By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh visited the Heap’s Peak Arboretum on Highway 18 recently, took a tour of the trails and the gardens and heard about the many volunteers of the Rim of the World Interpretive Association (ROWIA) who maintain the facility.
The senator arrived just after a mid-day quick rainstorm had cleared the air, cutting some of the previously blistering heat. Fortunately, the storm did not make the trail muddy. The senator was thrilled to see so many volunteers and insisted on walking the whole trail to see what ROWIA had created and maintains. She asked questions as she walked and enjoyed the various points of interest, including Joe’s Creek, which is just drying up, the sequoia grove and marveled at the many relaxing benches and bridges the group maintains.
ROWIA will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Arboretum on Oct. 5. They will hold a reception to recognize many of the triumphs achieved over the past 40 years and to show off the facility.
They are planning to apply for some grants to extend the 0.7-mile trail and cut a new trail into new areas of the 30-acre arboretum. One of the reasons the senator was visiting was to see all they do and some their needs. She was inspired by the location and saw and expressed the many benefits the forest can bring to those who visit it.
The volunteers spoke to the senator about the triumphs and difficulties of operating a USFS-owned location, and questioned how to get their use permit extended again since the location is open 365 days a year and is visited by hundreds of thousands of locals and visitors each year.
These volunteers love maintaining the Arboretum but have funding problems as, although $1 of the parking fee charged should be received by them, they haven’t even been getting that fee this last year. During the winter each year they have trees that fall and maintenance that needs to be performed to maintain the trails; sometimes professionals are required as the USFS doesn’t do that for them.
The history of Heaps Peak begins with Fred Heaps who owned a ranch and hunting lodge at that location in the 1890s. After Fred died, his nephew built a lumber harvesting sawmill on the location. A huge fire burned through the area in 1922, leaving blackened tree trunks and stumps, occurring just as the communities were beginning to be established.
In 1928 the Lake Arrowhead Women’s Club, headed by Mary Putnam Henck, organized the first planting of new trees, coordinating club members and enlisting students from Lake Arrowhead Elementary School under the supervision of Forest Ranger Lynn Correll to assist in the project. In 1931 the site was officially named the Heaps Peak Reforestation Project.
They continued to do replanting of the area yearly in honor of Arbor Day. Anne Henck began planting sequoia trees in one area, which has turned into the Ann Henck sequoia grove, one of the largest sequoia groves in Southern California.
When World War II began, all of the planting was halted as the men went off to war; the reforestation project never resumed after the war. The Bear Fire in 1956 again burned the area. Eventually the easily accessible US Forest Service land off the main road became an illegal dumping ground and was mostly ignored.
Then, in 1982, local school teacher and former forest volunteer George Hesemann was upset at the neglect and mess. After learning the history of the area, he decided to make a difference and assembled volunteers, creating the Rim of the World Interpretive Association, who cleaned up the site. They planted over 175 trees, created a nature trail and opened it as Heaps Peak Arboretum in 1984. ROWIA has maintained the trails under the permission of the USFS. Hesemann died in 1998, but ROWIA thrived under his expert forethought and coordination for the future.
The Old Fire in 2003 again burned parts of the Arboretum but ROWIA rerouted and built a new trail. ROWIA has added butterfly gardens, footprint trails and an information kiosk, open weekends much of the year, depending on weather and availability of volunteers.
Having Senator Ochoa Bogh visit inspired the ROWIA volunteers. After seeing all they have accomplished and are doing, she encouraged them to go after the grants they have been investigating.
While there, Ochoa Bogh encountered on the trail a USFS insect expert who was setting traps to determine the types of insects that live in the area and their levels of health in the forest. She said this reflects the health of the forest and the wildlife in the area.
Christine Smiley, the ROWIA president, was pleased Ochoa Bogh visited and said ROWIA does plan to follow up on applying for the grants, as the senator encouraged. Every weekend in September leading up to the anniversary event on Oct. 5 they will be having special activities.
The Arboretum will host free bird walks every first and third Saturday at 10 a.m. into the fall, weather permitting. Bringing binoculars is suggested for the best views. In conjunction with Rim Family Services, they host scavenger hunts several times a season. They also have a native plant sale twice a year.
For more information on the Arboretum, visit www.arboretum.com.
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