Modernism & the U.S. Forest Service
Hagen’s research on Modernism and the U.S. Forest Service focuses on numerous forests in Idaho, documenting how broader developments in American culture affected the agency at multiple levels. As the Forest Service modernized and expanded in the years after the Second World War, it reorganized its administrative territories and built new facilities to serve forests across the nation. In doing so it reshaped the built environment in accordance with the period’s widespread embrace of Modernism. New facilities were often built on standard plans produced in USFS regional offices, and they reflected the agency's commitment to Modern architecture, especially the period’s popular Ranch Style. Construction of modern facilities was one of the primary goals of the USFS’ midcentury infrastructure development program, modeled on the National Park Service's Mission 66 program, called Operation Outdoors. Design of the Operation Outdoors program itself reflected a move toward modernization. In its embrace of centralization and standardization, the program exemplified a modern planning approach.
Portions of this research have served as the basis for numerous article-length reports used by the USFS to guide planning and resource management, as well as a Historic American Building Survey documentation of the Clarkia (ID) Work Center for the repositories of the National Park Service (online access to that documentation is forthcoming from the NPS).
Portions of this research have served as the basis for numerous article-length reports used by the USFS to guide planning and resource management, as well as a Historic American Building Survey documentation of the Clarkia (ID) Work Center for the repositories of the National Park Service (online access to that documentation is forthcoming from the NPS).