{"id":36360,"date":"2016-08-09T15:26:17","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T19:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.pinemountainsettlement.net\/?page_id=36360"},"modified":"2020-02-07T14:46:51","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T19:46:51","slug":"william-hayes-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/staging.pinemountainsettlement.net\/?page_id=36360","title":{"rendered":"WILLIAM HAYES (Part II)"},"content":{"rendered":"
Pine Mountain Settlement School
\nSeries 19: Students
\nSeries 09: Staff\/Personnel
\nSeries 05: Administration – Board of Trustees<\/h5>\n

WILLIAM HAYES (Part II)<\/h2>\n

Student, September 1934 – May 1938<\/strong>
\nFarm Manager, 1937 – 1953
\nMember, PMSS Board of Trustees, 1980s & 1990s<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

TAGS:<\/strong>\u00a0William Hayes (Part II) ; William Hayes ; Bill Hayes ; Fern Hall Hayes ; farm manager ; Dr. Richard Drake ; Berea College Service Award ; surface mining ; strip mining ; SMCRA ; Kentucky Division of Forestry ; Putney, KY ; US Forest Service ; Daniel Boone National Forest ; forests ; Red River Gorge ; Little Shepherd Trail ; forestry ; scenic roads ; Wilson Wyatt ; Kentucky Department of Natural Resources ; Gene Butcher ; H.W. Berckman ; William Music ; H.B. Newland ; Office of Surface Mining US Department of the Interior ; mining reclamation ; Lands Unsuitable for Mining ; coal mining ; coal camps ; tuberculosis ; Dr. Willis Weatherford ; Howard Burdine ; Patrick Angel ;<\/p>\n

\n

WILLIAM HAYES (Part II): Kentucky Division of Forestry – Putney<\/h3>\n

\"putney_views_003\"

[putney_views_003.jpg]<\/p><\/div>When William Hayes (1917 – 2006)<\/strong> resigned his position at Pine Mountain Settlement School on August 1st, 1955, he did not move far from Pine Mountain School. He took a job as the forester (Fire Control Assistant) with the Department of Conservation, Division of Forestry, Kentenia Unit, Putney, Kentucky. The unit was located eight miles across the steep Pine Mountain from the Settlement School. As a forester, Bill continued one of his passions, looking out for the region’s trees and forests.<\/p>\n

Putney is part of the New Deal history of Eastern Kentucky. The Kentenia Forest that surrounds the Putney Ranger Station was the first state forest in Kentucky. Established in 1919 on the South side of Pine Mountain along the Cumberland River in Harlan County, the name Kentenia was derived from the Kentenia-Cantron Corporation a timbering corporation that had logged heavily in the area. The company made the gift of their land to the state of Kentucky in a series of disparate tracts tha totaled some 3,624 acres of land. [See: http:\/\/www.forestry.ky.gov\/programs\/stateforest\/State+Forest+Locations.htm]<\/p>\n

[See: http:\/\/www.forestry.ky.gov\/programs\/stateforest\/State+Forest+Locations.htm]<\/p>\n

The Ranger Station was first a CCC Camp [Camp S-53], one of several created in Eastern Kentucky and later permanent buildings were erected by the CCC, Company 512 on the site. The original site plan called for a large 69 x 49-foot dwelling to serve as offices and home of the ranger. In addition, there were five out-building and a large reservoir for water supply. See the 2005 Kentucky Heritage Council report that details the construction and site of the Station.<\/p>\n

In 1961 the forests of Kentucky were owned by some 243,488 people. Of this number, some 99 out of every 100 owners had holdings of less than 500 acres each. This statistic points to the fact that almost 80% of the total forests in Kentucky at that time were in small personal ownerships. [The Back Fence<\/em>, Kentucky Division of Forestry, Issue N.2, February 1961.] These were the forests of southeastern Kentucky that the Division of Forestry was charged to protect and preserve under Bill’s guidance. As part of the forestry program. Bill was charged to prepare daily fire records, individual fire reports, to supervise personnel, and report out to the U.S. Weather office during fire season. He also supervised the dispatcher who was on duty during fire seasons. The dispatcher was Fern Hall Hayes<\/a> who was also his support in maintaining community outreach for programs and preparing news items related to fire safety and prevention.<\/p>\n

\"hayes_2015_019_mod\"

Putney Tower in the Kentenia Sate Forest., c. 1963. [hayes_2015_019_mod.jpg]<\/p><\/div>Much of Bill’s time, however, was spent in training and supervising a large crew of full and part-time workers and maintaining equipment and fire towers and roads within his jurisdiction. The development of a fire suppression plan for the unit and the monitoring of its effectiveness was also a large part of his duties. Fire line inspection, trail maintenance, forest damage, theft, law violations on state property and other suppression activities also kept him stretched. The most rewarding part of the job for Bill was the direct work with the forest. Inspection for disease and insects in stands of timber and hiking the forest trails to familiarize himself with his areas of oversight were always an enjoyable part of his job.<\/p>\n

An important part of the forestry program and one mandated by many districts in the State was the selling of seedlings to farm operators, doctors, lawyers,\u00a0teachers and others. These “Johnny Appleseeds” or, tree seeds and saplings was taken very seriously by Bill’s unit and his dedication to growing Kentucky’s forests was particularly remarkable in the Southeastern district. Bill Hayes did not need convincing that trees were important and when the tree sales were tabulated for the state, the Southeastern District had sold 883,000 seedlings, second only to the Eastern District wich sold 962,000. Comparatively, and understandably, the Blue Grass District sold only 77,000 trees. [The Back Fence<\/em>, Kentucky Division of Forestry, Issue N.2, February 1961.]<\/p>\n

In an article in the Harlan Daily Enterprise\u00a0<\/em>of March 27, 1960, “Forester has Many Winter Duties,” a description of some of the duties of Bill and his wife Fern are described. They included a seedling distribution program, speaking to schools, garden clubs, civic groups, and farmers; repair of equipment used in fire suppression; weather observation; tracking the “burn index” of the area; mapping locations of fires; reports and dispatches of daily fire dangers, and more.<\/p>\n

\"hayes_putney_pd_01\"

Putney Ranger station. West facade, c. 2011. Photo: P.D. Christian. [hayes_putney_pd_01.jpg]<\/p><\/div>One of the most compelling parts of the forestry position at Putney was the opportunity to live in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC ) log home constructed in 1936-37, during the WPA era by Company 512. Part of one of the CCC Camps in Eastern Kentucky, Camp S-53 was first established in May of 1933 and was soon designated as the district headquarters. In 1937 construction began on the headquarters buildings complex. It included a large and unique home and office complex as well as a variety of out-building supporting the work of the headquarters. Located adjacent to the Kentenia State Forest, it was the administrative headquarters for staff and work crews charged with management of the forest, fire suppression and pre-suppression, timber stand improvement, trail-building, fire tower maintenance, phone-line repair and other tasks.<\/p>\n

The home and office, constructed of massive logs and finished in its interior with chestnut paneling and walnut,\u00a0was seated on a foundation of local sandstone. The masonry was crafted by Italian stone masons who had been hired to train the CCC builders. The Italians were often hired by local mining companies to complete commissaries, schools and churches for the larger mining companies like Benham and Lynch in Harlan County. The nearby large stone reservoir that supplies the water for the Forestry Station,\u00a0is particularly well crafted. Also, an artesian well supplied excellent water until the water table dropped in later years. A supply and maintenance building, a two-story workshop and large garage shared the premises.<\/p>\n

G<\/strong>ALLERY: Putney<\/h3>\n\n\t\t