MasterViews

Plagiarism by the National Park Service
at Clingman's Dome

In spring 2004, I made photographs from Clingman's Dome and then composed 2 panoramic photographs - the view north and south from Clingman's Dome.  Then I identified around 125 viewable peaks from the tower on Clingman's Dome.   My work showed that almost half the peaks identified on the National Park Service (NPS) panels on Clingman's Dome at that time were misidentified.  Subsequently in 2004, I mailed both the north & south view with the peaks identified to the headquarters of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Gatlinburg, TN.  I also personally gave my north & south views to Lynda Doucette at Oconaluftee Visitor Center.  I also gave Lynda Doucette large topo maps so the NPS could check my work and their panels on Clingman's Dome.  In the spring of 2007, I made a trip to Clingman's Dome to take photos of the new panels on the tower.  I checked the panels to see if the viewable peaks from Clingman's Dome were correctly identified and found several mistakes.

Recently I found my original photographs of the NPS panels that were on the tower on Clingman's Dome in 2004.  I then compared the photos of the old panels, my views and the photos of the current panels on Clingman's Dome.  After this comparison, I suspect that the NPS has blatantly plagiarized my work.  

All of the peaks that my work explicitly showed were misidentified on the old panels on Clingman's Dome have either been corrected to the peak that my work identified or dropped from the current panels on Clingman's Dome.  On the old NPS panels on Clingman's Dome for example, Gregory Bald (262º) was identified as Shuckstack (253º) and Rocky Top (270º) was identified as Gregory Bald (262º).  Both have been identified correctly on the current panels on Clingman's Dome.  My work showed that the peak identified as Sugarland Mountain on the old NPS panels was off by around 30º from the actual summit of Sugarland Mountain (20º).  Subsequently Sugarland Mountain was dropped from the current NPS panels on Clingman's Dome.

All of the peaks that are on the old & current NPS panels that were misidentified on the old NPS panel but my work did not show were explicitly misidentified are misidentified on the current NPS panels on Clingman's Dome.  For example, I did not identify Cove Mountain or Bluff Mountain on my view.  The official summit of Cove Mountain is to the right of Phils View (see image below) and behind that ridge so there was no reason for me to include Cove Mountain in my view.  In both cases, the current NPS panels on Clingman's Dome show a point on the respective mountains that are not at the official summit of the respective mountains.  In an e-mail to Dale Ditmanson and Lynda Doucette dated March 12, 2008, I went into detail about the problems created by not identifying these peaks using the official summits of these peaks.  I also pointed out that the official summit of these peaks is on the topo maps that I gave to Lynda Doucette.

All of the peaks that were not on the old NPS panels but are on the current NPS panels on Clingman's Dome are also on my views.  I can't give the NPS credit for plagiarizing my views as I suspect.

My work shows that my knowledge of the viewable peaks from Clingman's Dome is vastly superior to the limited knowledge displayed by the NPS.  So far no one including the NPS has been able to prove that I have misidentified any of the approximate 125 peaks I identified from Clingman's Dome.

For those unfamiliar with the copyright laws of the United States, read the following: 

"What is plagiarism?

Simply put, plagiarism is the use of another's original words or ideas as though they were your own. Any time you borrow from an original source and do not give proper credit, you have committed plagiarism and violated U.S. copyright laws. 

What are copyright laws?

Copyright laws exist to protect our intellectual property. They make it illegal to reproduce someone else's expression of ideas or information without permission. This can include music, images, written words, video, and a variety of other media.

At one time, a work was only protected by copyright if it included a copyright trademark (the © symbol). According to laws established in 1989, however, works are now copyright protected with or without the inclusion of this symbol.

Anyone who reproduces copyrighted material improperly can be prosecuted in a court of law. It does not matter if the form or content of the original has been altered -- as long as any material can be shown to be substantially similar to the original, it may be considered a violation of the Copyright Act."

http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/plagiarism_faq.html

I already had an individual who wanted to make his own photos and use my identification of the peaks on his photos.  Once he understood the copyright laws of the United States, he decided that wasn't a good idea.  The NPS does not have permission to use my intellectual property on their panels on Clingman's Dome.  Further if the NPS did plagiarize my work as I suspect, they gave me no credit for my work.  Below is documentation for specific peaks including the peak in the old NPS panels on Clingman's Dome, my work and the current NPS panels on Clingman's Dome. 

Ken Gauger
MasterViews

Balsam Point

Balsam Point (13º) is correctly identified on the old & current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.

Sugarland Mountain

On the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the peak identified by the NPS as Sugarland Mountain is an unnamed peak  on a ridge running northwest off Sugarland Mountain (20º).  The label on the old NPS panel is around 30º west of the actual summit of Sugarland Mountain.  Therefore the peak that NPS identified as Sugarland Mountain is not even in my view of Sugarland Mountain below.  Sugarland Mountain is not identified on the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.

Cliff Top, Mount LeConte/High Top & Myrtle Point

Cliff Top (26º) is correctly identified on the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.  Mount LeConte/High Top (29º) is correctly identified on the old & current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.    Myrtle Point (31º) is correctly identified on the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.

Mount Kephart, Mount Guyot & Mount Hardison

Mount Kephart (52º) is correctly identified on the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome .  Mount Guyot (54º) is correctly identified on the old & current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome .  On the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has identified Mount Chapman (56º) as Mount Hardison (58º).  Mount Kephart & Mount Hardison are not on the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.

Mount Sterling & Big Cataloochee Mountain

On the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has correctly identified Mount Sterling (65º).    Big Cataloochee Mountain (67º) is correctly identified on the old & current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.    Richland Mountain (69º) is correctly identified on the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.  Mount Sterling & Richland Mountain are not identified on the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.

Chiltoes Mountain

On the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has identified Cataloochee Balsam (86º) as Chiltoes Mountain (82º).  Chiltoes Mountain is not identified on the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.

Newton Bald & Mount Pisgah

On the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has correctly identified Newton Bald (99º) & Mount Pisgah (103º).

Cold Mountain & Waterrock Knob

On the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has correctly identified Cold Mountain (106º).   Waterrock Knob (109º) is correctly identified on the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.  Waterrock Knob is not identified on the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.

Shepard Bald & Rabun Bald

On the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has correctly identified Shepard Bald.   On the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has identified Rabun Bald, GA (165º) as Frye Mountain (159º).  Rabun Bald is the second highest mountain in Georgia.  Rabun Bald is not identified on the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.

Standing Indian

On the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has identified Standing Indian (184º) as Mica Knob (174º).  Standing Indian is correctly identified on the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.

Cheoah Bald

On the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has correctly identified Cheoah Bald (212º) .  I do not have a photo of the old NPS panels covering Cheoah Bald.

High Rocks

On the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has correctly identified High Rocks (238º) .  I do not have a photo of the old NPS panels covering High Rocks.

Shuckstack

On the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has identified Gregory Bald (262º) as Shuckstack (253º).  Shuckstack is correctly identified on the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome

Gregory Bald

On the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has identified Rocky Top (270º) as Gregory Bald (262º).  Gregory Bald is correctly identified on the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome .

Thunderhead & Silers Bald

Thunderhead (271º) is correctly identified on the old & current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.   Silers Bald (273º) is correctly identified on the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.

Cerulean Knob/Rich Mountain

Cerulean Knob and Rich Mountain (286º) are two names for the same peak.  This peak is correctly identified on the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome.

Blanket Mountain

On the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has identified Blanket Mountain (304º) as Meigs Mountain (306º).  Meigs Mountain cannot be seen from Clingman's Dome.  Blanket Mountain is correctly identified on the current NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome

Chilhowee Mountain

The NPS correctly identified Chilhowee Mountain on the old NPS panel on Clingman’s Dome.  MasterViews did not identify Chilhowee Mountain.  The NPS dropped Chilhowee Mountain on the current NPS panel on Clingman’s Dome.

Cove Mountain & Bluff Mountain

On the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has identified the ridge known as Cove Mountain.  On the current panel on Clingman's Dome, the NPS identifies the highest point on Cove Mountain as Cove Mountain. The official summit of Cove Mountain is 1.5 miles northeast of this peak.  MasterViews did not identify any peak as Cove Mountain.   On the old NPS panels on Clingman’s Dome, the NPS has identified an unnamed peak (333º) on Bluff Mountain as Bluff Mountain (328º).  The official summit of Bluff Mountain is 1.5 miles southwest of this unnamed peak.  MasterViews did not identify any peak as Bluff Mountain.