Farragut State Park Continues To Improve

I like to chat with Randall Butt, the manager of Farragut every once in a while. Today I asked him what the construction near the Brig Museum was all about, plus the ditching. He went on to describe the water system as it exists and how it will be after the work is done.


I learned that there are eleven wells in the park of which only five are in use.Bayview Water & Sewer use two, the park uses two with one in reserve. The other six wells have no pumps and some are in use by the Idaho Department of Water Resources evaluating the aquifer.  Two of them were drilled by the Scouts for their Jamboree many years ago.
  

Currently, the ditching and cleared area along Hwy 54 near the brig museum is for a new well and pump house being installed for backup during peak periods of use and as the winter service well.


Another subject that seems to get homogenized when reported on or spoke to is the tree thinning program. First, there is no plan nor has there ever been a plan to clear cut the trees in the park with the few exceptions such as the one at the viewpoint. The fear the park has is that there hasn't been a wildfire since the big one in 1910 in the park, nor do they want one with the crowded weed like seedlings and trees growing many feet high and only inches around.The park is attempting to take it back to where nature left off, keeping in mind that when the naval base was built, the terrain was bulldozed flat, gravel was brought in by the truck loads for parade grounds and what was there in timber, was milled and used in building the structures.A thinning process is ongoing similar to the fire safe program you see from the park west on both sides of Hwy 54.


Sure the density of tree canopies will temporarily be thinner, but the healthier trees will spread more root system which will also produce more above ground growth . This is an on going process weighing many different uses, as well as tree growth. Those that hate to see any trees cut at all have formed extreme positions They must understand that Farragut State Park is a multi-use facility for the enjoyment and use of a wide range of interests. It is not, nor was it ever intended to be a wilderness Area usable for only hiking.