Wednesday, Nov 15, 2006
On Wednesday, November 8th, Death Valley National Park and the Death Valley Natural History Association held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house for the park’s new ranger contact station at Stovepipe Wells Village in the heart of the park. Funding for this building was made possible by the recreational fee demonstration program (entrance fee dollars collected at the park).
“This truly is an excellent example of your fee dollars at work,” said superintendent JT Reynolds.
The new ranger station replaces an older building which was destroyed by high winds in May 2004. The older structure was actually a converted storage shed with multiple add-ons over the years, including a false front put onto the building to help make it look like part of an old west town. Unfortunately, many of these add-ons where not structurally sound, and it was just a matter of time before the strong winds characteristic of the Stovepipe Wells area took their toll.
The building serves as an office to patrol rangers in the central core area of the park, and it is the first visitor contact station for travelers coming into the park along Highway 190 from the west. Visitors can take care of their park fees, get directions to hundreds of historical and natural sites in the park, and even purchase books and maps from the small bookstore outlet.
The dedication was held on the first day of the 2006 Death Valley 49er Encampment. This is the 57th year the Death Valley 49er organization has held activities at Death Valley.
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