Fire towers in the White Mtns

[Jay H]

What happened to all the firetowers in the White Mtns? I know that there are some peaks that had firetowers there, but unlike the ADKs where the old firetowers weren't removed, it appears that most of them on the 4k peaks in the Whites are gone? Was this a blanket decision long ago by the state of NH, to save money and the cost of maintenance or threat of injury? Unlike the ADKs where there are a lot of still standing firetowers on the lower peaks (below 4k) of the park, the ones in the whites seem to have been all removed and I am just wondering why.

From Roy's thread of long ago:

http://www.nhdfl.org/fire-control-and-law-enforcement/fire-towers.aspx

Jay

 

[RoySwkr]

The WMNF owned the towers on their land (some transferred from the state) and removed nearly all of them for maintenance/liability/aesthetic reasons.

The Forest Service regularly rotates its managers so that they will feel a connection to the agency not the locals. It doesn't matter how many managers like fire towers, if you get a tower-hater in the rotation they're gone.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Carter Dome's tower is still there - in the woods just off the clearing...



And there is plenty of glass on the summit in the clearing as well.

Tim

 

[Jay H]

Carter Dome's tower is still there - in the woods just off the clearing...



And there is plenty of glass on the summit in the clearing as well.

Tim

I still need to hike Carters/Moriah too!

Roy, that's too bad, I enjoy firetowers, even if it isn't necessary for a view. It's kind of like seeing old train stations or an old set of unused RR tracks in the woods... you have a sense of history there.

Jay

 

[1HappyHiker]

What happened to all the firetowers in the White Mtns? . . . Unlike the ADKs where there are a lot of still standing firetowers on the lower peaks (below 4k) of the park, the ones in the whites seem to have been all removed and I am just wondering why.

From Roy's thread of long ago:
http://www.nhdfl.org/fire-control-and-law-enforcement/fire-towers.aspx

There’s a link within your link (click HERE) which contains an excerpt from: "A Field Guide to New Hampshire Firetowers", by Iris W. Baird and Chris Haartz. Maybe some answers to your question can be found there.

It appears that there were many causes for the disappearance of fire towers in the Whites (i.e., 1938 hurricane, World War II, safety issues with abandoned towers, etc.). Below is a short snippet from the Baird and Haartz publication referenced above.

“In 1938 disaster struck. The Great Hurricane blew down much of the northern forest, and a number of towers as well. . . During World War II many of the towers shut down for lack of manpower. . . By 1948 the use of aircraft for fire spotting and a decline in fire danger led to the closing of many stations. The US Forest Service marked ten towers for demolition and retained seven, some on inactive status. By the end of the 1960's these were all out of service and only the state towers were left. (Abandoned towers were believed to be hazardous, so many of these were removed over the next decade.)”

 

[peakbagger]

The remains of the Bemis tower were quite impressive several years ago, it looked like a failry new structure that was cut down and pulled over sideways.

A former forest service employee had told me once that the forest service was trying at one point to take the Cabot Fire Wardens cabin down as they didnt want to maintain it. Unfortunately before they could take it down it got listed on a historic listing and it required too much paperwork than it was worth. Recently I heard of a proposed plan by the forest service to fix up the cabin and put a lock on it so that people could reserve it.

 

[Paradox]

As of February 2008 the tower on Smarts Mountain was still standing. I can see it with my telescope on a good day, and I'll check for it tomorrow. This is not listed in the link.

 

[rocket21]

As of February 2008 the tower on Smarts Mountain was still standing.

As of April 2009, the tower on Smarts was still standing and accessible.

 

[jjmcgo]

Before they wrecked it,

the best place to sleep in the White Mountains was the cabin of the Mt. Carrigain fire tower. Awesome views and a nice reward for a hard walk.

 

[RoySwkr]

As of February 2008 the tower on Smarts Mountain was still standing. ... This is not listed in the link.

The link is only towers currently in use by the state, a longer list can be found at:
http://firelookout.org/towers/nh/nh.htm