Administering the National Forests of Colorado: an Assessment of the Architectural and Cultural Significance of Historic Administrative Properties

Colorado currently has eleven National Forests and two National Grasslands. A total of 128 sites were visited in these Forests and Grasslands during the summers of 1993 and 1994. Most of these buildings were constructed by personnel from or associated with the Forest Service. A few were acquired by the Service prior to 1950 for administrative use, and a few have no historical association with administrative activities in the Forests but are owned and maintained by the Service. This report summarizes the results of the building and site inventory undertaken by the National Park Service, and offers preliminary recommendations of eligibility within the context of the administration and architecture of the United States Forest Service. This report is organized in such a way that it can be read as a complete document or used as a reference to obtain information about properties in a given Forest or at a specified site. The following section explains the procedures used to conduct the inventory and research and also makes explicit the methods used to establish recommendations regarding the architectural, cultural, and historical significance of these sites. An overview of the history of the Forest Service in Colorado is then provided to establish a context for the construction and activities that took place at these sites and to offer some quotable experiences of those who lived and worked at some of these sites. The third section of the report documents the history and development of the architecture of the Forest Service in Colorado. A discussion of the development of the function, style, and method of construction that defines these administrative sites and buildings is included. Lastly, a summarized catalogue of all evaluated sites is presented by Forest with emphasis on recommendations for eligibility status to the National Register of Historic Places. Detailed documentation of these sites and buildings with text specific to their history of construction can be found in the set of Colorado Cultural Resource Survey and Historic Building Inventory Record forms that accompany this report. Included in the tables in this section of the report are administrative sites previously determined eligible that were not visited as part of this project. These sites are included to make the document a more complete resource for facility and cultural resource managers. Finally, three appendices provide detailed information not included in the body of the report. Appendix A outlines the chronological development of the current Forests in Colorado; Appendix B consists of an explanation of the attributes and variables by which each site was assessed; and Appendix C is a comprehensive list of historical building plans known to have been used in the Rocky Mountain Region of the Service. Many of these remain on file at the Rocky Mountain Regional office in Denver. Since this report will be available to persons not familiar with Forest Service history and the Forests of Colorado, attempts have been made to explain the historical context in which these sites and buildings were evaluated while at the same time make it a report useful to a wide range of current and future managers.科罗拉多州目前下辖11处国家森林（National Forests）与2处国家草原（National Grasslands）。1993年与1994年夏季，研究团队在上述林区与草原范围内共计完成128处场地的实地调研。其中多数建筑由美国林务局（Forest Service）在职人员或关联机构承建；另有少量建筑于1950年前由林务局收购用作行政办公场地，还有部分建筑虽与林区行政活动无历史关联，但仍由林务局所有并维护。本报告梳理了美国国家公园管理局（National Park Service）牵头开展的建筑与场地普查成果，并结合美国林务局的行政管理与建筑体系，针对上述场地的遗产资格认定提出初步建议。 本报告的编排体例兼顾完整可读性与参考检索性，既可作为完整文档通读，也可用于查询特定林区或指定场地内的相关设施与资产信息。开篇章节将详述本次普查与研究的实施流程，并明确针对各场地的建筑、文化与历史价值判定建议的制定方法。该章节还将概述美国林务局在科罗拉多州的发展历程，为解读各场地的建造背景与过往活动提供语境，并摘选部分曾在这些场地工作与生活的人员的可供史料引用的经历。报告第三章将梳理美国林务局在科罗拉多州的建筑发展历史，同时探讨界定此类行政场地与建筑的功能、风格及建造工艺的演变脉络。最后，报告将按林区分类汇总所有评估场地的清单，并重点针对这些场地纳入美国国家历史遗迹名录（National Register of Historic Places）的资格认定提出建议。本报告附带的《科罗拉多州文化资源普查与历史建筑普查记录表》中，收录了各场地与建筑的详细档案，包括其建造历史的专项说明。本章节的表格中还纳入了此前已完成资格认定但未纳入本次调研范围的行政场地，以完善本报告对设施与文化资源管理人员的参考价值。 最后，报告的三个附录补充了正文未收录的详细资料：附录A梳理了科罗拉多州现有国家森林的沿革历程；附录B说明本次场地评估所采用的评估维度与变量指标；附录C汇总了已知的、美国林务局落基山区域曾使用的历史建筑图纸清单，其中多数图纸目前仍存档于丹佛市的美国林务局落基山区域办事处。 考虑到本报告的受众可能并不熟悉美国林务局的历史与科罗拉多州的林区概况，报告在阐述各场地与建筑的评估背景时兼顾了易懂性，同时力求为各类现任及未来的管理人员提供实用参考。