Community of Lone Pine celebrates Alabama Hills National Scenic Area
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Lone Pine, Calif. – The Alabama Hills Stewardship Group (AHSG) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Bishop Field Office, along with dozens of stakeholder groups and the community of Lone Pine are gathering to celebrate designation of the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area, which was established by law on March 12, 2019.
Community members, supporters and visitors of the Alabama Hills are invited to join a celebration of stories and place at the Museum of Western Film History in Lone Pine on Saturday, Oct. 5, starting at 6 p.m. The event is free to the public, with food and refreshments provided. There will also be commemorative items available for purchase. A pre-event ribbon cutting is planned for 4 p.m. and requires an RSVP due to limited transportation.
“All these years of community input has helped improve and strengthen both our stewardship efforts and this important designation, as well as our coalition of support,” stated Kathy Bancroft, board president of the Alabama Hills Stewardship Group (AHSG). “The heavy lifting was done early in the process with several final enhancements—based on stakeholder feedback—helping to reach the perfect balance between conservation and access.”
The designation was the culmination of a collaborative 10-year process led by the Alabama Hills Stewardship Group, who gathered input from over 30 stakeholders and 40 different user groups, including the Inyo County Board of Supervisors, Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, Friends of the Inyo, cattle ranchers, rock climbers, four-wheel drive groups, and other public land users. The designation is a rare example of a local grassroots led effort, carried forward in federal legislation, with bipartisan leadership from Congressman Paul Cook and Senator Dianne Feinstein.
The Inyo County Board of Supervisors were also enthusiastic in their support behind the designation, voting unanimously to endorse it and traveling repeatedly to Washington, D.C., to lobby for its passage. “We are excited to see the cooperation and hard work of local stakeholders finally come to fruition,” Matt Kingsley, 5th District - Inyo County Supervisor said.
A decade long effort to explore federal designation for the Alabama Hills led to the designation of the 18,610-acre National Scenic Area, which will be managed by the BLM as part of the National Conservation Lands.
“For years, the Alabama Hills Stewardship Group has worked with us, the local Tribe and the Lone Pine community to promote a shared-stewardship approach towards management of the Hills,” BLM’s Bishop Field Manager Steve Nelson said. “We look forward to building upon this community-based stakeholder effort as we begin to implement the conservation and public access goals established by this unique designation.”
For more information about the community celebration or to RSVP for the pre-event ribbon cutting, please contact by email at alabamahillscelebration@gmail.com, or by telephone at (760) 872-5000.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.