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Amidst grief, supporters champion center rebuild |
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Thursday, 11 September 2008 |
 Patti Wells, 26-year Naturalist for the Shulman Grove Visitor Center, called the loss “devastating,” and spoke about the compliments the center had received from visitors just days before fire destroyed the facility sometime Thursday morning. Photo by Mike Bodine By Mike Bodine
Register Staff
9-9-2008 Sources near and far continue to offer their condolences in reaction to the loss of the Schulman Grove Visitor Center, destroyed last week by a fire still under investigation by the federal government.
The loss of the resource to the global community has also inspired a resolve among many to rebuild the facility used by thousands each year in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest.
“The loss of the visitor center by fire comes as shocking news,” U.S. Representative Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) said in a statement issued Friday. “Having visited the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, I know first-hand the splendor of these amazing trees and the surrounding area. The Inyo National Forest and its famous grove of ancient Bristlecone pines are a treasured part of our district, and we will do everything we can to rebuild.”
McKeon’s sentiment was shared by many, politicians and private citizens alike.
Lisa Page, spokesperson for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, said Monday, “The governor is saddened by the loss of a such a historic site and one that was so important to Inyo County and the thousands that visited every year.”
California Assemblyman Bill Maze said Monday that he was saddened by the news. “This is unbelievable,” he said.
Maze had taken his staff to the forest three years ago during a retreat and, he said, for his staff to familiarize itself with such a significant piece of history tucked away in a remote part of the 34th District. Maze said the lack of major media attention paid to the significance of the visitor center’s demise was unfortunate. “Out of sight, out of mind,” Maze said, summing up the media’s coverage of something that happened in such a remote, obscure locale.
Friends of the Inyo President Paul McFarland said Friday that the Schulman Grove Visitor Center was a flagship for the Forest Service. He said that there is not another facility like the Schulman Visitor Center anywhere else in the world.
James Wilson of the local chapter of the Audubon Society called the loss “a tragedy, like a library burning down, it’s beyond bad.” Wilson said Monday he had just recently visited the forest and the center. “The building put a human face to the Bristlecones.”
“It’s a real tragedy, but it was a building and a new one can be built and we should all help,” Wilson explained.
Rebuilding has been on the tongues of all those concerned since the fateful day. Looking out among the smoldering debris last Thursday, Inyo National Forest Public Affairs Officer Nancy Upham said, “We will rise from the ashes.”
During a recent book launching party in Mammoth for one of three forthcoming publications about Bristlecone pines, Schulman Grove Visitor Center Manager and Ranger for the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest John Louth spoke of plans to rebuild.
“I’d like to see a backhoe there by early spring with an opening in July 2010,” Louth submitted. The new center will be built by the Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association, not the federal government.
“Not a bigger, better building, but just the same as we had,” he said. “My sense of personal loss morphed into a steely resolve to rebuild. My loss is for the tight-knit community.”
Louth said he intends to raise $325,000, half the cost of a new building, and is asking for matching funds.
“I’m looking for 300 people who can donate $1,000 … or a thousand people that can donate $300 each. It’s not another visitors’ center; it’s a commitment to the trees,” Louth explained.
A celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the official designation of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is still slated for Sept, 20. Details about the celebration, as far as when and where, will be reported as soon as they become available.
(Mammoth Times Editor Diane Eagle contributed to this report.)
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 07 October 2008 )
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