Thursday, September 12, 2019 Ash Meadows Visitor Center and some history

The longer I am at Ash Meadows, the more I realize what a miracle it is that the refuge exists at all because this area has been extensively affected by efforts to farm it, use it for pasture for cattle, mine it, and build on it.  The refuge was created in 1984 and the Ash Meadows Visitor Center is only about four years old, but the story of Ash Meadows really begins in the 1940s.....

     In the middle of Ash Meadows is Devil's Hole which is actually part of Death Valley National Monument! Living in the waters of Devil's Hole is a very small, about one inch long, fish called the Devil's Hole Pupfish. The only place in the world this fish is found is Devil's Hole!
     The pupfish was threatened with extinction when farmers, ranchers, miners and developers started drilling wells and pumping water out of the ground near Devil's Hole.  In 1952 President Truman declared Devil's Hole part of Death Valley National Monument which stopped the removal of water from the wells.
     Soon, scientists become aware of the fact that many of the springs at Ash Meadows also had animals and plants that were found nowhere else in the world and they too were being threatened by wells and development.
     In an effort to protect these species, the federal government took the developers to court. This stopped developments, but did not restore the land to the way it was before the farmers, ranchers, miners and developers bulldozed the land, drilled wells, and built dams and concrete waterways from the springs to irrigate their fields.
     Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1984 with the mission to protect the threatened plants and animals living in, or near, the springs. This meant trying to restore the natural flow of the springs, replanting native species of plants one plant at a time, and removing plants and animals that do not belong here like the bass, red crayfish and the bullfrog that were brought here to supplement the diet of the people living here in the early 1900s. The mission continues to this day.
     The exhibits in the visitor center try to tell this story.

This board in the visitor center is changed daily to reflect current conditions. Ash Meadow's tie to Death Valley is reflected in the Furnace Creek data.

This is the reception desk in the visitor center that I sit behind all day. Sitting on the counter are maps of Ash Meadows and "passport stamps" that some visitors use to record their visit. There is no charge to enter the refuge, or see the visitor center.

This poster is a reminder of the important environmental work that is occurring at Ash Meadows. I had no idea that this 24,000 acre refuge in the Mojave Desert was that important before I came here!

There is a conference room in the visitor center for visiting scientists and others to meet.

Inside the visitor center there is an auditorium where visitors can watch a 20 minute video about Ash Meadows and Devil's Hole. 

This exhibit explains the history of Devil's Hole and Ash Meadows. 

As this sign says, the Native Americans who consider Ash Meadows and Devil's Hole their ancestral land are the Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute.

The Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute call themselves, "Nuwuvi" and "New" which mean, "The People."

This mosaic is on the floor in front of the exhibit asking you to ground yourself in the 10 directions. Do you recognize the five desert animals portrayed in the mosaic?

Ash Meadows and Devil's Hole are in the Basin and Range Region of the United States.

The range has a lot of faults in the rocks which are responsible for Devil's Hole and the springs.

The Nuwuvi and Newe believe that rocks are living beings

At the observation kiosk visitors to Devil's Hole and Ash Meadows can record their plant and animal observations.

On one side of the reception desk is the Devil's Hole/Ash Meadows store where visitors can purchase water, Gatorade, snacks, t-shirts, toys, books and postcards.

Ash Meadows website