By JULIANNE HOMOKAY
Special to the Alpine Mountaineer
“It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.”
In addition to all the practical and environmental concerns the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust (SBMLT) addresses, this Robert Louis Stevenson quote on the SBMLT website perhaps sums up the spirit of the organization most successfully. On Oct. 18 at 3 p.m., Polly Sauer, the tireless mountain activist and vice president of the SBMLT, and her cohorts mounted an elegant dedication to the donor and memorial wall at Arrowhead Ridge that exemplified why.
Since 1996, the SBMLT has been acting to “protect…the spectacular lands of the San Bernardino Mountains in southern California” (sbmlt.net). To accomplish this, this nonprofit organization has amassed funds from a variety of government agencies and private donors alike to purchase endangered lands for the Trust. In doing so, they have protected over 15,000 acres of open space from unscrupulous real estate development, secured environmental corridors and availed much of this space for public enjoyment.
The Oct. 18 ceremony honored the donors and activists who have most ardently pursued this mission, many of them commemorated on the donor wall created by master stone carver and sculptor Marcel Machler and stone mason Mike Rose. During the program emceed by Sauer, several people involved in the rescue of Arrowhead Ridge spoke to this tract of land’s unique history.
The newly landscaped donor memorial wall.
First, Sauer acknowledged the ancestral history of the Native Americans who first lived in the area, the Serrano or Yuhaaviatam, meaning “people of the pines.”
“We hope to honor and celebrate our indigenous neighbors and partners. Today is a day of celebration, remembrance and reflection on this sacred ground,” said Sauer.
After the Reverend Dr. Bill Stanley of Lake Arrowhead Community Presbyterian Church offered an invocation, President Peter Jorris detailed how this tract of the National Forest ended up in the hands of a private real estate developer, caught the attention of locals who wanted to fight the development and how the land trust was created. Diane Stockl, former president of the Arrowhead Forest Preservation Action Committee, went into further detail about the chain of circumstances that led to her committee helping to acquire the acres for the Land Trust.
Dr. Fillmore Smiley got up to offer a moving thanks to the Trust for erecting one of the memorial benches to his departed daughter, Rose, on the site, and to update the crowd on his efforts to reform DUI laws.
Sauer then returned to the microphone to offer her moving final thanks to the caterers and all who helped produce the event, the landscaping and masonry teams, and all the people who made the rescue of Arrowhead Ridge possible.
“And most especially, we wish to thank all of you gathered here today, and all of our donors and supporters. Words are never enough. When you look around you, thank yourself. This is because of all of you,” she concluded.
It was a fitting tribute to the many, many people who engaged in the arduous fight to protect this land in perpetuity, so that it may continue to renew weary spirits.
To donate to SBMLT and learn more about their efforts, visit sbmlt.net.
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