Topic: Bald Mountain Look out Tower in Danger of Demolition.

[BirdDog]

I received some information the other day that I hope we can do something about.  

I heard that Ed Cole & the Sierra National Forest has approved & has ordered that the Tower be torn down, or is in the process of considering this.

All I know is it sounds like rather than letting local clubs  & or Eagle Scouts that have offered to re-condition the Tower do so, they would rather just tear it down.

Hear is a link as to who Ed Cole is :
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sierra/news/2004/03/supervisor.shtml

Link for info on Bald Mountain Lookout Tower:
http://www.peakbagging.com/CALookoutPhotos/BaldMtn.html

Hear is his contact info. Please take a few minutes & let him know how important this historical Tower is to the OHV community.

Ed Cole
Phone: 559-297-0706 ext. 4800
email: ecole@fs.fed.us

[monk #1164]

I'm currently in  the four wheel drive club of fresno and wheel up there often and would personaly offer my help in saving it and would donate what-ever time it takes to repair/rebuild the tower for the future trips up there,  It is a land mark for me and generations past.  It would be a shame if my grandkids only got stories of what it used to look like up there!!! Monk #1164 said that!

[ZuperDave]

WHAT?


Say it isn't so......The Goverment should not be spending money on removing this great landmark.

I E-mailed Ed,....

[Joey88RUNR]

sent a email!

[BirdDog [OP]]

I just spoke with Ed Cole. This is what he told me.

The top of the tower is slated for demolition. It is no longer used as an active fire lookout so the roof is no longer needed. However after having the structure inspected it was determined that the base was structurally sound, but the wooden decking needs to be replaced.
So the SNF applied for funding through the Federal Stimulus Program to have the top cut off, the decking refurbished, and leave the side rails. This was approved & funded so they are going to have a private company do the work.

I would still like to see the whole tower saved. I don't know if this is possible, but if you are still interested in this issue please continue to email Ed Cole & let him know that the whole Tower is considered to us to be A Historical Monument. And that  we would prefer it be refurbished with the roof as it sits now.

[80toyontons]

THANKS FOR THE INFO! THE TOWER CAN'T BE TORN DOWN!!!

[sgunderman]

EVERYBODY!!!  We need to get as much support as possible among the wheeling community to save the entire tower.  I am sure there are plenty of people who are willing to donate time/material to restore the tower.  We need to inform people to email ED to get them to agree.

I already sent my email....lets get on this.

[86rustbucket]

we need to find some hippies to chain to the tower dont they do that with trees?

[BirdDog [OP]]

This is a letter I received from Sierra National Forest.

By Tom Lowe
29 July 2009

BALD MTN LOOKOUT REHABILITATION

Last summer (2008) the OHV community approached Anthony Benedetti (OHV) and Shelby Charlie (Fire) about making the Bald Mtn Lookout safe for the public to use as a viewing platform. One of their members, Alex D., wanted to do the project as his Eagle project. I got involved as to what Engineering would require and due to my long involvement in Scouting.

I checked with Ray Porter and he said changing it from a lookout to a public vista point was a good use of the old Bald Lookout. I met with Alex and we talked over the magnitude of the project, and the technical demolition and construction necessary to rehab the site. He did have time for his Eagle, so we put any decision off until we could get a structural engineer to advise us.

Last fall we had the structural engineer from Redding visit and give us an evaluation of the lookout. He reported that the legs were OK, but the cab, deck, and the stairs had to be completely replaced. In the meantime, we were advised to keep people off the lookout because it was too unstable.

This winter we applied for Stimulus funds to do the work and last week we were finally informed Bald Mtn has been approved. However, it appears that under the Stimulus rules everything must be contracted out which give the OHV community and the Eagle scout little to work with. My concerns about having the OHV community do all the work is the inherent danger and expense.

I did talk to Alex on Monday the 27th of ? about the rumor that we were not going to do the project. I informed him that is not true, we will be doing the rehab of the lookout, and in fact we got the Stimulus funding approved.

At this point we need a meeting of the District, Engineering, the OHV community and the Eagle Scout to decide how we can accomplish the project.

[86rustbucket]

i hope they dont pave a road up to it, them stairs still hold my big arse

[TURBO]

YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!!
 I'll go up there and fix it myself!!!!!!!  I could use a lot of vulgar language here to express my frustration, but i digress... i will volunteer any time necessary to restore this thing, even if i gotta do it myself... i have a means to transport materials to and from...and i really would like to see this tower restored, even to an exhibit type of condition, with a display of how the FS used the equipment and maps and such, but worst of all, i would extremely hate to see this thing dismantled.... let's do for future generations what the wheeling community's motto is, "leave it better than you found it"...

[snaps10]

SSCA (southern sierra climbers association) would be more than happy to as well.  We do a bunch of restoration and work on lookouts that require technical rigging.

[Caboose]

Important Thread Bump:

Any Updates?

I'll be willing to be the camp cook on the work days, and i can swing a hammer decently...

[scoutrunner]

any updates on this

[THEMAN]

Just ran across this old thread.  Did this get resolved, or is it still up in the air?  If anyone knows of an update please post.

[Gamera]

you may want to do what this group did

http://www.buckrock.org/

also what saved some was having radio repeater station in them

to save this lookout

[ZuperDave]

I was actually talking with some Forrest Service employees at the tower the first Friday in August, they informed me it is safe from removal,..in fact it is getting a grant for repairs. Still waiting to be scheduled.