of Chicago, schooled at the University of Illinois. Engquist, a career employee for fourteen years, previously served as a Park Naturalist for the National Capital Region, Chief Naturalist at Hot Springs National Park, Assistant Chief Naturalist/Management Assistant at Everglades National Park, Superintendent of Biscayne National Monument, and New Jersey Unit Manager of Gateway National Recreation Area. Before arriving at Indiana Dunes, Engquist was a trainee in the Department of the Interior's Management Development Program.

In Interpretation, the number and variety of programs totaled 486 with 15,088 visitors, a fifty-six percent increase. The "Families to the Park" program in conjunction with the city of Chicago brought an average of fifty people each weekend to the lakeshore via the South Shore Railroad. Visitors rode a bus to the Bailly Homestead for an interpretive program and then proceeded to West Beach for an afternoon of swimming. On July 15, the Lakeshore for the first time helped sponsor the Duneland Folk Festival in cooperation with community groups at the Bailly Homestead. The festival featured crafts, traditional music, and dancing. The environmental education program also registered an increase in visitation, four percent, with 250 programs. Only a disappointing six percent of that total, however, originated from nearby Gary, Indiana. [8]

The lakeshore's first newspaper appeared in March 1978. The Singing Sands Almanac was the brainchild of Acting Chief Interpreter Neil King, who the previous year devised a poster called the Singing Sands Almanac that included an article on the lakeshore and an interpretive schedule of events. Upon Chief Interpreter Larry Waldron's arrival in June 1977, the two journeyed to the Government Printing Office in Chicago to explore options in publishing a regular periodical. Adapting the format of a U.S. Air Force newspaper, the first issue, edited by Park Ranger Jean Doyle, featured Mount Baldy. No one at the time dreamed the Almanac's gratis mailing list would soon soar to ten thousand people across the nation. [9] Almost overnight the Singing Sands Almanac began to have a dramatic impact on lakeshore operations. Not only did the publication give the park a higher profile in the community, it kept the local population informed as to lakeshore planning, programs, and special events. The newspaper soon became a household word. [10]

In Resource Management and Visitor Protection (RM&VP), the positions were arranged as follows: Chief Ranger, Secretary, Protection Specialist, Resource Management Technician, West District Ranger (who supervised the Marquette and West Beach Subdistrict Rangers), and East District Ranger (who oversaw the Headquarters, Island, and Pinhook/Rookery Subdistrict Rangers). Thanks to the Maintenance and YACC staff, the Bailly Ranger Station became operational and an open house was held on May 18. For the first time a central dispatch provided twenty-four-hour service throughout the summer and sixteen hours during the remainder of the year. Resource management specialists began studying the historic occurrence of fire in the dunes ecosystem before initiating any management program of prescribed and controlled burns. After several negotiating sessions, Governor Otis Bowen granted the National Park Service concurrent criminal jurisdiction on May 20, 1978. Advisory Commission members John Hillenbrand and Bill Lieber were instrumental in obtaining Indianapolis' approval. Applicable only to Federally-owned lands within the national lakeshore, Park Service rangers were authorized to enforce State and local laws.

Receiving input from district rangers, a sign committee formed to evaluate park signing needs. Completing an inventory of 1,500 signs, the committee authorized an additional 460-four hundred boundary and sixty off-road vehicle signs. Directional signs to the Bailly Administrative Area were also installed on U.S. 12 and 20 and Mineral Springs Road.

The similarities between the YACC and YCC programs resulted in a management decision to cancel YCC for 1978 and the near future. The YACC program saw an enrollment of eighty-five at Indiana Dunes. Six staff members served at the lakeshore and six others served at satellite YACC camps in four Midwest Region parks: Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, and Voyageurs National Park. YACC workers completed thirty-three projects ranging from Mount Baldy road resurfacing, park road maintenance, cleaning Kintzele Ditch, and initiating the West Beach Trail. In the late fall, however, a Federal hiring freeze resulted in staff and enrollee cutbacks with a corresponding curtailment of operations. During the winter, YACC workers performed projects for surrounding communities, including the rehabilitation of the Beverly Shores Town Hall.

The Maintenance Division maintained a total of fifty-two structures. Workers renovated the Furnessville maintenance area to accommodate the Buildings and Utilities shop which relocated from State Road 49 and U.S. 12. The Roads and Trails subdivision redesigned and enlarged the Mount Baldy parking lot from twenty to forty-nine spaces and installed a security fence. With the increase in facilities and winter activities, snow plowing and removal became a primary undertaking. The demolition and site restoration program saw 552 structures removed from the lakeshore during the year. [11]

An inspection of the Coronado Lodge by the State Fire Marshal on July 14, 1978, resulted in the identification of numerous fire code violations. Operating as an American Youth Hostel (AYH) under a special use permit issued on March 1, 1974, Coronado Lodge repair estimates surpassed $100,000. On August 1, Superintendent Whitehouse notified the AYH operator of the decision to close the Coronado Lodge. Moreover, Whitehouse and Midwest Region officials were unwilling to authorize health and safety renovations until the need for hostels could be outlined through the planning process. (Although the 1980 General Management Plan identified the need for hostels, Congress failed to appropriate rehabilitation funding for Coronado Lodge and the lakeshore officially canceled the special use permit in 1981.) [12] Accessibility was one of the factors. Hostel patrons were almost totally dependent on automobiles to get to the Coronado Lodge as the area had no immediate rail or bus service and bicycle trails were not yet developed. [13]

On June 28, 1978, Congress authorized a declaration of taking for 632 acres of duneland in the west end of the lakeshore that was owned by the Inland Steel Company. Trespass activities of off-road vehicles (ORVs) adversely impacted the tract. Park Service rangers took immediate steps to halt the adverse ORV use by constant patrols and the issuance of dozens of citations. YACC workers installed barricades at popular access points. The Science Office initiated remedial actions to augment the natural healing process. The incident provided additional evidence that ORV usage was incompatible with the purpose and programs of the national lakeshore. [14] On July 22, the city of Porter passed an ordinance annexing 2,000 acres to the east and north of the town, including 900 acres within the national lakeshore south of the Dunes State Park and north of Chesterton. A Department of the Interior solicitor opined that the ordinance involved jurisdiction rather than ownership. While the town had the right to annex property within the lakeshore, its action could not interfere with the National Park Service's right to manage the area. Superintendent Whitehouse determined the move would have no effect on the Service's mandate or management practices. [15]

1979

Six new permanent full-time positions were filled during the year with three coming in the Division of Interpretation. This came in large part as a result of efforts by Congressmen Adam Benjamin and Sid Yates. Subsequently, at a meeting with Park Service Director William Whalen and Midwest Regional Director Jimmie Dunning, Save the Dunes Council President Charlotte J. Read noted that visitation surpassed the one million mark in 1978, and the Lakeshore still had only two permanent full-time interpreters out of an authorized ceiling of five. The Council believed ten more positions were needed to "meet the demands of expanded urban programs and the growing needs of school groups in the surrounding metropolitan areas."* Read spoke from experience, having once worked as a seasonal interpreter. Bringing the interpretive staff up to its authorized five positions during the governmentwide hiring freeze required a special dispensation from the Carter Administration. Another new position was that of Park Planner (filled by Steve Whitesell) to work closely with the Superintendent on planning and public involvement. [16]

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*Save the Dunes Council unsuccessfully lobbied for a Communities Council similar to the one at Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area near Cleveland, Ohio. The move came out of the Council's long-standing belief that it lacked sufficient input on the Advisory Commission. Nothing came of the proposal. See Whitehouse interview, 12 March 1987.

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Visitation nearly doubled in 1979: 2,016,791 compared to 1,031,307 in 1978. The explanation for the "extraordinary increases" included new environmental education programs, the success of special populations programs, the popularity of park folk festivals, and the short supply and rising cost of gasoline.

On June 18, the national lakeshore's administrative headquarters relocated to the newly renovated Bailly Administrative Area (the former NIKE base) at 1100 North Mineral Springs Road in Porter. [17] The move significantly improved park operations by alleviating the egregious over-crowding at the Tremont visitor center. The facility not only physically pulled together park staff, but put a more polished, professional face on the national lakeshore.

During the summer, three Congressionally-mandated transportation programs began at Indiana Dunes under a new transportation authority granted to the National Park Service. The Visitor Access Transportation Systems (VATS) began with an April 5 notice in the Federal Register. Three lightly-attended public meetings were held to explain VATS which was a scheduled weekend system of twelve-passenger vans providing connections between the South Shore Railroad stops in the lakeshore to lakeshore facilities. A lack of publicity, however, prevented the full success of two other services under the VATS program: a connection of the Gary bus system to West Beach and the Michigan City bus system to Mount Baldy. The only successful part of the program was the shuttle system carrying people from the South Shore Railroad stops to the park. The service helped to boost weekend use of the railway.

With a coordinated program of planning and community liason, the lakeshore achieved the control of illegal ORV use in the West Unit.

The Science Office, completely staffed and armed with a credible laboratory in the Rostone House, began its environmental monitoring activities. In April, an ambient air monitoring program started with the installation of a continuous sulfur dioxide monitor in the Bailly area. In October, scientists placed a similar device near Dune Acres. Particulates, ozone, and acid rain were evaluated by the monitors and found to be within acceptable limits determined by the Environmental Protection Agency. The national lakeshore program became a component of the National Atmospheric Deposition Network which tracks acidity and trace elements in both precipitation and dry deposition. [18]

Air quality was also involved in the obnoxious odors emanating from the Continental Can Company plant near Dune Acres and Bethlehem Steel. A burnt solvent smell was particularly strong during the winter months wafting over Cowles Bog. A visit from lakeshore personnel brought a claim by company officials that their incinerator was operating normally, yet the odors persisted. Service officials charged the unpleasant odors detracted from the outdoor park experience. The lakeshore's Air Quality Specialist determined the pollution was indeed the result of faulty equipment and was at levels far beyond State regulations. An appeal to the Chicago office of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) brought EPA concurrence with the finding. Superintendent Whitehouse succeeded in convincing Indianapolis officials to act swiftly, sending warning letters to the company. With the threat of litigation, the company corrected the problem. [19]

Aside from the increased staff in the Division of Interpretation, a Public Activities Subdivision formed separate from the Environmental Education program to handle school groups. Program attendance climbed dramatically as participation in the third annual Duneland Folk Festival more than tripled in 1979 with 21,953 people. Cosponsored with the Westchester Public Library, the event extended from seven to nine days and on the final weekend, more than 12,000 people gathered at the Bailly Homestead. A new program known as "Maple Sugar Time" held at the Chellberg Farm also brought increased participation as did the "Autumn Harvest" where more than one thousand visitors enjoyed square dancing, sorghum pressing, applehead doll making, pumpkin carving, and other activities. A biweekly guest lecture series on a wide range of topics enjoyed similar crowds. Senior citizens were encouraged under a special July program to visit on Fridays when a total of fifty elderly people were treated to a day in the dunes. A special publicity campaign of distributing Indiana Dunes buttons and plastic beach bags also helped to bring visitors to the national lakeshore.

Interpretation's Environmental Education Subdivision became an annual program in 1979. Contacting 10,000 visitors in 1978 on a part-time basis, the Environmental Education Specialist, Lead Technician, and experienced environmental education seasonals contacted 33,000 visitors in 1979. The Lutz House became the Environmental Education Center with school groups, teachers, and other organized groups being served there. The subdivision organized new community outreach programs, various winter activities, and bilingual programs.

Supplemental staffing for these programs came from the lakeshore's mushrooming Volunteers In Parks (VIP) program. VIPs could not be paid a salary, but travel expenses and lodging could be provided, and the VIPs could use the park's three dormitories. VIPs allowed the Service to expand its program as well as to begin new ones. The effort reaped tremendous public relations benefits. It allowed local citizens to feel a part of the lakeshore's operations while interacting with the professional staff, thus giving the often controversial park a more positive public profile.

The Maintenance Division carried on with no major changes in 1979. [20] Its operations were augmented by the assistance of the YACC camp. When the Midwest Region eliminated the three-mile West Beach Trail from the Regional construction program, it became a YACC project. [21]

Denver Service Center Historian A. Berle Clemensen completed the national lakeshore's Historic Resource Study in February. The document provided a general history of the dunes, including site specific information and data for the development of interpretive exhibits and programs. [22]

As early as March 1978, the Michigan City Board of Works approved the sale of Mount Baldy to the national lakeshore. The Land Acquisition Office prepared the proper forms for fee acquisition and the transaction was approved by Director Whalen, Secretary of the Interior Cecil B. Andrus, and the Office of Management and Budget. [23] The Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies of the U.S. House of Representatives, however, advised the Department of the Interior on July 21, 1978, that it would not approve acquisition except by donation. Whitehouse's efforts since 1972 to acquire Mount Baldy were hampered by the city's request to be compensated for the acquisition. After the denial by the Congressional Committee, Whitehouse continued to negotiate with the city. Partly in exchange for Whitehouse's commitment to arrange to perform certain services such as cleaning Kintzele Ditch, the city eventually agreed to donate the land at no cost to the National Park Service. [24] The dedication ceremony took place on February 17, 1979, when the mayor of Michigan City presented the Mount Baldy deed to the Park Service, represented by Superintendent Whitehouse and Director Whalen. [25]

The dedication of the Hoosier Prairie National Natural Landmark and State Nature Preserve took place on June 3, 1979. The largest tract of native prairie remaining in Indiana, the Department of the Interior designated Hoosier Prairie a National Natural Landmark in 1974 and it became officially registered in 1978. Indiana purchased 304 acres of the prairie in 1976 with the help of the Hoosier Prairie Committee, Nature Conservancy, Save the Dunes Council, Izaak Walton League, and other conservation groups. The Indiana Natural Resources Commission designated it a State Nature Preserve the following year.

The Hoosier Prairie ceremony took place on thirty-one acres owned by the national lakeshore. Dedication speakers included Natural Resources Director Joseph D. Cloud, Superintendent J. R. Whitehouse, Lt. Governor Robert D. Orr, Save the Dunes Council Executive Director Ruth Osann, and Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service Associate Regional Director Dave Shonk. State plans included fencing the area and building an interpretive trail with limited parking and an interpretive facility. In cooperation with the Park Service, the Indiana divisions of Nature Preserves and Forestry planned a controlled burning program to regulate the invasion of woody plants and to help the growth of native prairie vegetation.[26]

Yet another significant ceremony came on October 10, 1979, in the Department of the Interior auditorium in Washington, D.C. Sylvia Troy of the Save the Dunes Council received the Department's Conservation Service Award, the highest honor the Department bestows on private citizens. The award recognized Mrs. Troy's years of dedicated service in the preservation of natural resources in northern Indiana. [27]

West Beach Dedication

Because West Beach construction had not been completed within schedule,* the Department and Service postponed the original dedication ceremony, September 11, 1976, in favor of a time when all construction activity ceased. That day came on May 21, 1977, with Congressman Floyd J. Fithian serving as the principal speaker at the one-hour ribbon-cutting ceremony. During his dedicatory speech, Fithian appropriately paused for a moment of silence in memory of Dorothy R. Buell, founder and first president of the Save the Dunes Council. Mrs. Buell, who died four days previously at her home in San Jose, had moved to California for retirement in 1968. The facility first accommodated the public at the end of the 1976 visitor season when fees were collected.

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*An intense, Save the Dunes Council-led battle several years earlier prevented the Service's attempt to reprogram funds—including those for West Beach—to develop the "National Visitor Center" in Washington, D.C., in time for the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial. The Council blocked the effort with the assistance of Congressman Sidney Yates and Senator Birch Bayh. See Charlotte Read interview, 22 September 1987.

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The significance of the opening of the long-awaited bathhouse was profound. The two million dollar project represented the first national lakeshore development for public use. Complete with parking for 600 cars and forty buses, the modern building featured showers, lockers, and a food service concessioner. [28] Not since the bathhouse at the Dunes State Park opened in the 1930s had such a grand public facility appeared on Indiana's lakeshore.

Of the forty-four rangers in the Visitor Protection Division, twenty-four employees were assigned to the West Beach area. This number included thirteen lifeguards. An attempt by Congressman Fithian to beef up the law enforcement capacity with a $140,000 add-on appropriation failed. [29]

The Bailly I Nuclear Debate

In the mid-1970s, an anti-nuclear movement formed in the Indiana Dunes with the Porter County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, the Save the Dunes Council, and other area conservation and liberal groups at its core. With the addition of the American Friends Service Committee and the United Steelworkers Local 1010 representing 18,000 workers at Inland Steel Company the coalition formed into what became known as "the Bailly Alliance." [30] The Bailly Alliance was a vocal citizens lobbying group diametrically opposed to the Northern Indiana Public Service Company's (NIPSCO) construction of Bailly I adjacent to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The Bailly Alliance remained an separate entity from the Joint Intervenors and the Concerned Citizens against the Bailly Nuclear Site, although in some cases membership overlapped. While the latter groups concentrated almost exclusively on legal avenues, the Bailly Alliance focused on mobilizing public opinion against the proposed nuclear plant.

On August 27, 1976, the Joint Intervenors filed a writ of certiorari (review) before the U.S. Supreme Court. Joined by the Attorney General of the State of Illinois and the City Attorney of Gary, the Intervenors charged NIPSCO's proposed construction would damage Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (renamed from the Atomic Energy Commission) had no authority to license a plant which would intrude on national park lands. At issue was the Department of the Interior's legal authority over the area. On November 8, the Supreme Court denied the petition and construction began in earnest in January 1977.[31]

In 1977, the U.S. Geological Survey began two studies to determine the effects of the NIPSCO construction activity to water quality and dewatering of the National Lakeshore. Joining the Park Service as partners in the study were the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. Issues to be investigated included ash pond seepage, groundwater alteration through plant construction, fly ash disposal, heavy metal accumulations, and effects on flora and fauna. [32] Numerous monitoring stations were placed along the dike which separated the ponds from Cowles Bog.

Based on data from these scientific studies and a request from Congressman Sidney Yates (Democrat-Illinois), Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus conducted a review of the Bailly I controversy. While questioning NIPSCO's site selection, Secretary Andrus decided against asking the NRC to revoke Bailly I's construction permit. He pledged to remain vigilant in monitoring any harmful effects from the construction activity and to seek mitigation through the courts or Congress. In a June 13, 1977, letter to NIPSCO Chairman Dean H. Mitchell, Andrus declared:

We are prepared to seek a halt to construction or oppose the issuance of the requisite operating license if the facility will cause injury or damage to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Though we appreciate the need generally for future energy supplies, we are not bound by the previous decisions of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the prior Administration. We have a responsibility, which we are and shall continue pursuing, to preserve the integrity of the national lakeshore. [33]

Andrus also informed Mitchell of the recurring seepage onto National Lakeshore lands of approximately one million gallons of water a day from the ash settling basins of the coal-fired Bailly plant. The ash basin seepage flooded a marsh area creating ponds which maintained a constant water level. Andrus stated that the interdunal pond water in the flooded area was "very like that of your ash settling basins." Secretary Andrus continued:

These are unnatural conditions created as a result of seepage from activities outside the park which cannot be tolerated. We believe that NIPSCO has knowingly permitted this untenable condition to persist for a number of years.

The National Park Service has registered three written requests with NIPSCO seeking to have this seepage terminated. It is now time for affirmative action to be taken in halting this condition. I am insisting, therefore, that within the next 60 days your company agree to a firm plan and timetable by which the ash settling basin seepage into the lakeshore will be permanently terminated. [34]

Andrus asked that NIPSCO submit a draft plan and timetable to the Park Service within thirty days. If there was no satisfactory response from NIPSCO, Andrus promised to seek legal action from the Department of Justice.* In conclusion, Andrus disavowed any special working relationship NIPSCO developed during the Ford Administration:

I understand that following a July 30, 1976, meeting between you and former officials of this Department, certain working relationships were established between the National Park Service and NIPSCO and that NIPSCO was assured a "formal" right of appeal to this office from any staff recommendation for the initiation of legal action against the company. These arrangements have not made measurable progress in resolving the seepage problems and have been misconstrued. It is necessary and desirable, therefore, to dissolve any previous understandings reached by the Department, and the National Park Service with NIPSCO as to these arrangements. In the future, representatives of the National Park Service, the Solicitor's Office, and the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks will have the full responsibility and support of this Department in protecting and preserving Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. [35]

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*Nat Reed downplayed the significance of the arrangement: "It was a hand-shake agreement. It didn't really have to be an agreement because any decision the Assistant Secretary makes is appealable to the Secretary anyway. They made much to do that I was making decisions with [Director George] Hartzog in relation to Bailly that created new policy without review by the Secretariat. I was the one who said, 'Listen, any decision that I make that you want to appeal, go appeal it to Morton.' Knowing full well that Morton was not going to overturn me on something like that." See Reed interview, 9 March 1987.

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Negotiations between NIPSCO and Service representatives on the fly ash seepage controversy continued until September 14, 1976, when the Department of the Interior asked the Justice Department to file an injunction against NIPSCO. Expressing the position of the Department, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Robert L. Herbst declared:

The operation of the power generating facilities and the present construction at the Bailly site are causing an undue and unnecessary adverse impact on the National Park. Engineering solutions which can remedy this situation are available at costs reasonable to the power industry. We think that [NIPSCO], like responsible citizens, should share the responsibility for protecting and preserving those areas set aside as national parks for the use and enjoyment of all the citizens of the United States. We are, in short, simply asking NIPSCO to be a good neighbor and go about t its business in a way that is not harmful to the park. [36]

The Department stated it would oppose Bailly I if pending studies revealed additional negative effects. In addition, Interior requested that it be supplied with a copy of the evacuation plan which detailed how visitors to the national lakeshore would be informed and evacuated in the event of an emergency. Interior wanted the report, which NIPSCO would not be required to submit until the plant was ready to come on-line, as soon as possible in the interest of visitor safety and security. [37]

In his first visit to Indiana Dunes, Director William J. Whalen was impressed with its beauty and uniqueness. In a speech to the Save the Dunes Council, Whalen said the impending lawsuit could be a test case in resolving future threats to other units of the National Park System:

Due to its proximity to one of the world's largest industrial complexes, Indiana Dunes faces serious threats to its integrity and well being. Such threats are not unique to Indiana Dunes, but few other parks in the System have such significant, fragile, natural features so imminently threatened. Recent...legal action to protect the park is indicative of our commitment. A massive and almost unprecedented research effort is being put together at Indiana Dunes to assure that we are able to identify and deal with adverse impacts from activity outside the boundaries. Indiana Dunes may well prove to be a model for such efforts as other parks are threatened in the future. [38]

Buckling under the threat of litigation, NIPSCO signed an agreement with the Service in late February 1978 to seal its fly ash basins within thirty-two months. Drafted by the Department, the agreement, estimated at ten million dollars to implement, provided for a three-stage process to correct the problem. The company agreed to convert to a dry system to handle its fly ash, to install a waste water treatment plant, and to lay down vinyl liners beneath all four of its industrial ponds. [39]

NIPSCO's difficulties with Bailly I were far from over, however. In 1977, construction stopped after NIPSCO discovered it could not reach bedrock upon which the massive concrete plant could rest. Nevertheless, NIPSCO applied for and received Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approval to install shorter pilings. The outraged Joint Intervenors filed another lawsuit citing the measure constituted a risky safety violation. Steelworkers were angry that neither NIPSCO nor NRC considered them population centers (more than 25,000 people) even though they numbered over 100,000 and worked at the steel mills in continuous shifts. Because of this, no adequate evacuation plan had been devised for them in the event of an emergency. Bethlehem Steel Company union members were angered by what they derisively termed the "suicide squad," a provision in Bethlehem's evacuation plan for specified workers to stay behind for more than a week in order to cool down the massive coke ovens. Union rank and file wanted no part of it and affirmed its support for the Bailly Alliance. Coupled with the March 28, 1979, nuclear accident at the Three Mile Island reactor in Middle town, Pennsylvania,* duneland tensions rose to peak levels as citizens considered the possibility of similar equipment failures and human error at Bailly I. [40] Litigation and engineering problems with the pilings kept construction at a standstill throughout the remainder of the 1970s.

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*The 1979 Three Mile Island (TMI) incident represented the worst commercial nuclear accident in United States history. A series of equipment failures and human error led to a loss of coolant and a partial core meltdown. NRC later reported that TMI came within one hour of a catastrophic meltdown. While some radiation escaped into the atmosphere, health experts determined risks to the population were minimal.

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A December 1979, "State of the Parks Survey" summarizing threats included a lengthy narrative on Indiana Dunes which cited noise, air, and water pollution problems. The report stated:

Unless some form of enlightened land use development control can be brought about in the several municipal jurisdictions which border the lakeshore, the trend of residential, commercial, and industrial growth will continue at every point along its tortuous and extensive boundary. More and more of the character of this park will be swallowed from without. Concerns like those associated with the Bailly Nuclear generating facility will increase. These include: 1) aesthetic intrusion; 2) the possible disruption of park hydrology during construction and thereafter; 3) thermal loading into Lake Michigan or the park air shed; 4) some interaction between factors associated with new and existing industrial plants; and 5) possible infringement on park visitor use patterns. Additionally, after the accident at Three Mile Island, it is now more tenable to propose the possibility of harm to park biota and park visitors from minor or catastrophic radiation leaks. [41]

The summary of threats also included ozone levels detected at various times above national air quality standards. Acid rain and sulphur dioxide levels also worked insidiously on park biota. Run-off from an Indiana Toll Road salt storage pile, used in de-icing roads in winter, contaminated lakeshore creeks and ditches and caused scientists to worry about impacts to the delicate ecology of Pinhook Bog. [42]

At the park level, the infant Science Office was feverishly conducting environmental monitoring projects as well as contracting out for various research needs. Superintendent Whitehouse and Chief Scientist Hendrickson worked closely together, constantly feeding new information to the Washington Office. Whitehouse maintained an open door policy, meeting with both Bailly I proponents and opponents—making his own personal anti-Bailly I views known—but leaving policy statements to the Regional Director, Director, and Secretary. [43]

Dunes Expansion Hearings Continue

P. L. 94-549, signed by President Ford on October 18, 1976, amended the 1966 organic act in several substantial ways. The 1976 bill added more than 3,700 acres to the national lakeshore, raised the land acquisition ceiling to $60,812,100, and extended the lakeshore boundaries 300 feet into Lake Michigan. It repealed the suspension of the Secretary's authority on condemnation and established a maximum of twenty years for rights of retained use and occupancy, excluding the Markowitz Ditch area. The Advisory Commission found its membership expanded from seven to eleven members. Congress asked for the submission of a new General Management Plan by October 1, 1979, and in the interim fixed the park's development ceiling at $8.5 million. It authorized the acquisition of the Crescent Dune area within a two-year period, favored a cooperative agreement for the protection of "Crossing A," and prevented acquisition of portions of Unit 1-E (solid waste disposal areas) unless their reclamation came at no cost to the government. The 1976 act called for the Park Service to conduct feasibility studies on three proposed additions (III—A/Beverly Shores Island; II—A/NIPSCO "greenbelt"; and III—C Beverly Shores Parkway) to be submitted to Congress by July 1, 1977. [44]

Since 1971, bills to rename the park the "Paul H. Douglas Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore" confused and slowed down the process of lakeshore expansion legislation. With the initiation of the Carter Administration in 1977, the renaming issue resurfaced with the Advisory Commission yet again recommending against it in favor of a visitor center or auditorium named after Douglas. [45] Representative Sid Yates led the movement in the House to rename the national lakeshore, introducing an amendment to the National Park Service Omnibus Bill in July 1978 which was later removed during the House and Senate conference committee hearings. Separate bills calling for the redesignation were introduced. As early as 1977, the House Interior Committee called for naming a unit of the park and an environmental education center for Paul Douglas. Congressman Floyd Fithian favored following the formula used at Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park where the unit was dedicated to the memory of former Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas in recognition of his outstanding contributions there. The Save the Dunes Council worried that until the controversy was resolved, expansion legislation to absorb areas omitted from Douglas' earlier bills would most likely not be passed. [46]

In January 1978, Superintendent Whitehouse met with Service and Department officials in Washington, D.C., to formulate a position on expansion and brief the legislative staff of the Indiana Congressional Delegation. The official stance was strictly "hands off"; the Department would only offer recommendations because it was up to Congress ultimately to decide. The following month, Indiana Senators Birch Bayh and Richard Lugar, sponsors of S. 2560, proposed the addition of 800 acres, including the Beverly Shores Island, NIPSCO greenbelt, and Beverly Shores Parkway (a fifty-six-acre parcel surrounding U.S. 12). The bill reinstated the homeowners provisions of the 1966 act, including exemption from condemnation and the twenty-five-year use and occupancy rights. It also provided life estates, granted the government the right of first refusal on any land purchases within the lakeshore, authorized $250,000 for a transportation access study, and raised the development ceiling to $10.5 million. [47]

Expansion plans were further clouded on May 23, 1978, when Indiana Congressman Adam Benjamin introduced a bill to build a $25 million marina adjacent to Gary's Marquette Park. Backed by Gary's mayor and business community, the Park Service-owned and operated marina would provide complete harbor facilities for the national lakeshore. Benjamin's bill stipulated that the state highway would be extended to service the marina and that the Advisory Commission would be expanded by two to include additional representatives from Gary and Michigan City. The marina was the brainchild of Gary's mayor, Richard Hatcher. Alarmed by his city's economic decline, Hatcher believed the marina would rejuvenate Gary's dying downtown. From the start, however, Interior Appropriations Committee Chairman Sid Yates opposed it. On the marina question, the Department advised Congress to defer the matter until the completion of the General Management Plan. [48]

In August 1978 hearings before the Senate and House subcommittees, Park Service Deputy Director Ira Hutchison testified on S. 2560 and its counterpart, H.R. 11110, sponsored by Floyd Fithian. Hutchison recommended deferral of action on Indiana Dunes during 1978 while the Alaska parks bill took shape "to avoid assuming commitments and making promises that we may not be able to meet financially." Hutchison advised against the NIPSCO greenbelt addition because its principal value as a buffer against industrial development was already being served, as witness to the NIPSCO agreement to clean up the fly ash ponds. Preservation and/or restoration of the heavily impacted area would also be very difficult. Liberalizing homeowners' rights was also discouraged by Hutchison who asked that the condemnation authority not be abridged. He declared: "in view of the relatively small size of this park unit and number of potential visitors it must accommodate, it would be unwise and unfair for all concerned were Congress to reestablish the practice of permanent inholdings." [49]

None of the aforementioned bills were reported out of committee before Congress adjourned on October 15, 1978. [50] The new bills, S. 599 and H.R. 1742 dropped immediate acquisition of the ninety-acre NIPSCO greenbelt because of Senator Richard Lugar's opposition. Lugar heeded NIPSCO's concerns that acquisition would jeopardize the construction of Bailly I, a point refuted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Nevertheless, the greenbelt could be acquired after 1985 when the plant would be on-line. Additionally, before acquisition, the Park Service would have to prepare plans for restoration of the area. [51]

In May 1979, Deputy Director Ira Hutchison testified yet again on the bills. Hutchison deferred to Congress on the issue of dedicating the lakeshore to the memory of Senator Paul Douglas. Hutchison repeated the Service's support for the U.S. 12 parkway to protect the principal access route from commercialization. Significantly, for the first time the Service favored the inclusion of the Beverly Shores Island. [52]

In a 1979 meeting with Save the Dunes Council Executive Director Charlotte Read and Illinois Democratic Representative Sid Yates, Congressman Phillip Burton (Democrat-California), chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Parks and Insular Affairs, scrutinized a map of proposed expansion areas parcel by parcel. Burton was especially interested in an open area adjacent to Beverly Shores which Read explained was a golf course being considered for a new housing development. Burton expressed his intention to include the tract in the expansion bill. Read discovered that in the subsequent drafting of the new provision, the former golf course was earmarked to become a campground, supposedly to alleviate the heavy pressures on the Dunes State Park campground. [53]

Another round of hearings came in September. The following month the House passed the expansion bill, but the Senate failed to act on it by the conclusion of 1979. [54]