The superintendents are enforcing the recommendations of the Public Health Service engineers, and reports submitted for the various parks show that sanitary conditions in them are being maintained at a standard equal to that of modern cities. As stated last year, this work by the Public Health Service is one of the outstanding examples of effective cooperative work on the part of one bureau of the Government with another. MARKED ADVANCE IN LANDSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS. One need spend very little time in the national parks to discover and realize the value of proper landscape supervision. The everincreasing popularity of our parks brings with it the necessity of providing added facilities for the accommodation of visitors, these varying from space provided for the auto camper to the tent cabin and central service buildings of the permanent camp and the more pretentious hotel. The harmonizing of design and location of buildings into relation with the surroundings requires the most careful study in order that these needs may be met in a manner that will not disturb or conflict with the native landscapes. The past year has seen a marked advance in landscape improvements in our national parks, and it has been gratifying to note the increasing interest of the park forces as well as that of the park operators in the careful conservation of the park landscapes. The landscape engineering division, under the direction of Daniel R. Hull, landscape engineer, has covered problems in many of the parks either actually on the ground or through correspondence, and the results accomplished have more than justified the existence of this division as a separate branch of our field forces. Having been limited in appropriations for some of our construction projects, it has often been difficult in the past to secure the desired effects, and a solution not always ideal has been the result. It is hoped that in the future the service may be able to secure adequate funds for our various necessary construction projects to make possible not only a functional development but one which will be a credit to the landscape as well. Because of the short travel season in a majority of the parks, which is also the building season, there is always a rush for construction during that period, and often the service has been called upon to approve proposed structures without time to properly study the landscape problem involved. It will be expected of the various superintendents that they forsee in so far as possible their construction needs reasonably in advance and also that they advise the various park operators of this necessity. The excellent work the landscape division is accomplishing can be further facilitated by such cooperation. The report of the landscape engineer is printed in Appendix C. CIVIL ENGINEERING DIVISION. The varied activities of the civil engineering division have been carried on throughout the year under Chief Civil Engineer George E. Goodwin, with headquarters at Portland, Oreg. As our permanent engineering staff is small, it is necessary each year in the spring SIERRA EAST B. THE MINARETS AND ICEBERG LAKE IN THE HIGH |