By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Editor
Representatives of the U.S. Forest Service attended the Running Springs Area Chamber of Commerce for the first time on Jan. 14.
Acting District Ranger Mike Ho attended virtually while Battalion Chief Brian Grant was there in person.
“We want to have open communication with the community,” Ho said.
Resident Bruce Daniels had submitted a number of questions to the chamber and the Forest Service.
“I want to thank the firefighters for working together,” Daniels said. “How can we work together when it comes to the environment, ecotourism and recreation? To what extend does the Forest Service use the community as a resource?”
Ho responded that they “receive requests for ecotourism and evaluate them. They compete against other projects.” He added they are reviewing permits to see how they can better support ecotourism.
“I’m interested in the degree to which the San Bernardino National Forest works with other agencies to get the kinds of resources you need,” Daniels said. “You are becoming more of a fire department than forestry. We are here to help you as a community. How we can work together is of major importance to me.”
When Daniels mentioned the Keller Peak fire lookout tower – which was badly damaged in the Line Fire – Grant noted that “positive stuff is happening with the lookout. The tower is an iconic feature as is the Children’s Forest.”
Ho added that “we collaborate with the Southern California Mountains Foundation (which oversees the fire lookout towers). We met with them. There is overwhelming support and love for Keller Peak. We’ve given them permission to be the public face to go out to the public and fundraise in order to rebuild. We can handle the engineering and environmental analysis for it.”
Ho estimated it will cost more than a half million dollars to rebuild the tower. “That’s the baseline. It will go up from there,” he said. “We are not afraid of the amount of work needed to rebuild it. We submitted it to regional headquarters as a post-fire recovery item; it made it on the list.”
Casey Shaffer, the recreation officer for the Mountain Top Ranger District, noted they are still in the early stages, “figuring out the cost and feasibility of rebuilding, which we want to do.”
In his president’s report, Kevin Somes noted the chamber has a lot of exciting plans for 2025. “There are some great opportunities for us to make a difference in downtown,” he said. “We hope to get some grant funds and have spoken with Supervisor Dawn Rowe.”
Somes had traveled up to Sacramento on Dec. 4 and met with the director of Caltrans and the assistant director of District 8. “There is still a lot of work to do on the 330,” was the message he brought back. “There is far more damage than is visible – miles of guardrail.
“They understand what we’re going through,” Somes said. “They want to keep the lines of communication open. We need to continue to advocate for our community.”
Somes said he had met with a representative of Southern California Edison the previous week; they talked about some of the challenges – complaints about the PSPS, food that residents lost. They are working on a date to hold a community meeting.
Board member Jordan Zarate reported there will be a public hearing held by the SCAQMD (South Coast Air Quality Management District) on Feb. 7, addressing the proposed amended rules to require electric hot water heaters and furnaces.
Looking ahead to next year, board member Dean Langley said Green Valley Lake will be celebrating its centennial. “We want to have a big celebration,” he said, adding they are talking a whole week with music and a parade.
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