Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

Budget cuts end Forest Service interpretive programs

Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

This post was written by Sarah Melcher, 2011 Mono Lake Intern.

The Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.

Just a few days after we received notice of the new round of budget cuts that have ended the 26-year Mono Lake tradition of interpretive tours at Mono Lake, I took a visit to the Mono Basin National Forest Service Scenic Area Visitor Center to inquire about the remainder of their interpretive programs. I was surprised to find that another strong tradition has been lost to budget cuts: patio talks, which have gone on since 1992. These short ranger- and volunteer-led talks focused on topics such as the cultural and natural history of the Mono Basin.

Since its grand opening in 1992, the Visitor Center has deeply valued interpretation because it reaches visitors in a very creative, informative, dynamic and positive way. Interpretive programs are designed to increase the public’s awareness and appreciation of the forest, Mono Lake, and its resources, as well as help them to understand land management issues and practices. As such, interpretation has always been viewed as a necessary element to the continued growth of recreation in the Eastern Sierra.

Interpretative programs serve to protect the resources of the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area through increasing the public’s knowledge of the aesthetic, biological and cultural values of these public lands, thus increasing public responsibility toward these resources.

With the cancellation of the daily 1:00pm South Tufa walking tours and the daily 10:00am and 2:00pm patio talks, all Forest Service ranger-led programs designed to educate the visiting public about the area have now been cut. The fate of these interpretive programs is a sad side-effect of the heavy cutbacks currently underway in the US Forest Service. One patio talk, however, will continue: Mono Lake Committee naturalists give a presentation each Wednesday at 10:00am focused on creek restoration. The talk is followed by an excursion into the field to assist with invasive weed pulling or Jeffrey pine watering. Contact Julia or Mila for details.

With the Tufa State Natural Reserve on the State Park closure list (read more and take action here!), the cancellation of Forest Service interpretive programs could soon be followed by State Natural Reserve programs, threatening to end the longstanding collaboration that has characterized interpretive partnerships in the Mono Basin.