1. Building a Lookout Tower Database at Forest, State or National Level. By Michael A. Pfeiffer Ozark-St. Francis National Forests

2. National Archeological Database

3. USDA Forest Service INFRA Problems – 1) FS land only, 2) FS employees only, 3) currently incomplete, 4) not user friendly, 5) all info such as pics must reside on a local computer drive.

4. Forest Fire Lookout Association http://www.firelookout.org/fflatowerhome.htm

5. National Historic Lookout Register http://www.firelookout.org/fflatowerhome.htm http://www.firelookout.net/

6. AMASDA (Automated Management of Archeological Site Data in Arkansas ) http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/archinfo/cspdatabases.html http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/archinfo/cspdatabases.html AMASDA is a set of databases containing information on archeological sites and projects in Arkansas. Development began in the late 1970's and since that time the Arkansas Archeological Survey has continually updated the information fields and the hardware and software platforms on which the system resides. AMASDA remains one of the most comprehensive archeological databases in the country. AMASDA presently contains four operational databases. The SITE FILES database contains approximately 150 information fields on nearly 40,000 archeological sites. The PROJECTS database has information on over 4,900 archeological projects. The CITATIONS database summarizes 4,800 archeological reports from Arkansas and about 2,000 regional reports. The RADIOCARBON database contains information on more than 500 radiometric assays on archeological specimens from Arkansas.

7. Tower Name Lookout towers are always known by a name which is usually, but not necessarily, the name of the mountain or ridge that they occupy.

8. Numerical Identification National Register of Historic Places National Historic Lookout Register State Site number

9. Ownership Owner Forest (BLM District Office) District (BLM Planning Unit or Field Office)

10. Date Information Date Built (if known) Date Torn Down (if known) Standing Sometimes it is only known if a tower is standing or down. Either a check mark or a date when field checked can be used. Down Sometimes it is only known if a tower is standing or down. Either a check mark or a date when field checked can be used.

11. Locational Information County Even states that do not assign state site numbers to all historical sites organize their site inventory systems by county. Map Name & Date USGS 7 ½’, Arkansas 1936 county maps, old Topo, Administrative maps, old pilot charts. Township, Range & Section Add ¼ of ¼ of ¼ if possible. UTM Easting and Northing. Latitude & Longitude. Not easy to determine in the field without a GPS unit.

12. Tower Information Station with no structure Tree Tower or Platform Cab on the Ground Tower height Tower material Log or steel

13. Tree Platform Lookout Museum, Spokane, WA

14. Cab on Ground Bee Mountain, Arkansas

15. Cab on the Ground Hanging Rock, Virginia

16. Cab on the Ground Sex Peak, Montana

17. Observation Tower Farris Mountain, Arkansas

18. Observation Tower McGowan Point, Arkansas

19. Tower Material – Log Pinkham Ridge, Montana, 1926

20. Tower Material – Steel Sugarloaf, Arkansas

21. Cab Live-in Cab designation. Some cab designations like L-4 has a different meaning in Region 8 of the Forest Service (Washington and Oregon) than it does in Region 3 (Arizona and New Mexico) Observation cab. Most lookout cabs were pre-manufactured 7’x7’ and the lookout lived in a house below the tower or drove to the tower site for work everyday.

22. Live in Cab Fairview, Arkansas, 1944

23. Fairview Tower site today, 3NW1161

24. Observation Cab with House Devils Knob, Arkansas

25. Notes Great space to add anything you want: such as references to published information, other map names, other tower number designations, alternate tower names, elevation, or new location of a moved tower.

26. Tower Spreadsheet Blank with Headings

27. Ozark-St. Francis Lookout Tower Spreadsheet

28. Sources of Information Government USDA R8 Regional Office Tower Plans http://www.fs.fed.us/database/acad/lt/ http://www.fs.fed.us/database/acad/lt/ USDA Washing Office Engineering Tower Plans http://fsweb.wo.fs.fed.us/eng/programs/fac ilities/std_plan/frlkout/index.htm http://fsweb.wo.fs.fed.us/eng/programs/fac ilities/std_plan/frlkout/index.htm Passport-In-Time http://www.passportintime.com/ http://www.passportintime.com/

29. Sources of Information National Associations Forest Fire Lookout Association Newsletter and web pages http://www.firelookout.org/http://www.firelookout.org/ National Historic Lookout Register web pages and regular articles in National Woodlands magazine http://www.firetower.org/ and http://www.nwoa.net/ Limited to standing towers.http://www.firetower.org/ http://www.nwoa.net/ Amateur Radio Forest Fire Lookout Association: http://home.comcast.net/~w7xaq/http://home.comcast.net/~w7xaq/

30. Regional Web Pages Rex’s Forest Fire Lookout Pages: http://www.firelookout.com/index.html http://www.firelookout.com/index.html Lookout Musuem (Spokane, WA): http://www.firelookouts.com/ and http://www.firelookout.org/ffmuseum.htm http://www.firelookouts.com/ http://www.firelookout.org/ffmuseum.htm Fire Towers of the Adirondacks http://www.gobacktothebasics.com/adiron dack_fire_towers_details_and_directions_ new_york_state.htm http://www.gobacktothebasics.com/adiron dack_fire_towers_details_and_directions_ new_york_state.htm

31. Local Associations Angeles National Forest Fire Lookout Association This is a partnership between the U.S. Forest Service Angeles National Forest and the Angeles National Forest Fire Lookout Association, a nonprofit volunteer organization: http://www.anffla.org/ http://www.anffla.org/

32. “Friends Of” Groups Limited to standing towers. Buck Rock Foundation: http://www.buckrock.org/ http://www.buckrock.org/ Azure Mountain Friends: http://azuremountain.org/ http://azuremountain.org/

33. Individual Web Pages Jeff Palmquist’s page on Osborne Fire Finders at: http://firelookout.org/firefinder.htm http://firelookout.org/firefinder.htm Rob Hoeye’s panoramic images, historic and current, at:. http://iamwho.firetower.org//osbornes/tryou t/index.htm http://iamwho.firetower.org//osbornes/tryou t/index.htm

34. Books on Lookout Towers Rex’s Lookout page at: http://www.firelookout.com/lobook.html A list of lookout tower books in a bibliographic list format. http://www.firelookout.com/lobook.html Ray Kresek’s book on the Fire Lookouts of the Pacific Northwest is a classic that is in its 3rd edition. He has also published Fire Lookouts of Oregon and Washington. A good list of available books for sale (and where to purchase them) on the subject of lookout towers can be found on the FFLA store web pages at: http://www.firelookout.org/store.htm. http://www.firelookout.org/store.htm

35. Books with Incidental Lookout Tower Information For The Trees (Bass, 1981) show a couple of lookout towers and one cabin view of a CCC enrollee using an Osborne fire finder. Arkansas People and Places (Schaffer, n.d.) can produce some information on the experiences of those who staffed the towers such as “Fire Tower Man - Lookout - On Duty 36 Years.”

36. Magazines and Newsletters FFLA’s Lookout Network Newsletter. FFLA Chapter Newsletters In-house Forest newsletters such as Ozark Newsletter from July and September 1911 which details the 7 towers going up that year. Preserving fire towers. Some articles are going up on the web such as this one from the Spokesman Review: http://www.firelookout.org/preserving-towers.pdf http://www.firelookout.org/preserving-towers.pdf “Advances in technology are making these giants a memory: The Fire Towers” The North Arkansas View (Anonymous, 1994).

37. What will this information allow you to do? List ALL towers – standing and down List all towers – recorded with a government entity or not Distribution across the landscape Help determine how many towers – standing or down - still need to be recorded. How did national programs such as the CCC help in tower construction and operation. Estimate the survival rate to determine how endangered the remaining sites are. Help determine NRHP eligibility qualifiers such as “uniqueness” or “best example of”. Assists in historical interpretation of other sites such as phone line and trails

38. Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas