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Hills designation close? |
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Thursday, 04 February 2010 |
 The Alabama Hills are a recreational hub in Southern Inyo, but increased visitors means increased costs for clean-up and road maintenance. The Alabama Hills Stewardship group hopes that a federal designation on the site will provide federal funds for management. File photo By Mike Gervais
Register Staff
2-6-2010 County officials are still cautious when it comes to choosing a designation for the Alabama Hills, but a grass roots movement to find a management plan continues moving forward.
The Alabama Hills Stewardship Group Designation Subcommittee provided the Board of Supervisors with an update on the designation process on Tuesday.
While all five board members pledged support and gratitude to Sub-Committee members, the Supervisors were also leery of inviting more federal management into the Eastern Sierra.
Committee members Kevin Mazzu, Chris Langley and Doug Thompson explained the history of the group’s search to find a designation.
“The idea is to preserve the fantastic landscape of the Alabama Hills and choose a designation before someone else comes in and asks for something we don’t want,” Mazzu said Tuesday.
Photographer David Muench wrote a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein in Feb. 2007, asking that the Hills be designated a National Monument. In Sept. 2008 the Alabama Hills Stewardship Group began looking into the designation process, meeting with Feinstein staffers, local interest groups and user groups in the Hills.
Seven designations were identified, including the “status quo” option of leaving the Hills without a federal designation.
“The idea is to preserve the fantastic landscape of the Alabama Hills and choose a designation before someone else comes in and asks for something we don’t want,” Mazzu said Tuesday.
Photographer David Muench wrote a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein in Feb. 2007, asking that the Hills be designated a National Monument. In Sept. 2008 the Alabama Hills Stewardship Group began looking into the designation process, meeting with Feinstein staffers, local interest groups and user groups in the Hills.
Seven designations were identified, including the “status quo” option of leaving the Hills without a federal designation.
The Stewardship Group has considered asking legislators to consider the Alabamas as a National Monument, National Recreation Area, National Conservation Area, National Scenic and Historic Trails area, a National Scenic Area or Outstanding Natural Area.
“We did reach a decision not to pursue the status quo option,” Mazzu said, adding that most user groups that have been working with the committee agree that some kind of designation is in order.
Mazzu said the group reached the decision to not move forward with the status quo option because visitation at the Hills has been increasing and, this past year, reached more than 100,000 visitors.
He also said that a federal designation could help meet resource challenges such as cleaning up litter, graffiti on boulders, road damage and fire rings.
Though the group has not made a final recommendation for a designation, it is currently considering ether a National Scenic Area or an Outstanding Natural area because, “both adequately describe the area and allow necessary legislative flexibility to accommodate all stakeholder interests.”
Mazzu pointed out that in other areas where a grass-roots organization has requested a designation, legislators have been willing to include language to protect certain land uses and even grazing rights for nearby ranchers.
The board liked the idea of strong working in any legislation dealing with the Hills that would protect current uses, such as off-highway vehicle recreation, camping and, possibly most important, filming.
Second District Supervisor Susan Cash suggested that the group look at creating its own legislation rather than using federal designations that are in existence, to be sure that no blanket reforms or interpretations of current designations change the level of access or uses on the Hills.
To that suggestion, Thompson pointed out that the Outstanding Natural Area designation is not actually in use anywhere in the U.S., and the Alabamas would be the first.
While Fourth District Supervisor Marty Fortney said he supported the grass-roots effort and wanted to continue to work with the group, “I’m still very concerned about the path you are taking. Joshua Tree started out as a National Monument, and now it’s a National Park.”
First District Supervisor Linda Arcularius agreed. “What you have here preserves existing rights, but once you get something designated, then the powers that be will just slip more in,” she said. “It makes it easier for them to expand.”
Mazzu said his group plans to continue methodically researching how other designations have been handled and hopes to continue meeting with the board every couple months to discuss their findings and hear input from county leaders.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 18 February 2010 )
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