KOOTENAI COUNTY
BERNARD PEAK
Kaniksu National Forest
53N-2W-14
53N-2W-14
1918: 20-foot platform tower. (Kresek)
1930's: 40-foot pole tower with L-4 cab. (Kresek)
1948: 35-foot treated timber tower with L-4 cab. (Kresek)
July 13, 1950: "James Chamberlain is stationed on Bernard peak lookout for the summer months." (Sandpoint News-Bulletin)
August 6, 1959: "Of interest to the young people of our area is the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Dave Palmer are manning the lookout station on Bernard mountain this year. Mrs. Palmer is the former Carol Kiebert, reported that the huckleberry crop near their summer home is fair but that the huckleberry pickers have been ascending in droves." (Sandpoint News Bulletin)
April 6, 1961: "The Empire Lumber company of Coeur d'Alene was the successful bidder on a timber sale in the Bernard peak area at the south end of Lake Pend Oreille Monday at Kaniksu forest headquarters in Sandpoint.
The successful bidder will build a mile of road to improve the access to Bernard peak, a seasonally-occupied fire detection lookout station and a vista point of the Lake Pend Oreille area." (Sandpoint News Bulletin)
October 30, 1968: "Vandalism continues to plague the Forest Service. Between the 15th and 24th of October, vandals chopped off a board to gain entrance to Bernard Peak Lookout. Windows, dishes, and lantern globes were broken. Outside the lookout, the vandals broke a railing on the stairs and shot several holes up through the floor. Ranger Paul F. Barker of the Clark Fork District estimated damage in excess of $150.
According to Barker, the lookout fireman removes everything but the bed, mattresses, stove, dishes, and firefinder when he leaves in the fall. The lookout is then boarded up to protect the building from damage by ice, snow, rain and rodents. If the lookouts were not boarded up, the ice and snow would break the windows and cause the floors to warp and buckle.
Ranger Barker said he doubted hunters go to the lookouts with a direct intent of vandalizing or shooting holes in it. The normal hunter recognizes the purpose and need of the lookout and the necessity of boarding them up in the fall. Unfortunately, a few accept this as a challenge to prove 'they can't lock me out,' Barker surmised.
'As more people take to the forest, using logging roads for recreation and hunting, vandalism has increased. As vandalism increases, it becomes more and more necessary to protect equipment and people from themselves,' the ranger stated." (Sandpoint News Bulletin)
July 17, 1969: "At Bernard Peak, Mr. and Mrs. William Heacox of Spokane are watching for fires." (Sandpoint News Bulletin)
Removed