Kümmel was an elder at Prospect Street Church and sat on the judicial commission for the trial of Rev.

Two quit board in Machen trial; Successors chosen after one of those named is said to sympathize with pastor.

On May 12, 1908, Kümmel became the founding chairman of the Association of American State Geologists (AASG) in Washington, D.C.

[5] Kümmel's work on the Morris Canal also led the way for the preservation of the Pequannoc Spillway and Pompton Dam in Pequannock, NJ through his proclamation that to remove them would reduce the surrounding area to a series of "ill smelling mud flats," a statement quoted by consulting engineer Cornelius Clarkson Vermeule II upon his decision to preserve the structures.

[7][8] Kümmel also served as director of the Department of Conservation and Development, where on May 19, 1932, he presided over the acceptance of 2,500 plants for the George Washington Memorial Arboretum at Washington Crossing State Park from Charles Lathrop Pack and his son Arthur Newton Pack.