Re: Giant Forest restoration in Sequoia National Park balances tourism, preservation

Here's an alternate take.....

http://www.giantforestvillage.com

I would say that I don't necessarily agree with the slant of this website, but it's still a different take on what happened.

Quoted from the article:
"Two decades after it was proposed, demolition work in Giant Forest got under way. (Construction at Wuksachi began earlier, in 1985). By 2000, workers had removed 282 buildings, leaving only four main structures in the grove: the former market, which now serves as the Giant Forest Museum; the current Beetle Rock Education Center; a rangers' quarters; and a historic restroom building."


Precedent for retaining the "historic cables" on Half Dome?

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szalkowski
Quoted from the article:
"Two decades after it was proposed, demolition work in Giant Forest got under way. (Construction at Wuksachi began earlier, in 1985). By 2000, workers had removed 282 buildings, leaving only four main structures in the grove: the former market, which now serves as the Giant Forest Museum; the current Beetle Rock Education Center; a rangers' quarters; and a historic restroom building."


Precedent for retaining the "historic cables" on Half Dome?

There isn't exactly a large scale development around Half Dome.

I do have memories of Giant Forest Village. It was the first place I'd ever seen a bear "in the wild". Well - sort of in the wild since it paid a visit to run off with the bag of sliced bread my mom left outside.

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y_p_w

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szalkowski
Quoted from the article:
"Two decades after it was proposed, demolition work in Giant Forest got under way. (Construction at Wuksachi began earlier, in 1985). By 2000, workers had removed 282 buildings, leaving only four main structures in the grove: the former market, which now serves as the Giant Forest Museum; the current Beetle Rock Education Center; a rangers' quarters; and a historic restroom building."


Precedent for retaining the "historic cables" on Half Dome?

There isn't exactly a large scale development around Half Dome.

I do have memories of Giant Forest Village. It was the first place I'd ever seen a bear "in the wild". Well - sort of in the wild since it paid a visit to run off with the bag of sliced bread my mom left outside.

Over the years, almost assuredly the lamest argument that I have ever heard promoted for retention of the Half Dome cables is that they are "historic." The "historic restroom building" reference places that argument in a whole new light.

I fondly recall ensconcing my parents in one of the cabins at GFV in the early '70s while I camped elsewhere. (They lived in the Midwest and that was the closest that I could get them to camping.) Even at that time, the place was disintegrating and was ripe for an urban renewal (urban destruction?) project. Reading the articles, however, I was surprised by the total number of structures that had been built in the area - my guess would have been less than half of the numbers quoted.

My first visit to Giant Forest was in 2000...glad I missed the 282 buildings. What's left now is pretty nice. I've probably passed Wuksachi a dozen times and said "nah" each time.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2009 12:25PM by Vince.

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szalkowski

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y_p_w
I do have memories of Giant Forest Village. It was the first place I'd ever seen a bear "in the wild". Well - sort of in the wild since it paid a visit to run off with the bag of sliced bread my mom left outside.

Over the years, almost assuredly the lamest argument that I have ever heard promoted for retention of the Half Dome cables is that they are "historic." The "historic restroom building" reference places that argument in a whole new light.

I fondly recall ensconcing my parents in one of the cabins at GFV in the early '70s while I camped elsewhere. (They lived in the Midwest and that was the closest that I could get them to camping.) Even at that time, the place was disintegrating and was ripe for an urban renewal (urban destruction?) project. Reading the articles, however, I was surprised by the total number of structures that had been built in the area - my guess would have been less than half of the numbers quoted.

What was remarkable was that it had a Gilbert Stanley Underwood designed pizza parlor.

Definitely keeps out the middle class. Great job park service! I know some people think two hundred dollars a night at Wuksachi Lodge is affordable. It can get even higher during peak periods. I guess compared to air fare to Monte Carlo or a week at Disney World in Florida it is. But for most people it isn't. Yes you can get cheaper room rates if you go in October after Columbus Day. But forget the summer. Oh and yes there are campgrounds. Good luck getting a site at Lodgepole on the weekend during the summer unless you book in advance or get lucky. Incidentally, Wuksachi was supposed to have six buildings. But somehow DNS got out of that and only had to build three thereby keeping the rates higher. And camping out at Cedar Grove doesn't count if you want to be close to Giant Forest. Neither does staying in Visalia.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2009 10:56PM by rightstar76.

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rightstar76
Definitely keeps out the middle class. Great job park service! I know some people think two hundred dollars a night at Wuksachi Lodge is affordable. It can get even higher during peak periods. I guess compared to air fare to Monte Carlo or a week at Disney World in Florida it is. But for most people it isn't. Yes you can get cheaper room rates if you go in October after Columbus Day. But forget the summer. Oh and yes there are campgrounds. Good luck getting a site at Lodgepole on the weekend during the summer unless you book in advance or get lucky. Incidentally, Wuksachi was supposed to have six buildings. But somehow DNS got out of that and only had to build three thereby keeping the rates higher. And camping out at Cedar Grove doesn't count if you want to be close to Giant Forest. Neither does staying in Visalia.

I stayed at Stony Creek a couple of years ago. It was fine and close enough. The Forest Service facilities are an integral part of the area.

I'm not sure if Giant Forest would have been easy to reserve. With today's online reservations, I'd think it would have sold out rather quickly. Who knows what the price would have been too. From the reading of the situation, part of the problem was that the sewage system was in need of a lot of repair, and they thought that fixing it might have killed several trees.

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rightstar76
Neither does staying in Visalia.

What about Three Rivers?