Mineral King is a spectacular secluded valley surrounded by 12,000' peaks in the heart of the southern Sierra Nevada. Faced with the threat of a major ski resort development in the 1960s and 1970s, the area was transferred from the United States Forest Service (USFS) to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks under the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-625). Included in the transfer were a number of private summer cabins which had been previously granted revocable permits to the government land on which they were built. The new legislation made it possible for each of the 65 cabin owners to retain their permits for life, after which the land would return to public use. This generously allowed for a very gradual phase-out of the private cabins over a period of many decades, even though the National Park Service (NPS) would have been within its rights to demand immediate access to the land.
Although they endorsed this bill, a number of the cabin owners are now campaigning to continue indefinitely their private use of public land by obtaining the right to bequeath the permits to their heirs. However, the Park Service is legally responsible both to protect Mineral King's resources and to make them available to the general public. Allowing a private interest to compromise these mandates sets a dangerous precedent for the 1500 other developments in our National Park system which have similar agreements with the NPS.
European-Americans first entered the Mineral King Valley in the mid-1860s, initially in search of mining opportunities, later in pursuit of logging and recreation. In 1890, Sequoia National Park was established, and the Mineral King area was proposed for inclusion. However, local interests pushed to keep Forest Service authority over the region, seeing this as a means to ensure unrestricted access, use, and development in the Valley. After much debate, Mineral King remained outside the park, and the present-day cabins were constructed as summer vacation homes on leased Forest Service land. Then, in the 1950s, the USFS began efforts to establish a major ski resort in Mineral King. Support from local people was enthusiastic -- until the cabin owners realized the resort would mean the swift loss of both cabins and permits. Claiming a deep environmental concern, the owners soon banded together and joined with the efforts of the Sierra Club, the National Parks and Conservation Association, and the NPS to finally make Mineral King part of Sequoia National Park.
The 1978 legislation which secured national park protection for Mineral King included two key stipulations regarding permit use: 1) Permits are to be granted only to the 1978 permit-holders; and 2) They may be renewed every five years until the death of the owner and his or her spouse. Permits have been renewed four times since 1978, and each time the cabin owners have recommitted to these terms in writing. Now, however, many of the owners have changed sympathies yet again, and are organizing opposition to their former ally, the Park Service. This time they want to change the permit conditions so that they may stay on the land in perpetuity. Their efforts have included attempts to pass new legislation, demands for special privileges in park planning, and the launching of an aggressive public relations campaign. One of their recent PR proposals even implies secession from the park.1
One prominent argument of these cabin owners-many of whom are descendants of the original builders-is that they are a "living historic community". Although there is no legal or common definition for such a designation, the owners are using this title to argue for "retention of current leases" and "separation...from [the park's] General Management Plan."2 While it is true that, at one time, communities with historic relevance to mining and recreational interests existed in Mineral King, these were largely destroyed in catastrophic avalanches in 1906 and 1969. Since 80% of the Valley is avalanche-prone, what remains are a few of the best-situated summer cottages; the structure and continuity of a living community is gone. These are not permanent homes established in a settled community, and they have never been more than seasonal retreats. In terms of stewardship, it is possible a handful of these buildings may contain some historic merit, and the NPS is currently assessing these as part of a much larger cultural evaluation of Mineral King. If historic significance is established, then the Park Service -- not the cabin owners -- is legally responsible for the preservation and public interpretation of these cultural resources, as befits the agency's tradition and expertise.
By supporting Mineral King's inclusion in Sequoia National Park, the cabin owners acknowledged the National Park Service as the appropriate protector, steward, and administrator of the area's natural and cultural resources. Unfortunately, many of these cabin families exhibit an unrelenting self-interest, borrowing causes and reneging on past agreements to achieve their own ends. Now they are trying to become permanent de facto owners of one-quarter of the safest and most publicly desirable land in Mineral King Valley-national acreage which could be valued at $3,000,0003, but for which they would pay nothing more than the cost of a permit and minimal taxes. They treat Mineral King as rightfully "theirs", despite the fact that the land on which the cabins are built has been public property since the 1860s. Mineral King belongs to the whole of the American people, not a privileged few vacationers.
1 Actual language reads: "Designation of Mineral King as a separate entity from the rest of Sequoia National Park." From "Mineral King Advocates", brochure of the Mineral King District Association and the Mineral King Preservation Society, 1998
2 "Mineral King Advocates" brochure
3 Figure based on recent Silver City prices, a legally authorized private enclave comparable to Mineral King
Copyright 1998,
National Parks and Conservation Association.
Reprinted by permission.
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