Natt N. Dodge (1900–1982)

[excerpted from National Park Service website]
National Park Service (NPS) naturalist Natt N. Dodge spent most of his 30-year career at national parks and monuments in the Southwest. The photographs and motion picture films he created were used in NPS educational programs, pamphlets, and exhibits (often uncredited) for many decades. The books he wrote and illustrated on natural history topics forever link him to desert ecosystems.

Following their honeymoon, [Natt and his wife] moved to Seattle, Washington, where he worked as a clerk and salesman for the Superior Honey and Bee Supply Company. Dodge began his writing career around 1926, contributing articles to Bees and Honey magazine and assisting its editor. The earliest known publication of Dodge's photographs was in the November 1926 edition of Bees and Honey, which called him an “excellent amateur photographer.” Dodge also wrote freelance magazine articles published by Sunset, Desert Magazine, The Mid-Pacific Magazine, and others in the 1920s and 1930s.

Dodge joined the NPS as a ranger-naturalist at Mount Rainier National Park in 1932. During his three summers, he frequently contributed poems or short natural history articles to the park's Nature Notes newsletter.

Dodge was also an experienced mountain climber and winter sports enthusiast, providing him opportunities to take photographs in many areas of the park. He photographed glaciers, crevasses, and summit parties, skiing events, landscapes, hiking tours, and wildlife. He tried his hand at night photography and may have had a motion picture camera as well.

While working at Grand Canyon, Natt Dodge wrote two natural history booklets, Trees of the Grand Canyon and Reptiles and Amphibians of the Grand Canyon. He continued to take photographs, many of which are part of his personal collection in the NPS History Collection. In 1937 two of his photographs of hummingbirds on their nest on the North Rim were published in Life magazine.

Dodge traveled to the various monuments over the next few years, taking on many different tasks. Dodge continued to take photographs for the NPS and his personal interests. He also began shooting motion pictures for the NPS.

In October 1942 management of the SWNM moved to the Region III office, as a war-time economy, and the Dodges relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico. In January 1943 he added the duties of acting regional naturalist to his SWNM duties. He also became responsible for the regional library at that time. In summer 1945 Dodge had an acting assignment as NPS chief naturalist. Finally in 1946 Dodge went from acting regional naturalist position to regional naturalist position. He held that position until his retirement in 1963.

The NPS History Collection named him an NPS Eminent Photographer in 2023. In his memory, Colorado State University offers the Natt N. Dodge Scholarship in Natural Resources to incoming freshmen students majoring in biology, zoology, or botany with interest in conservation and ecology, with preference given to students who plan to work for the NPS or US Forest Service.