6
Tuesday, July 11, 1972
University Summer Kansan
Populous Perry
By BOB FULKERSON
Kansan Staff Writer
According to the Army Corps of Engineers, because of the high temperature Perry Reservoir will effect important control in reducing flood crests and flooding.
But since been opened to
public in the 1970, the Lake Perry
recreation area has been exe-
sited. So another type—a flood of people.
In 1971, the Lake Perry visitors. That was more than a million above the number visiting the next most popular lake in Canada and just under the near Manhattan. Through the end of May of this year, 867,877 people visited.
Possible reasons for this popularity were explained by the Chief Ranger at Lake Perry, George Hathaway.
"PERRY IS close to Kansas City, Topeka, St. Joseph, and Oklahoma," he said for the weekend camper, he said. "Another reason for the heavy use Perry gets might be the fact that we have all with our trees and rolling hills, we look more like the other Kansas projects."
Hathaway has been with the Perry facility since the flood gates were first shut in 1969. At the time it was known that Lake
"The number of people using it the decreased," said Hathaway. "They seem to increase right along with the number of projects they do."
Hathaway expressed a hope that Lake Perry would get some new projects under construction in the area. Malvern Reservoir, located about 10 miles south of Lyndon, and Melven Reservoir, just southeast of Lawrence.
Perry would relieve other lakes in the area.
THE CHIEF administrator of the Perry Dam and Reservoir is Project Manager Lynn C. Brenner who monitors Hathaway express admiration at the tendency of campers to park fenders to fender even when they are not there.
He also said the clustering of natural and gregariousness in the wolf expressed the old wagon train mystique of people being out to explore.
Meyers and Hathaway said they got the impression people from the cities liked lights and other people nearby.
"Campers tend to overuse it and demand that they arrive near the lake," said Meyers, "and such a high impact on an unauthorized situation."
Meyers adheres to the Spaceship Earth theory; there
"MAN IS just another factor in the environmental situation," said Meyers, "but unfortunately we are not at the point the domination over his surroundings."
are limited resources available on this planet and they must be managed efficiently.
On the depletion of resources at Lake Perry, Meyers is not sure when to stop using sideration, or just plain ignorance" that causes people to chop down living trees in an attempt to burn them in camp
"When we first opened, there was plenty of dead firewood around and now it is scarce," explained Hathaway.
Meyers mentioned that, on Memorial Day of this year, some camper or picnicer sawed signs down for his campfire.
It is easy to rationalize the cutting down of just one tree," said Meyers, "but when you have 100,000 people it is intolerable."
According to Meyers, the Lake itself is not suffering from pollution to any great degree. The area has a shallow shoreline and the camp areas.
THERE IS some vandalism, but it is not rampant.
"We have five public use areas, but to some they are abuse areas, to others they are vandalism was committed by local youth who resented our decision."
the community, and that is no longer a problem."
Unrest and vandalism go hand in hand. We want the students 'money' and we can always expect an increase in vandalism towards the end of the high school
In spite of the fact that Meyers and with his problems of Lake Perry, they do see some encouraging signs of sensitivity to the en-
Last August they helped sponsor a university organization of the National Parks Service and the Army Corps of Engineers with 45 rangers, a forest school, an arrangement daily tours of Lake Perry, six graders from Lake Perry, and six graders from Lake Perry.
Some vegetation cannot stand his visitation," he said. "Walnut trees can grow on the soil beneath the trees becomes compacted, the trees become compacted, the trees
As Lake Perry's chief environmentalist, Meyers has definite ideas about maintaining and within the total environment.
In his words, "It is an acceptance of life values and ways of living that minimizes destruction and maximizes those relationships which enhance life. It is learning, the quality of life, and the constructive use, rather than exploitation of the environment."
Kansan Staff
Photos
by
Pris Brandsted