Flash back to a day when this lake was kept spiffy-as clean and pleasing as a sag pond could be, that is. This historic photo of 1926 Jackson Lake (then referred to as Lake Big Pines) shows a peaceful lake beggin' for fishermen and canoes. Over the decades the lake hosted many, many visitors...and the Forest Service kept on top of it's condition. Twenty years ago this month, Muck yukkk and the SS Scum Skimmer made their appearance on a lake that needed a little boost from man.
Susan Gates' photo of this pretty interesting crew showed the Jackson Lake rescue plan in action. On this day, sixty members of the Youth Conservation Corps attacked the reeds and other ground growth that was invading the lake. These days such lake maintenance is rare, only because it has become quite a chore, and an expensive one at that. The 60 member crew worked hard. Putting a warm day to good use, many wore bathing suits and shorts. The sight sure made ol' hotshot firefighters wonder why they joined the USFS and not the YCC. The long range plans for Rescue Jackson Lake called for draining the lake, drying out the lake bed and removing the great deal of decayed leaves and plants that laid below. The draining would not come about...but a month after the hands-on clean up, the SS Scum Skimmer was launched for the first time.
The USFS/SS Scum Skimmer
The maiden voyage of the SS Scum Skimmer was made on October 15, 1978. The Forest Service bought the $16,000 pontoon vessel that was able to cut vegetation to a depth of five-seven feet, toss it on a conveyor belt and remove it from the lake. Passengers aboard the "three hour tour," included ranger Jerry Reponen and Alan Grundmann, the administrative director of Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve of Stanford University. Fortunately, the SS Scum Skimmer did not sink. Unfortunately, the skimmer was used only sparingly after that. The two paddle-wheeled craft had its own gas engine, as did the conveyor and weed chooper at the front. The mission was two-fold; to eliminate the vegetation on the surface and then conduct insect eradication.
Whatever happened to the SS Scum Skimmer is unknown. It was stored in the basement of the old Swarthout building at Big Pines for awhile. It was then shipped to Crystal Lake to provide a similar service to that high lake...and then it was apparently shipped "up north". The voyage of the SS Scum Skimmer was short...it is unknown if the craft is still in use somewhere or just left "high and dry."
Trivia:Jackson Lake was drained around 1957 and a massive clean-up was conducted by a large steam shovel. Photos of the operation were forever lost in the 1987 arson fire of the Big Pine's Swarthout Lodge. Another scum skimmer was used in Big bear.
The deepest point of Jackson Lake is approximately 14 feet, the lowest is about 3 feet-at the west end of the lake. Jackson Lake was once a small "meadow lake", it's overflow went down Mescal Canyon. The creation of Big Pines Hwy was what increased its size. In the years to follow, nature will most likely return it to its original condition-a swampy meadow good for grazing horses and cattle.
Remember when? 1988 gas prices-
