By Janet Barth
Upper Willow Creek PC: L. Boulton
Inyo County is the second largest county in California, which may explain why those who live in Inyo County have never heard of, or been to, the Amargosa Basin. Just pronouncing it can be tricky. Find Bishop on a county map and locate the villages of Shoshone and Tecopa and you’ll see that the two areas couldn’t be farther apart and still be in the same county.
Nonetheless, something big is happening in this out-of-the-way corner, a campaign is in place to create the Amargosa Basin National Monument (ABNM). The proposed borders would be Death Valley National Park on the west, the Nevada border on the east, and continuing south nearly to Interstate 15. It could encompass the villages of Death Valley Junction, Shoshone, Tecopa Hot Springs and Tecopa, and at its heart will be the Amargosa River, which runs above and below ground from its headwaters just east of Beatty to the Badwater in Death Valley.
The villages of Shoshone, Tecopa Hot Springs and Tecopa, originally mining communities, have pursued tourism as a means of economic development and have succeeded all too well. Many have discovered the charms of Tecopa’s developed and undeveloped hot springs, the China Ranch Date Farm, and Shoshone’s trails and historical sites. All the villages boast restaurants featuring locally brewed beers and often live music. These features combined with its proximity to Dumont Dunes, a beloved OHV site, has brought about the problem of loving a place to death. Since the majority of the land is overseen only by several understaffed BLM offices, there is a lack of coordinated oversight needed when large numbers of people congregate to play.
The Amargosa Basin National Monument is the dream child of diverse groups who love the many values of the Amargosa including its communities, culture, flora and fauna and unique ecosystems. They want to preserve the integrity of the natural beauty of the area but at the same time continue to develop accessibility for recreation and to help create economic and social sustainability for its communities.This coalition of people and groups created the nonprofit, the Friends of the Amargosa Basin (FAB) , to spearhead the monument campaign with the goal of the designation of the Amargosa Basin National Monument. Many other partners have signed on to this endeavor including Sierra Club’s Range of Light Group, INYO350, the Amargosa Conservancy, the Shoshone Museum and many others.
The goals FAB are hoping to accomplish are to see a holistic and comprehensive management plan in place that will both protect and promote the Amargosa Basin for its unique qualities and is crafted with contributions of the communities and the Tribal Nations. They are reaching out to the Tribes and the communities in the area with the hope of creating a legal structure that establishes a meaningful and lasting role in the monument’s creation and management. The Friends hope to see the area protected from industrial uses and hope to ensure that recreational use is expanded, but not at the expense of the area's biodiversity and its people. FAB has made great progress in this effort and is now ready to promote and hopefully gain support from the people in Inyo County.
If you wish to know more visit the Friends of the Amargosa Basin website and if you want a deep dive check out the online prospectus: https://friendsoftheamargosabasin.org/
Look for an invite from ROLG to an in-person/zoom presentation by Susan Sorrells on the Campaign for the Amargosa National Monument in October.