Blue Spruce mark Mount Herman forest service for more than 100 years

Regional Forester Colonel Allen S. Peck on Horseback in June, 1941, in Bear Creek area. Colonel Peck was Regional Forest, Region 2 in 1922. Photo by John C. Baird, Assistant Forest Supervisor Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado.

Memorial Grove commemorates service to forest

 By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

 Rising just west of the Monument Nursery, now the Fire Center, Mount Herman was nearly barren of trees after intense fires from the 1880s. Within 20 years of operation, thriving seedlings from the nursery transformed the mountainous slopes from an ugly black and red scar to the healthy green of a young forest," according to the 1997 booklet about the history of the center.

"An important feature of the nursery that still exists, is the Memorial Grove. It was established on June 10, 1920, to honor Forest Service employees of Region 2 who lost their lives in World War I and those who died thereafter. A Blue spruce was planted for each deceased employee. Thirty trees were planted at this first ceremony on May 21, 1921, and on May 30, 1942, the grove had 68 trees. The planting of trees has since been replaced by the placement of a plaque," says Eric Swab, Trail and Open Space Commission (TOSC ) in his history of the Monument Nursery.

Steve Plutt sent me this interesting information from the The Sunday Denver Post, dated Sunday, May 25, 1958.

 "A living and growing memorial three miles west of Monument, Colo, commemorates 150 U.S. Forest Service personnel who have died," says the Denver Post article.

"It is a grove of blue spruce, Colorado's state tree, planted at the 7,400 feet on the slope of Mt. Herman in the Pike National Forest."

"Allen S. Peck, a colonel in the 20th Forestry Engineers of the U.S. Army, planned the memorial when he returned from service in Europe after World War 1. Originally it was to be for the five men in his regiment who lost their lives during the war, but by May 30, 1921, when it was dedicated, it had been extended to include forest rangers and civilians of the forest service who died in peacetime," the Post article says.

The first planting was 30 trees. It has since grown to five times that number. Memorial Day, 1938, saw four new trees for rangers killed in the Blackwater forest fire the previous year. In 1951 a single tree was added for Col. Peck himself, who died of a heart attack.

The original trees, between two and four feet high when planted , now stand from 30 to 40 feet high and may reach 150 feet in tie. A metal plate with the name of the individual and his death date is placed at the base of each tree and a chart is kept so each may be quickly located.

The grove is a haven for wildlife, and in the summer the songs of birds are constant. It has been planted in such a way that it forms a windbreak for the 720-acre Monument tree nursery just below when storms crash down from Mt. Herman's peak.

 Mount Herman reforested. Rob Carrigan photo.

Visitors are always welcome. The site is reachable by automobile from Monument, about 17 miles north of Colorado Springs off U.S. 85.

In the quiet of the thick-branched trees the pungent odor of spruce hangs and a panorama of mountains from Pikes Peak to Long's Peak is visable. It is , as Col. Peck planned it to be, a fitting memorial to the men who dedicated their lives to saving our forests.

"The story of the Memorial Grove takes place near the town of Monument, Colorado, a small town of about 2,000 people sitting at 6,961 feet above sea level, south of Denver and just north of Colorado Springs along Interstate 25. It’s the home of the Pike Hotshots and the Monument helitack crew on the Pike National Forest."

Says the National Museum of Forest Service History, in the December 2006 Newsletter, By R.G. Colwell and Bill Nelson.This article was adapted from the history of the Memorial Grove at the Monument Nursery by R. G. Colwell, Senior Clerk, Pike Na-tional Forest, 1943-1944, and recent articles by Bill Nelson, retired Pikes Peak District Ranger. Thanks to Dave Steinke, Rocky Mountain Region Public Affairs, for the photographs.

 

"Originally founded May 1, 1907, as the Mt. Herman Planting Station, the name was changed to the Monument Nursery within two years. During the first few years, trees from the nursery were used primarily in nearby forests. One of the earliest reforestation successes was on Mt. Herman, just west of the complex. When the nursery was established, it consisted of 480 acres, a barn, and five tent houses for the crew," says the Newsletter.

The nursery was expanded in 1929, when the adjacent Monument Ranch was purchased. The seedling facility was one of the first in the Forest Service system and the most important in the Rocky Mountains. The late 1930s proved to be the nursery's peak production years, with more than 60 employees, and as many as 5 million seedlings shipped annually. During the Great Depression, in the 1930s, the site served as one of Colorado’s largest Civilian Conservation Corps camps. From 1934 to 1942, CCC crews under Forest Service supervision designed and constructed buildings, fought fires, manned the nurseries and planted seedlings. 

On April 3, 1919 District Headquarters sent a letter to all forest officers in the Rocky Mountain District noting that “some real forester conceived the idea of a national movement to plant trees on Arbor Day as a memorial to Forest Service men who had lost their lives inthe United States armed forces during World War I.

” The letter further suggested that trees be planted at Ranger Stations and at the Monument Nursery in fulfillment of the idea. Accordingly, on June 10, 1920 five Colorado blue spruce trees grown in the nursery were planted and marked as living memorials.

Thirty names were on the first list of deceased members of the district honored. Carlos Bates, forester in charge of the Fremont Experiment Station, begun in 1909 near Manitou Springs, Colorado, offered to secure the required number of suitable trees from a gulch just below the station.
Planting assistant Walter Schrader, Rangers John Patterson and Frank Poley, with Bates and his assistant, Oliver Robertson, dug twenty-seven Colorado blue spruce and three Engelmann spruce, from 18 inches to three feet tall. The trees were baled in burlap and hauled to the Mt. Manitou Incline Railway in a one-horse, two-wheeled, narrow-gauge cart that belonged to the Fremont Station.

The Mt. Manitou Incline Railway transported the trees to Manitou Springs without charge and they were carried to the Nursery, where they were thoroughly wet down and stored in a cool place until the day of planting. The site selected for the memorial grove was in the northwest corner of nursery area number 1, immediately in front of the old nursery office and adjacent to the road. The date was set forMay 30, 1921, but as Memorial Day in that year was on Monday, the first planting of trees took place on Sunday, May 29, 1921. 

The trees were set out at intervals of 12 feet, in broken rows, 12 feet apart. Only Forest Service officers and their families, who planted those first thirty trees, attended the first planting ceremony at the Memorial Grove.
Later, the criteria for being honored in the grove were expanded to include all deceased Rocky Mountain Region employees. When the Berry fire in 1989 destroyed some of the trees, it was decided that instead of planting a new tree
for each deceased employee, a plaque would be mounted that listed the names of all who had died within the previous year.

"In addition to the plaque, a single tree is planted in memory of all employees who died during the previous year. Very few people in the Region, with the exception of some retirees, had any knowledge of the Memorial Grove or
its history. Since 1995 there has been an effort to improve the grove and facilities and to spread the word of its existence and purpose.
 

"Through some extraordinary efforts of retired regional employees, Pikes Peak District Ranger Bill Nelson, Deputy Chief Tom Thompson, Deputy Regional Forester Sid Hanks, director of Engineering Lloyd Newlin, graphic artist Larry Simmons, recreation director Steve Dietemeyer and a host of others, the area is thriving. Substantial work has been done at
the site, and annual maintenance is still needed. The Regional Office maintains a small memorial fund account to purchase plaques and limited improvements to the site. The Rocky Mountain Region retirees coordinate the day and supply funds and labor to make the first Saturday in May special. Current Pikes Peak Ranger Brent Botts, district employees and Pike Hot Shots pitch in and help coordinate and host the annual workday and dedication ceremony. 

"For the past five years the event has grown. Last year over 100 people gathered in the small clearing to honor 12 Rocky Mountain Region employees who had died in the previous year. Brass plates containing their names were riveted to a metal memorial tree.

"The American Flag is raised and a lone bugle plays the national anthem. Family members are encouraged to speak about their loved ones, a bagpiper plays, a rider-less horse walks around the grove, and speeches and remembrances are made. Then a single tree is planted to honor all of those
who have died. Family members help place a small Colorado spruce tree into the earth. After the ceremony, in true Forest Service tradition, everyone goes back to the Hot Shot base to have a potluck luncheon, tell some stories and
reminisce about the good old days and talk about the hopeful ones in the future. In May of 2007, a new interpretive sign will be installed that tells this remarkable story to everyone who comes to the Memorial Grove," says the 2006 newsletter publication.

"The grove is thought to be the only such memorial of this type in existence in the Forest Service and the folks who work on it and the families of loved ones who dedicated their lives to the agency are very proud to keep this tradition alive," says the National Museum of Forest Service History, in the December 2006 Newsletter.