DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL PARKS. 11 



ditions than now they will want to return year after year. There is 

 no national park better suited by nature for spending leisurely va- 

 cations. 



BANGERS TAKE THE PLACE OF SOLDIERS. 



On October 1 Fort Yellowstone, at Mammoth Hot Springs, was 

 abandoned by the War Department and the troops which for many 

 years have been guarding the park were withdrawn and sent back to 

 their regiments. The Interior Department sanctioned the removal 

 of this detachment upon the representation by the War Department 

 that its members were needed in their own regiments. A corps of 

 civilian rangers composed of especially selected noncommissioned 

 officers and privates, discharged from the Army upon request of this 

 department, was organized, and these men are now policing the park. 



The National Park Service could not have taken over the ad- 

 ministration and protection of this park had it not been able to 

 rely on its revenue fund to finance the transfer of guardianship. The 

 revenues of the park for the 1916 season were approximately $60,000, 

 of which slightly less than half were derived from automobile fees. 

 Last year the total revenues were $44,713. These figures clearly in- 

 dicate that only appropriations for improvements and new works 

 will be necessary hereafter. 



Col. Lloyd M. Brett, the commandant at Fort Yellowstone, 

 finished on September 30 six years of loyal and unselfish service as 

 acting supervisor of the park. In this position he performed duties 

 most important to the Nation at large, and he can not be too highly 

 commended for the success of his administration. 



Road construction and improvement in Yellowstone Park will 

 remain in charge of the Engineer Corps of the Army, but it is 

 believed that the general supervision of these improvements should 

 be exercised by the National Park Service. In view of the fact that 

 the roads in the park are being built for the department, some 

 voice should be had by us in planning these improvements. 



Before the opening of the 1917 season gateways should be erected 

 at the Yellowstone or western entrance, Cody or eastern entrance, 

 and Snake River or southern entrance. At the present time there 

 is nothing better than a post or two containing a multitude of 

 printed and typewritten notices to mark these points of ingress and 

 egress to the largest and best-known park in the Nation. 



GLACIER NATIONAL PARK. 



A GOOD SEASON AT GLACIER. 



While there were a few less visitors to Glacier National Park dur- 

 ing the season of 1916 than during that of 1915, the average time 

 spent by the individual tourists in the park was considerably longer 



