Park
managers hit the road
in
series of public meetings
Three
Rivers is first stop
on
workshop circuit
BY JOHN
ELLIOTT
On Wednesday in Three
Rivers, National Park Service officials kicked off a whirlwind nine-day
tour of public meetings to seek input on the Sequoia and Kings Canyon
National Parks draft General Management Plan (GMP). The 600-plus-page
document, when approved, is expected to guide the parks’ management
decisions until at least 2030.
Three Rivers was the first of 10 public meetings that will
include stops in Visalia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Clovis, Sacramento,
Bishop, and at three sites within park boundaries. The Three Rivers
meeting began with remarks by Dick Martin, Sequoia-Kings Canyon superintendent.
“We’re
not pretending that this [the draft] is a perfect document,” Martin
said. “We will change the plan when we get comments that are lucid
and within the NPS mission.”
Martin cited several instances in how the process worked
in Death Valley National Park, where he was superintendent before coming
to Sequoia four years ago. These meetings, he said, are about hearing
from the public and seeking input on whatever issue or concern that
might be of interest.
“When you told
us that more time was needed to respond to the GMP, we were happy to
extend the deadline for receiving comments from August 5 to October
6,” said Susan Spain, a planning specialist from the NPS regional
office in Denver.
Spain admitted that it was a quite a challenge to come
up with a plan that will guide these parks when the area’s population
is expected to experience dramatic growth and changing user groups.
The area’s population is expected to be largely Hispanic, Spain
said, and many of these people will visit the national parks.
Spain and David Graber, Sequoia Park’s chief scientist, are serving
as principals on the GMP, and each gave portions of a brief overview
as to what has happened since the work on the plan began in 1997.
“The process
started by building a scoping document,” Graber said. “This
is the first management plan to be constructed for Sequoia-Kings Canyon
under the environmental review process as required by law.”
As a result of the scoping efforts, Graber said, in 2001,
NPS planners were able to develop some “fairly formalized alternatives.”
“We compared
several hundred elements and selected alternatives that we felt had
the greatest benefits,” Graber said.
Spain also pointed out that the planning process had prompted
several areas of “civic engagement,” including a memorandum
of understanding relating to the Mineral King cabins and the determination
that the Mineral King district was eligible to be listed in The National
Register of Historic Places.
After a PowerPoint presentation featuring quotes from George
Bush’s May 2001 visit — “Our duty is to use the land
well or sometimes not to use it at all” — the audience was
encouraged to adjourn to several stations to examine alternatives and
prescriptions in one or more of several of the GMP’s areas of
public interest.
Of the approximately 50 non-park employees who attended the Three Rivers
meeting, the majority were interested in how the plan might affect the
special-use-permit cabins in Mineral King, the most controversial and
challenging issue contained within the draft GMP. When asked why the
local parks had for so long ignored the preservation of historical resources
like the rustic Mineral King cabin community, Spain said it was because
historic preservation was not previously in the management vision.
But Spain also said a new GMP could change that situation
and that the preservation of Mineral King presents the first tangible
opportunity. The ultimate challenge, she explained, is how best to do
that.
“What we really
want to see is a creative, generous approach to preserving Mineral King,”
Spain said. “We’re seeking a partnership that can meet the
preservation criteria we have outlined in the plan.’’
GMP
MEETING SCHEDULE
Friday, July 16, 6-8 pm
Central Library, 630 W. Fifth St.
Los Angeles
Monday,
July 19
10 am-noon: Lodgepole
6-9 pm: College of the Sequoias
Visalia
Tuesday, July 20
10 am-noon: Grant Grove
3-5 pm: Cedar Grove
Wednesday,
July 21, 7-9 pm
BLM Field Office,
351 Pacu Ln., #100
Bishop
Thursday, July 22, 6-8 pm
Rex Phebus Memorial Building
453 Hughes Ave., Clovis
|
Pot
farm eradicated
on
Mineral King Road
In the midst of the busy summer
tourist season, Sequoia National Park rangers, on Wednesday, July 7,
raided a marijuana farm off Mineral King Road that contained nearly
4,000 young plants, 200 pounds of fertilizer, and hundreds of yards
of irrigation tubing that was used to siphon water from a nearby creek.
The next morning (Thursday, July 8), a supply and personnel
drop to the locale was intercepted and a firearm confiscated.
Assisting in this ongoing “Operation No Grow”
effort were officers from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and
Tulare County Sheriff’s Office.
In the past decade, marijuana cultivation in Sequoia has increased steadily
and nearly 10 times more pot plants were seized last year than just
three years ago. The multimillion-dollar marijuana plantations are tended
by armed growers who are a threat to both park visitors and natural
resources, as they have killed wildlife, diverted and polluted waterways,
and alter the landscape.
Officials report that these growing operations are managed
by Mexican cartels that have been linked to Mideast terrorists.
To report suspected marijuana-growing activities on park
lands, call the crime hotline: 1-888-NPS-CRIME.
Park hires
chief ranger
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National
Parks has been without a chief ranger since November 2002, when Debbie
Bird flew north to become superintendent of Lake Roosevelt National
Recreation Area in Washington.
That high-ranking position has now been filled with the
selection of James D. (JD) Swed, who is currently the chief ranger at
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
Swed has formerly been a law-enforcement ranger at several
parks including Grand Canyon and Yosemite. He will be relocating his
family to the area, planning to arrive at his new post in October.
Visalia
man injured
in
single-car accident
On Tuesday, July 13,
at 3:15 p.m., John Winchester, 38, of Visalia was injured when his 1995
Ford Escort suddenly left the roadway, struck an embankment, and rolled
over. Winchester was driving westbound on Sierra Drive just east of
Slick Rock Recreation Area when the accident occurred.
According to Officer Travis with the CHP in Visalia, the
cause of the accident was not immediately determined and remains under
investigation. The extent of the victim’s injuries was not given
in the initial accident report.
WHO'S
NEWS:
Miss Tulare County competes
for
Miss California
Janessa Wells of Three Rivers, the reigning Miss Tulare County, was
selected as one of the 10 semifinalists at the Miss California Pageant
at an evening ceremony held Saturday, July 10, in Fresno. Janessa, 20,
who is the first Three Rivers resident to be crowned Miss Tulare County,
competed against 51 other contestants.
She is also the first Miss Tulare County in more than a decade to be
ranked in the top 10 of Miss California contestants.
Janessa, who attends the College of San Mateo, received a $1,500 scholarship
for her efforts. As a semifinalist, she participated in talent, swimsuit,
casual wear, and evening wear competitions, as well as an onstage interview.
The new Miss California is Veena Goel, 22, of Los Angeles.
Young
equestrian has world standing
Kacie Fleeman of Three Rivers represented California at the American
Paint Horse Association World Show, held in Fort Worth, Texas, from
June 20 to July 3.
Kacie, a fifth-grader at Three Rivers School, placed fourth overall
and highest in the state in the youth team competition of the Walk-Trot
Pleasure category.
Also, competing against teams from Germany, Australia, Canada, and throughout
the U.S., Kacie participated in four classes of the American Junior
Paint Horse Association World Show, placing in the top 10 in all —
Western Horsemanship (sixth place); English Equitation (seventh place);
Trail (10th); and Showmanship (10th).
As a result, Kacie has been ranked by the American Junior Paint Horse
Association as seventh overall in the world. Kacie is the daughter of
Darrell and Jayme Fleeman of Three Rivers.
Familiar voice sounds
off
at national horse show
In another breed of horse show, Steve Wood of Three Rivers, who operates
Wood ‘N’ Horse Training Stables with his wife, Christy,
was selected to announce the 57th National Appaloosa Show and World
Championship Appaloosa Youth Show.
The event was held June 28 to July 10 in Oklahoma City, Okla., where
more than 1,300 of the top Appaloosa horses from around the nation competed
for national and world titles.
Because of this prestigious selection, the Wood ‘N’ Horse
Show Team declined to compete at the show. Had the team opted to participate,
Steve would have had to withdraw from the announcer’s position
due to conflict-of-interest rules.
The Wood ‘N’ Horse team, which is continuing to compete
at the state level, will make a comeback at next year’s national
show.
“I took up announcing horse shows to travel more with Christy,”
explained Steve.
Christy judges shows for various breed associations throughout the U.S.
and abroad.
“But so many times we are at the Fresno airport together, then
board separate planes,” he said. “However, we’ve traveled
to some great destinations together for the purpose of judging and announcing
horse shows.”
The couple has made four working trips each to Australia and New Zealand.
They will team up again in Fort Worth, Texas, for the 2004 American
Miniature Horse Association World Championships.
As a National Show official, Steve is featured in the Appaloosa Journal’s
July issue. On the cover of the May issue of Appaloosa Journal, Christy
is pictured in a horse-drawn cart, a lead-in to a story about pleasure
driving.
Park fires
in simmer mode
The Tharps Prescribed
Fire in the Giant Forest area of Sequoia National Park behaved like
a model prescription fire, with the smoke being barely noticed by Three
Rivers residents. This fire, and the Buena Vista Prescribed Fire in
Kings Canyon National Park continue to burn within the designated boundaries.
On Sunday, July 4, Ash Mountain fire personnel and the
California Department of Forestry responded to a fire of unknown origin
5.5 miles up the Mineral King Road. This fire was immediately suppressed.
In addition, two lightning-caused fires in Sequoia —
near Mehrten Meadow and Panther Peak — have been suppressed. Two
lightning-caused fires in Kings Canyon will be allowed to burn naturally.
Pizza
Factory softball team
wins
season's first half
Take
me out to the ballgame...
On Thursday, July 8, Pizza Factory defeated Chumps and
won the first half of the Three Rivers men’s Poison Oak League
softball title. The win guarantees the victorious team a berth in the
league championship game scheduled for Thursday, August 12.
If Pizza Factory, managed by Edmund Pena, can win the second
half of the season’s eight-game schedule, they will win the league
trophy outright. At least seven of the team’s current roster are
related (Pena, Garza, Groeber) and consist of three father-son duos,
so playing for Pizza Factory is really a family affair.
“I was concerned
at the beginning of the season because so many former players were unable
to return,” Pena said. “But the guys we do have are really
hitting the ball and that’s why we are winning.”
Root, root, root
for the home team...
The league has undergone some changes this season and one
team — Village Market — has had difficulty getting at least
eight players (the minimum needed to play an official game) to show
up on a consistent basis.
According to Three Rivers Recreation Committee representatives,
at a pre-season meeting there was a suggestion to consolidate the fifth
team into the remaining four. It was determined by team managers to
continue the five-team format at least throughout the 2004 season.
The games are played at Three Rivers School on Tuesday
and Thursday nights and every third Sunday. This season, the league
is expected to conclude with a traditional post-season double-elimination
tournament from Aug.19 through 22.
Buy me some peanuts
and Cracker Jacks...
Since the 1970s, the Poison Oak men’s summer softball
league has been a way for fans and local families to socialize.
Among the highlights of the 2004 season is a refreshment
stand managed by some enterprising Three Rivers kids. Reminiscent of
an old-fashioned lemonade stand, this snack cart’s inventory is
headlined by piping-hot popcorn served with a side of caramel.
It’s one, two,
three strikes you’re out...
Second-half signups are currently available with a pro-rated
fee. Interested players must have completed the eighth grade.
ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS
The
historic... the odd...
the
eye-catching...
the
unbelievable
BEN
HARRIS :
The
legend of the liar
BY SARAH
ELLIOTT
LEMON COVE— At the Lemon
Cove Fire Station, mounted on granite, is a plaque that pays tribute
to a man who most people would not want to sit next to, but is immortalized
in mountain lore.
Depending on the season, Ben Harris (March 4, 1850~June
22, 1934) was a resident of Farmersville, Lemon Cove, Three Rivers,
and Mineral King. He spent his entire adult life as a mountain man and
guide who regaled, or perhaps just plain scared, tenderfeet with his
accounts, true and otherwise, of his high-country exploits.
Ben arrived in Tulare County from Texas while in his 20s.
He was a hunter who was hired during the Mineral King mining boom (1870s)
to supply meat for the camps while he, too, dabbled in the prospecting
and mining of the region.
His hygiene was as well known as his tall tales and it
is said that people didn’t camp with Ben, they camped upwind of
Ben. Because he never bathed and rarely changed clothes, even relatives
reputedly would not let him inside their homes.
Grace Alles would feed Ben at her Atwell Mill cabin along
the Mineral King Road as he passed by, but would make sure he was seated
between her husband and brother-in-law. She was afraid if he sat by
any of the hired millhands, they would walk off the job immediately.
Ben traveled with his horses — Rosie and Rodeo —
and his dog, Jimmy Britt, and, later, Bigger, so named because he was
bigger than Jimmy Britt.
I was raised with Ben Harris tall tales as told by my grandfather,
Bob Barton. A favorite is the “echo canyon”...
When camping with others in a certain Sierra locale, Ben
would yell “Time to get up!” as he was turning in for the
night. The wake-up call would return to camp at the proper time in the
morning, rousting the men from their bedrolls.
Then there’s the one about Ben’s redwood pencil.
It came about when a giant sequoia was struck by lightning, causing
it to fall from atop a mountain.
It rolled down and down and down. By the time it reached
Ben, it had worn down to a mere twig, and Ben reached over, picked it
up, and claimed this “redwood pencil” as his own.
Are these stories true? Well, let’s ask Ben.
As he was sitting in a Visalia saloon one day, entertaining
the patrons with tales of how many deer he shot, a man nearby flashed
his badge and said he was a game warden.
Ben quickly explained, “Well, to make a long story
short, I’m the biggest liar in Tulare County.”
In addition to the plaque at the Lemon Cove Fire Station,
Ben Harris’s Winchester rifle is on display at the Tulare County
Historical Museum at Mooney Grove in Visalia.
