OMB Control Number 1024-0224
Capitol Reef National Park
Ranchers’ Interview Guide
Paperwork Reduction and Privacy Act Statements: The Paperwork Reduction Act requires us to tell you why we are collecting this information, how we will use it, and whether or not you have to respond. The data collected during the interview will assist mangers in understanding the history of ranching in areas in and around Capitol Reef National Park. Your responses are voluntary and anonymous. Your name and address will not be collected. At the completion of this collection all personal information will be destroyed and in no way be connected with the results of this survey. A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB Control Number.
Burden Estimate: We estimate that it will take an average of 90 minutes to complete this questionnaire. You may send comments concerning the burden estimates or any aspect of this information collection to the Social Science Branch, National Park Service, 1201 Oakridge Drive, Fort Collins, CO, 80525-5596; nps_nrss_social_science@nps.gov (email).
Capitol Reef National Park
Ranchers’ Interview Guide
Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview. The reason we are conducting an ethnographic overview of ranching and agriculture on Capitol Reef National Park (CARE) is to broaden and deepen the interpretation of past and present agrarian practices in the Park by documenting the cultural and ecological knowledge of the ranching community about the landscapes and ecosystems of Capitol Reef. The information, product and/or services identified and developed by this project will be employed to increase public awareness, knowledge, and support for the historic preservation and stewardship of historical and natural resources related to ranching and agriculture at the park.
How long has your family been ranching in and around the area that is now Capitol Reef National Park?
Did your family ranch or farm on Capitol Reef before it became a National Monument in 1937 and then a National Park in 1971?
When did your family begin ranching or farming in the region?
Did your family own any property in what later became Capitol Reef National Monument or Park, or were you ranching on allotments from the USDA Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)? Was your family ranching in the area before either of those two organizations came into being?
If you did own property, was it in the Fruita area or Floral Ranch area along Pleasant Creek? If so, did your family homestead or purchase homesteads there? If so, what type(s) of homesteads were they?
Did your family run cattle, or sheep, or both?
What cattle breeds did you run, and did that change over time?
What sheep breeds did you run, and did that change over time?
Did your family also plant crops or orchards? In the Fruita or Floral Creek areas? If so, what kind of crops or trees did you plant? Did you plant supplementary feed for your stock there? Did you plant supplementary feed for your stock outside the boundaries of Capitol Reef?
Was the agriculture primarily for your family’s own consumption, or did you also market some of what you raised?
If your family ran stock on Capitol Reef, did you run stock year round or only in summer? Winter?
Where on Capitol Reef did your family run stock?
What sort of cultural resources related to ranching did your family utilize in Capitol Reef: Line cabins? Corrals? Water tanks? Developed springs? Driveways?
What natural resources were important to your family’s ranching and agricultural operations in Capitol Reef?
What natural landmarks were important or well-known?
Did you water your stock from streams? Springs?
Did you develop water improvements like stock tanks? Drilling wells and pipe water? If so, were the wells wind-powered? Gasoline or diesel-powered? Solar powered?
Was water difficult to access on Capitol Reef?
Did the availability of water differ much from season to season? Year to year
Did your family also ranch on lands outside Capitol Reef? If so, on National Forest allotments? BLM grazing permits? Private lands? State Trust lands?
Did you drive your stock across Capitol Reef National Park to these other pastures? If so, where did you drive them?
Do you or did you have a grazing management plan? If so, was it rest rotation? Did you increase the number of pastures on your allotment(s) on Capitol Reef? By building new fences?
Do you or did you do range monitoring?
Do you or did you do prescribed burning? Brush clearing by another method such as mechanical removal or targeted herbicides?
What strategies did you adopt during drought years? Reduce stocking rates? Move your stock to other pastures? Provide supplementary feed? Develop new water sources?
How did your ranching operation change after Capitol Reef became a National Monument in 1937? A National Park in 1971?
How did your agricultural operation change after Capitol Reef became a National Monument in 1937? A National Park in 1971?
If you had allotments on Capitol Reef after it was taken over by the National Park Service, how large were those allotments and how important were they to your overall ranching operation?
If you don’t have an allotment now on Capitol Reef, when did you give up your allotments there?
If applicable, what was the process whereby you gave up those allotments?
Do you have a trailing permit on Capitol Reef now? If not, did your family have one in the past? Where does or did it allow you to trail?
What ecological changes have you seen at Capitol Reef during your lifetime?
How have your relationships with Capitol Reef NPS staff been?
In your opinion, how could relationships be improved?
Could you share the history of the allotments you currently use or used in the past? How was the right to graze transferred among permittees?
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Microsoft Office User |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-15 |