View Full Version : Buzz Caverly resigns
Buzz Caverly, the long-time director of Baxter State Park, has announced that he will resign effective July 1,2005. Jensen Bissell will be interim director until a replacement can be choosen. Buzz has been a very strong and forceful presence in the Park and has made a significant impact on the AT community through some of his decisions and actions.
Doc
Although I respect Buzz and wish him well, I still think that it's a travesty that thru hikers, who haved walked 2100 miles to get to Baxter State Park, are relegated to the back of the bus, so to speak, when they get to Daicey Pond. What I mean by this is that the SUV crowd gets the front row seat at Daicey, their shelters/cabins right on the water, while the AT hikers are well away from the pond, back in the trees, well out of sight of Katahdin, the water, the loons, etc. What sense does this make?
I think Percival Baxter would feel that foot travel into the park should be rewarded, and car travel not. He's probably been rolling in his grave all these years...
Lone Wolf
06-23-2005, 07:39
Thru-hikers ain't special. They made a choice to walk 2100 miles. They can have the cabins on the pond too. Make reservations and pay like everybody else.
I disagree. Thru hiking is special. And a thru hiker's environmental impact on Baxter State Park is clearly less than someone entering by SUV. Thru hikers deserve a front row seat at Daicey Pond.
Lone Wolf
06-23-2005, 07:45
Buncha elitist BS.
Although I respect Buzz and wish him well, I still think that it's a travesty that thru hikers, who haved walked 2100 miles to get to Baxter State Park, are relegated to the back of the bus, so to speak, when they get to Daicey Pond. What I mean by this is that the SUV crowd gets the front row seat at Daicey, their shelters/cabins right on the water, while the AT hikers are well away from the pond, back in the trees, well out of sight of Katahdin, the water, the loons, etc. What sense does this make?
I think Percival Baxter would feel that foot travel into the park should be rewarded, and car travel not. He's probably been rolling in his grave all these years...
Hog, while I agree, as a community, we have brought this on ourselves. The boorish behavor of a minority has made this sort of thing a reality all along the trail. It's a shame really. My day spent in the library along Daicy Pond is one of my favorite memories of the hike. It's a shame that others won't be able to experience the view offered from that location. It was a great way to end the hike.
I gotta agree with LW on this one. Although a thru hike may be special to the hiker (disclaimer: I am a rather inexperienced hiker) it isn't special to everyone else. Should you get to tell the tourist at the vista, "Sorry, I'm thru hiker, so you are going to have to get out of my way so I can enjoy the view. I'm more important"? Clearly not.
It is true that an SUV has a greater environmental impact than a pedestrian, but so what? Should the strict LNT'ers be assigned the best campsite? If I even pack out my own waste, do I get the perfect view? I think LW's use of the word "elitist" sums it up.
Lone Wolf
06-23-2005, 08:05
Thank you hiker5. I've done 5 thru-hikes and I'm just hiker trash. Nothing special.
Alligator
06-23-2005, 08:13
When somone retires, it is respectful to put aside petty BS and provide positive reflections on his/her career. Buzz worked at the park for 46 years. While you may disagree with some of his actions, show a little class and either say something nice or don't say anything at all. :)
jeepcj258
06-23-2005, 09:02
When somone retires, it is respectful to put aside petty BS and provide positive reflections on his/her career. Buzz worked at the park for 46 years. While you may disagree with some of his actions, show a little class and either say something nice or don't say anything at all. :) Agreed!____
SGT Rock
06-23-2005, 09:12
When somone retires, it is respectful to put aside petty BS and provide positive reflections on his/her career. Buzz worked at the park for 46 years. While you may disagree with some of his actions, show a little class and either say something nice or don't say anything at all. :)
Outstanding sentiment, if you want to gripe about your treatment at the campsite start a new thread. Hats off to someone that has dedicated their life's work to keeping something like this going for us hikers!:cool:
Sgt Rock, I have to agree with you. I have started a new thread, as my feelings about Daicey Pond don't have much to do with the current thread.
I have great respect for Buzz Caverly and want to wish Jensen Bissell the best of luck.
TJ aka Teej
06-23-2005, 13:16
thru hikers, who haved walked 2100 miles to get to Baxter State Park, are relegated to the back of the bus, so to speak, when they get to Daicey Pond. What I mean by this is that the SUV crowd gets the front row seat at Daicey, their shelters/cabins right on the water, while the AT hikers are well away from the pond, back in the trees, well out of sight of Katahdin, the water, the loons, etc.Those shelters are long gone, Hog. There's a new area on the tote road just south of Katahdin Stream Campground. I made a reply in your new thread about this.
As far as Buzz Caverly's retirement, I wish him all the best, and thank him very much for taking great care of Governor Baxter's marvelous gift to the people of Maine. The AT users are losing a great friend of the the Trail, and will not see his equal at Baxter Park evr again.
Buzz Caverly, the long-time director of Baxter State Park, has announced that he will resign effective July 1,2005. Jensen Bissell will be interim director until a replacement can be choosen. Buzz has been a very strong and forceful presence in the Park and has made a significant impact on the AT community through some of his decisions and actions.
DocBuzz is one cool cat....
I disagree. Thru hiking is special. And a thru hiker's environmental impact on Baxter State Park is clearly less than someone entering by SUV. Thru hikers deserve a front row seat at Daicey Pond.Horsecrappy. Thru Hikers are people just like the people who may have driven 5000 miles to get there.....no dang different. the world is not going to put on a parade for ya pal if you just happen to have hiked the entire trail, pat yourself on the back and accept praise from your friends and family and be content with that....
I'm going to stick my oar in on this one since I grew up in Maine and spent most of my life there. Buzz Caverly's greatest legacy will likely be that major development of the park didn't occur during his watch. Over the years, considerable pressure has been applied by various interest groups to allow more hunting, private camp leases, less rustic facilities, snowmobiles on some trails, and even ....:eek: .....special treatment for AT hikers!
Among other things, Caverly led the effort to terminate private camp leases in the Park in the late '60's. Prior to this, Kidney and Daicey Ponds were run as full-service camps by concessionaires and people who weren't staying there couldn't access those areas AT ALL. The camps largely catered to an upper-crust clientele most of whom came from out of state. They had white-linen dining rooms, indoor plumbing, and guide service. These uses were outside the scope of Baxter's wishes so they were eliminated when the current leases expired and the facilities then converted to more primitive self-service setups.
The Fin and Feather Club of Millinocket is a group that has traditionallly opposed Park policies and pushed for camp leases, hunting rights, and vehicle access to remote areas. Caverly led the resistance to allowing this group to have special treatment. Other locals have long pushed for snowmobile access to greater areas of the Park, especially the Russell Pond area. In the 1970's the battle went to court after Caverly banned all snowmobiles from the entire Park including the Perimeter and Roaring Brook Roads. The case resulted in continued access to the Perimeter Road but not to other areas.
Caverly is the last Park director who will have personally known Governor Baxter and he is a close student of the myriads of deeds and restrictions under which the Park is governed. Like any legal briefs these documents are open to interpretation. God help the Park if a new person taking the helm is more willing to cave to political pressure and outside influences. We could easily see the development of full-service lodges and RV campgrounds of the type found in larger national parks. One problem is that the state attorney general is one of the three people who comprise the governing body and unlike in Baxter's day that office is increasingly a stepping-stone to the governorship. Politicians live or die by special interest support and there has been a growing tendancy in some cases (as with the snowmobiles) to place politics over Baxter's deeds of trust.
As Baxter himself said, "While I am living I fear no encroachment on the Park, but after I am dead and others appear upon the scene there may be a tendancy .......[to] break the spirit of these gifts........"
I do see why thru-hikers might feel discriminated against when non-hikers are given preference at the facilities. I would also ask that folks look at the larger picture. Caverly has probably done as well as anyone could at fending off political and economic pressures that threaten the Park. Caverly's era will likely never be matched in its ongoing committment to manage the Park in accord with Baxter's wishes.