Mark Twain National Forest
Missouri
Mill at the Falling Springs Homestead on the Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri.
Credit: National Trust for Historic Preservation
After learning that the Mark Twain National Forest, encompassing 1.5 million acres in southern Missouri, planned to dispose of up to 150 structures, including farmsteads, fire towers, and ranger stations, due in part to a backlog of deferred maintenance and a small annual facilities budget, the National Trust engaged quickly and aggressively to ensure alternatives were fully considered prior to the removal of properties from federal ownership. Both the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office participated actively in Section 106 consultation with the National Trust on the development of a Programmatic Agreement for the realignment of historic buildings on the Mark Twain. As a result of consultation, the Forest Service agreed to lower the number of structures slated for realignment to around seventy, comprising twenty-one National Register eligible or listed complexes.
The Rudolph Fuchs House at Markham Springs on the Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri.
Credit: National Trust for Historic Preservation
Consultation also led to a commitment by the Forest Service to match National Trust grant funds to pay for a feasibility study investigating alternative uses for five historic properties. However, the National Trust remains concerned that the Facilities Master Plan (FMP) issued by the Forest Service in October 2005 does not fully consider the historic or cultural value of properties on the forest as required by Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act. In fact, the Forest Service omitted historic significance from the criteria that it used to evaluate administrative facilities in the FMP. To reflect its strong concern about the situation, the National Trust listed the historic structures on the Mark Twain National Forest as one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2007.
Since the historic structures in Missouri’s Mark Twain National Forest were chosen as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2007, the Midwest Office and Mountains/Plains Office have worked with the Forest to find alternatives to demolition. As part of a Programmatic Agreement with the SHPO and the National Trust, the Mark Twain has contracted with a Forest Service Enterprise Team to complete assessments of five properties and create marketing materials, including solicitations and a website, to offer them for rehabilitation or sale. Along with our Statewide Partner, Missouri Preservation, the National Trust has provided feedback on the marketing materials, reached out to individuals and groups interested in the historic properties, and provided technical assistance to potential applicants. The National Trust worked with the Forest and partners to review the letters of interest, and several applicants have now been asked to develop full reuse proposals. We are encouraged by the interest generated through the solicitation and the potential new partners that have stepped forward, and will continue to work with the Forest and partners to support preservation-sensitive reuses for these historic properties.
Click here to visit the US Forest Service website with more project details.
Download a PDF of the Multiple Alternative Use Development Opportunities by the US Forest Service
In the News
Volunteer Opportunity
April 18–24, 2010 - Passport in Time - Falling Spring Log Building and Mill Stabilization
Falling Spring Mill is a late 19th/early 20th century Ozark homestead just northwest of the Irish Wilderness, the largest wilderness area in southern Missouri. It is situated within a developed recreation area on the Mark Twain N.F., and consists of a pen log building (constructed c. 1860) and a wood frame mill (constructed in 1927). Both structures have fallen into disrepair, and are in need of your help. PIT volunteers will work with F.S. staff to stabilize the log building and perform maintenance on the mill. Learn More >>
Resources
Ideas Wanted: Unique Opportunities for Creative Reuse Projects in the Mark Twain National Forest
Preservation Nation Blog Written by Jennifer Sandy on Jan. 11, 2010
The Mark Twain National Forest is partnering with Missouri’s State Historic Preservation Office, Missouri Preservation, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation to seek alternative uses for five historic properties.
Mark Twain National Forest Historic Buildings Alternative Use Study (Apr. 14, 2008)
The U.S. Forest Service Enterprise Unit's alternative use analysis of five historic properties on the Mark Twain National Forest, which received funding from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Check out what we did at Mark Twain National Forest Volunteer days!
The National Trust joined Forest Service staff, Passport in Time and Mennonite Church volunteers and staff from the Missouri Alliance for Preservation, at the Sinking Creek Lookout complex in Missouri’s Mark Twain National Forest for a week of hands-on preservation work.
