the San Gorgonio wilderness to get away from the congested areas of southern California. To take 3,500 acres for skiing from the heart of the San Gorgonio wilderness would destroy the natural beauty and seclusion necessary for the integrity of the area. Thank you. RIVERSIDE, CALIF., November 23, 1965. Members of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, House of Representatives, U.S., Washington, D.C. GENTLEMEN: This letter is a supplement to my original statement and I wish it to be made part of the record for the San Bernardino Field Hearing. For two days I sat through the San Gorgonio Wilderness hearing waiting for my turn to offer my testimony verbally. Even though my testimony has been entered into the record as if read, it is not the same. I was not represented by any group since I am not a member of any of the groups. I had quoted a proponent for the use of the area for mechanized skiing but did not name him in the hopes the committee might be interested enough to cross-examine me to find out who the man was. Mr. Robert Marshall said that the entrance into the record those statements which could not be given orally because of the lack of time would be equitable. I disagree with this since it did not allow the cross-examination of persons offering testimony for the elucidation of facts. Although equal time was to be given to both sides it turned out that Mr. Johnson, a bill sponsor for opening the area up for skiing, took large chunks of the opponents time to restate what he had said time after time. I am not so sure that I agree with this equal time mandate. A hearing is analogous to a trial which does not, under any circumstances, limit the time of the prosecution nor the defense. However, what is guaranteed is that all evidence to be offered is given the time to be presented. What is really upsetting is that a proponent, Mr. Chandler P. North, had the opportunity to testify verbally twice. His second testimony dealt with the flora of the San Gorgonio Wilderness and was presented as if he were giving expert opinion and facts on the flora of the area. I am a biologist and would rely on more of what two eminent botanists had said in testimony, as presented in letters for the record, than on the opinions of a man who is not working directly on a field problem of the distribution of floras in the San Gorgonio Wilderness. The second portion of my letter deals with the camp situation on the edge of the San Gorgonio Wilderness. During the summer of 1960 I was the camp director at the Lake Arrowhead Woodcraft Ranger Camp. The camp is surrounded by civilization: bounded by motels, an American Legion Building, a road, and the Lake Arrowhead Village within a mile of the camp. There are really no close areas where the children could get away from the major structural influences of civilization. A good many of the children at the Lake Arrowhead Camp were from underprivileged groups. I believe that most of the children were cheated in a sense, since they really could never get into the wilds because the cost of transportation would have been prohibitive. The 24 youth camps which are located on the edge of the San Gorgonio Wildnerness are in a position to offer their young campers a really wonderful experiencea trip to real wilderness. A place where they can go on their own steam without the aid of contrivances. To put in a mechanized ski area would destroy the wilderness, even if closed in the summer, the presence of a road, a parking lot, ski lifts, etc. would not constitute a wilderness but the antithesis of wilderness. I firmly believe that to put a ski lift area in at San Gorgonio would be an injustice to the many children who use the area and those who would like to use it in the future. Yes, we need ski lifts, but we need wilderness more, especially the San Gorgonio Wilderness. Sincerely yours, THOMAS L. DANIELSEN. STATEMENT OF MRS. ALICE M. TERVIS, INDIVIDUAL, LOS ANGELES, CALIF. Mrs. TERVIS. I am a native of California, having lived in southern California for over 50 years, a resident of Los Angeles, and a taxpayer in San Bernardino County, I am a Democrat and strongly opposed to any moneymaking scheme to demolish the wild country; especially the San Gorgonio area. This group of developers who are trying to commercialize this area are not thinking of the dear children that they speak of, saying that they have not touched snow, and so forth. There are no children. in southern California that cannot or have not touched snow if they so care to. There are many areas within 50 miles of all southern California Mount Baldy, Big Pines, Mount Waterman, and many more, including Mount Wilson. Contrary to their statement, a ski lift is not all that will have to be built; cocktail lounges, restaurants, housing, and so forth, which means beer cans, garbage, and what have you, littering the wild country. Is this the way to keep California beautiful? Have these moneymongers signed papers to prove that they will build a road out of sight of the hundreds of boys and girls camps in this area to accommodate the ski bums, potential juvenile delinquents, who will be driving at high speeds on the scenic drive leading up to this beautiful area that I have traveled for over 35 years? I speak for thousands of other natives. If the land is for sale, why is it not offered and sold to the people who have been in the area for many years? The leases are being taken away and people are offered pittance for their homes. Why? Thank you. STATEMENT OF JOSEPHINE JONES, INDIVIDUAL, SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. Mrs. JONES. Gentlemen, my name is Josephine Jones. I am opposed to any form of action that would alter the present status of the San Gorgonio Wilderness area. I'm opposed for many reasons. I don't feel this area that's now designated "wilderness" can remain wilderness if a commercial ski development is allowed within the boundaries. Having camped, hiked, and skied with my family in the San Gorgonio mountains for the past 5 years I feel very much at home there. I learned to ski in those mountains and my first ski tour experience was to the "Little Draw" which is located high on the north face of Mount Jepson. I like to ski downhill as well as ski tour. I'm not opposed to ski resorts, but I am opposed to one being built within the San Gorgonio Wilderness area. This area is and can be used for ski touring. What a wonderful area for training potential Olympic crosscountry skiers. I don't consider myself an athlete, but with my husband and 13-year-old son I've ski toured and made winter snow camps in the area many times. Part of the "wilderness area" is being proposed as a "family winter recreational area." Families are now using this area for just that purpose. My husband and I have never been in this area that we didn't see other families doing the same thing we were. Once during mid November our family made a back-packing trip into the wilderness area. As we passed through South Fork Meadows we encountered many campers and when we reached "Dollar Lake" we had to search for a place to make camp because the people had taken all the camping places around the lake. I might mention that there was snow on the ground. I'd rather make use of the existing ski developments; and possibly those proposed than see any intrusion being permitted in the San Gorgonio "wilderness area." "People without vision perish." I vision our last remaining wilderness area in southern California kept intact; not only for my family to enjoy, but for many other families and future generations as well. Thank you very much. STATEMENT OF EDWARD A. MULVANEY, PRESIDENT, THE TRW SYSTEMS (FORMERLY STL) DEMOCRATIC CLUB Mr. MULVANEY. My name is Edward A. Mulvaney. I'm an electronics engineer and department manager with TRW Systems (formerly Space Technology Laboratories). I believe my recreational tastes are representative of the kind of people who work in the industries of technology. I'm the father of three teenagers, and we're all avid skiers. We are enabled to participate in this very expensive sport by a substantial income. We also hike and do back-pack camping, which is open to and participated in by almost all income groupsespecially in the San Gorgonio Wilderness Area because of the concentration of youth camps. I'm also the president of the TRW Democratic Club, and I'm here to present this resolution on behalf of the club. As a prelude to the resolution I'd like to make the following quotation from Joyce Cary: A friend of mine tells me that a Beethoven symphony can solve for him a problem of conduct. I've no doubt that it does so simply by giving him a sense of the tragedy and the greatness of human destiny, which makes his personal anxieties seem small, which throws them into a new proportion. A wilderness experience is an emotional and inspirational experience just like that Beethoven symphony, and mechanization for skiing is like an electric guitar in the middle of the symphony. The skiers and developers do not want to spoil the wilderness, and neither does the electric guitar player want to spoil the symphony-but he does. Also, I would offer a set of exhibits numbered I, II, III, and IV for the file. I will refer to them in my resolution. (The resolution referred to follows:) RESOLUTION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE SAN GORGONIO WILDERNESS AREA At a meeting held on November 12, 1965, the TRW Democratic Club agreed on the preservation of the San Gorgonio Wilderness Area in its present state for the following reasons: San Gorgonio today is a family recreational area. All portions are open for family use at no fee. Mechanization for skiing would reduce family participation by lowering the quality of the wilderness and removing from service one of the largest and most desirable campsites-Dry Lake. A mechanized ski mountain is fit for only one use. Mountains used for mechanized skiing are not used for other purposes except by a few sedentary sight-seers certainly not the type or number who use natural mountain. Gor gonio, like any other mountain would require extensive rework for mechanized skiing. Good runs with continuous snow are required from top to bottom for access to lifts. The attached reproductions of advertisements' show how all good ski mountains must look (Exhibit I). It is especially visible in the Mammoth Mountains picture that each lift serves from 3 to 5 or more ski runs. runs must be manicured to clear away trees, ravine, stumps, rocks, fallen treesall those things which make a wilderness what it is. These Mechanization for skiing would help the privileged at the expense of the existing users who have no other places to go. Skiing is a very expensive sport enjoyed by a relatively small and privileged portion of the population. They have the resources for traveling to more distant places and would continue to do so because Southern California skiing will never be comparable with that available in the high Sierra. Exhibit IV shows snow comparisons. Skiing is not a family sport except for high income groups. A child cannot be equipped for less than $100 and is seldom equipped for less than $200 (see Exhibit II). Further, they outgrow their equipment, and turnover is a continuing cost. Lift tickets for a family of 5 cost $17.50 per day at local ski areas. Exhibit III shows actual costs of the presentor of this resolution, who finds all the skiing he can afford here in the local mountains. Youth would be the losers if Gorgonio is mechanized for skiing. The users of the existing wilderness area are from 60% to 90% youth (under 18). Skiing is not a youth sport. The average age of skiers is approximately 30 years. More campsites are needed-not less. To many, Dry Lake is the most beautiful of all the campsites, especially in Spring, and early Summer because of its openness and the reflective water with Gorgonio mountain in the background. It is the 3rd most used camping area with access from the north. Because of its unique openness, it can accommodate very large groups, such as boy scout troops which Slushy Meadow is sometimes unable to accommodate. Yet mechanization would not only remove Dry Lake from service (it could become a car camp which is very much a different function) but would also take the only reasonable flat land available for additional campsites above (south of) Dry Lake. This land is ideal, and although not so designated, is used as dry campsites. Further, water could be made available without violation of the wilderness. No replacement lands of comparable quality exist in or near the wilderness. A significant increase of service for compatible use could be achieved by improvement of existing roads and campsites. Year-round wilderness recreations are natural, unstructered, and economical. These more personal forms of recreation should receive their thoughtful share of the dwindling unmechanized natural resources. Careful preservation of resources for these kinds of recreation finds little popularity with the commercialized and mechanized orientation of developers, sport writers, coaches, and promoters of structured, competitive sports. Winter sports in southern California should not be elevated to a level of importance wherein irreplaceable recreational areas serving other longer seasons are sacrificed or reduced in quality. We, therefore, urge that the San Gorgonio Wilderness Area be preserved in its present natural state. Thank you very much. THE TRW SYSTEMS (FORMERLY STL) DEMOCRATIC CLUB, HOUSE INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, Washington, D.C. GENTLEMEN: Thank you for the opportunity of testifying at your field hearings in San Bernardino. I appreciate the fairness in which they were conducted. Please include the attached with my testimony given at San Bernardino. It is a result of my own research and I believe it helps place in prospective the values under question. Sincerely, 1 Placed in committee files. EDWARD A. MULVANEY, President. 1 Skier market research for Northeast North America, Department of Commerce. 21965 World Almanac. 3 California public outdoor recreation plan, published 1960. 0, $12, $40. 0. 9 to 12. 95 percent. 8.5 to 9.8 percent.3 None. STATEMENT OF MRS. WARREN CLINGMAN, INDIVIDUAL, MENTONE, CALIF. Mrs. WARREN CLINGMAN. My name is Mrs. Warren Clingman. In many conversations with people in Mentone I have found that the "senior citizen" generation are most emphatic in stating that the San Gorgonio wilderness should remain as it is without mechanical development. The history of the area seems to indicate that it is valuable as a wild area and well deserves its present protection under the National Wilderness Act. Many people that I have talked to feel strongly that this generation has no right to alter the heart of this wild area just because we have the technical ability to do so, or that some may profit from it. Putting ski lifts on San Gorgonio would irrevocably change the area and future generations would have no choice of preserving a high mountain wild area. Here in southern California predicted growth of population makes this wild area extremely valuable. Because I believe that all of the present San Gorgonio Wilderness Area should remain completely protected I find it difficult to argue the relative merits of how many ski lifts, where the parking lot should be, et cetera. However, because my husband and I have four children, we and many other parents are interested in the practical aspects of the cost of recreation. Medium-priced equipment listed in the Montgomery Ward 1965-66 catalog to outfit one child or teenage who has an adequate jacket for school is compiled in two groups for comparison: |