  We present a study of the stellar and circumstellar properties of Class I
sources using low-resolution (R~1000) near-infrared K- and L-band spectroscopy.
We measure prominent spectral lines and features in 8 objects and use fits to
standard star spectra to determine spectral types, visual extinctions, K-band
excesses, and water ice optical depths. Four of the seven systems studied are
close binary pairs; only one of these systems, Haro 6-10, was angularly
resolvab le. For certain stars some properties found in our analysis differ
substantially from published values; we analyze the origin of these
differences. We determine extinction to each source using three different
methods and compare and discuss the resulting values. One hypothesis that we
were testing, that extinction dominates over the K-band excess in obscuration
of the stellar photospheric absorption lines, appears not to be true. Accretion
luminosities and mass accretion rates calculated for our targets are highly
uncertain, in part the result of our inexact knowledge of extinction. For the
six targets we were able to place on an H-R diagram, our age estimates, <2 Myr,
are somewhat younger than those from comparable studies. Our results underscore
the value of low-resolution spectroscopy in the study of protostars and their
environments; however, the optimal approach to the study of Class I sources
likely involves a combination of high- and low-resolution near-infrared,
mid-infrared, and millimeter wavelength observations. Accurate and precise
measurements of extinction in Class I protostars will be key to improving our
understanding of these objects.
