Always just one vote away from ‘No Trespassing’
MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. — You’ll never see Devils Postpile listed among the great natural wonders of the world. Mount Everest, the Grand Canyon or Victoria Falls, it ain’t.
Nonetheless, this geologic oddity is a testament to (1) the handiwork of Mother Nature, (2) human greed and stupidity, (3) outcries from progressives and (4) decisive, if belated, action by the federal government.
In that order.
Devils Postpile is a 60-foot-tall formation of volcanic basalt. It stands at 7,560 feet elevation beside the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. It is crossed by both the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Scenic Trail. Every year, millions exit their shuttle buses and walk a quarter-mile to gaze in awe and snap photos like the paparazzi.
Scientists believe the Postpile was formed by lava flow 100,000 years ago. The liquid basalt cooled slowly, consistently, vertically. The result is an estimated 400 hexagonal columns stacked alongside each other, polished by glaciers over the millennia.
And it damn-near was destroyed.
Correction. Make that “dam-near.”
Originally part of Yosemite National Park, the Postpile found itself smack in the middle of possible gold and silver deposits. In the early 1900s, mining bigwigs greased enough legislative palms to strip the rock wall of protection.
Their plan? Dynamite it to expose ore and impound the river.
A reprieve from this insanity finally came in 1911 when President William Howard Taft decreed Devils Postpile a national monument. In 1984, Congress upped the ante by including it in the Ansel Adams Wilderness Area.
But before the high-fiving grows too boisterous, bear in mind: As American interests evolve, public treasures are one generation and one vote away from the auction block.
Check out the crowd at any national park, forest or recreation area. There are kids, yes; lots of them. But the vast majority are old, white and sure to disappear in a few more decades.
I’m not alone in this concern.
Cassius Cash, superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, has made attracting young, diverse audiences a high priority. A child of the city himself, Cash knows the importance of getting new feet off the concrete and into the woods.
A Yosemite volunteer voiced the same theme. If we don’t cultivate teenagers and young adults, he told me, they could very well shrug their shoulders at suggestions of privatization.
Think that would never happen? Don’t bet the farm.
It takes scant, albeit frightening, imagination to picture a gated community in Cades Cove somewhere down the pike.
Woody Guthrie, where are you? We need to hear “This Land Is Your Land” as a constant reminder.
Sam Venable’s column appears Sunday and Tuesday. Contact him at email@example.com.