Alvin
E. ReevesAlvin E. Reeves (1872-1946) received the Pugsley Bronze Medal in 1938 “for his work in developing the State Parks system in Okalahoma.” He was the director of the Division of State Parks in Oklahoma during its formative years. He was born in Pottsboro Texas, and in 1901 went to Oklahoma where he was a traveling salesman for twenty years for Sanger Brothers. He had always been an ardent outdoors sportsman. Indeed, there was scarcely a stream or lake in the eastern part of the state he had not fished. He was especially interested in preserving scenic beauty and historical places and was an early member of the Izaak Walton League in Oklahoma.
He was appointed state game warden for the state of Oklahoma in 1924 and served for two years. While holding this office he purchased the first park sites for Oklahoma which consisted of several small areas to be used as state parks or recreational areas, but no improvements were made on these sites.
He assisted in preparing bills to set up a state park system that were introduced at several sessions of the state legislature, but all failed to pass. However, ultimately, he assisted in drafting and securing the passage of an act creating a State Game and Fish Commission, whose enabling authority was broad enough to embrace all aspects of recreation as well. In 1935 a bill was passed creating a Park Commission, as a sub-division of the Fish and Game Commission which carried an appropriation of $25,000 to set up a state park system. Reeves was appointed executive secretary and he directed that seven park sites be selected and acquired, having an area of not less than 500 acres each. The small appropriation necessitated that these sites be secured by donation and Reeves was successful in acquiring approximately 13,000 acres through donation.
Prior to the enactment of the State Parks Commission Law, Oklahoma had acquired with money appropriated from the general revenue fund 17,000 acres for a lake site known as Lake Murray. In 1933, the National Park Service began to develop this site into a State Park under the sponsorship of the State Game and Fish Commission. To facilitate this state park improvement, an act was passed in 1937 creating the Oklahoma Planning and Resources Board. This act provided broader provisions than were available under the original 1935 act in that it consolidated all the state’s conservation agencies under one director. The Board named Reeves as its director.
- Sources
- Oklahoma Fish and Game News, May 1946.
- Press release, The American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, 1938.