Hi Mt. MCAS Program with Dr. Villablanca 11/17

Monday, November 17th
7 pm El Chorro Regional Park, at the SLO Botanical Garden Education Building

The California Condor Tracking Program with Dr. Francis Villablanca: Morro Coast Audubon Society has provided funding to assist California Polytechnic State University in hiring summer interns to take part in the California Condor telemetry program at the Hi Mountain Condor Lookout. The three interns from summer 2008 gave a brief summary of their work at the September MCAS Community Program. Dr. Francis Villablanca, the interns’ advisor at Cal Poly, will take a more in-depth look at tracking efforts, successes and setbacks in the condor recovery program, and related matters. You will come away with a greater understanding of Central California studies and activities oriented toward protecting this species, still among the most endangered of all North American wildlife. Francis Villablanca, PhD, is a professor of Biology at Cal Poly, where he teaches courses in Ornithology and Mammalogy, among others. He has been a presenter at the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival, Dune Quest, and other natural history venues in the area. As always, all ages are welcome. Refreshments will be served.

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Excerpts from John Schmitt’s feather lecture (6 clips)

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2008 Hi Mt. Open House Event Schedule

Bird Watching Field Trip: 9:00am - 11:30am (Pozo Valley to Hi Mountain)
Meet at Pozo Ranger Station. Carpooling recommended. Habitats: grassland, riparian woodland at Salinas River crossing, valley oak, blue oak and coast-live oak woodlands, chaparral. Easy hiking conditions and car pooling. Advanced registration requested: contact Steve at s_schub@webtv.net or #805 528-6138. Leader: Peter Dullea, Hi Mtn. Project Volunteer.

Picnic lunch: 12 noon

Bring your own picnic lunch, or, “Condor Special” sack lunches are now available. If you are coming up to join us and want to travel lightly, think about reserving a delicious Condor Sack Lunch Special! Includes a scrumptious Margarita Mercantile sandwich (choice of turkey/jack cheese, ham/cheddar cheese or all cheese (1/2 or whole on french roll)) - you add the condiments, a bag of chips or pretzels, soda or water, and a homemade brownie. 1/2 Sandwich lunch $7 each, Full sandwich lunch $9 each. Call Marcelle with your preferences before Friday Oct. 9th at noon to reserve: 927-1017 (wk.) or 927-3359 (h) or email: marcelle@digitalputty.com (subject “reserve sack lunch”)

• Hi Mountain Lookout Interpretive Center open - please sign guest register

• Raffle tickets for sale for annual fundraiser

Welcoming comments: 12:30
Introductions, morning birding field trip report (interesting sightings), Hi Mountain Lookout Project year in review and recognition of staff, interns, and volunteers. Updates on the California Condor Recovery Program and Condor staff. Speakers: Steve Schubert, Volunteer Coordinator, Morro Coast Audubon Society, Dr. Francis Villablanca, Cal Poly, SLO, and Cal Poly student interns.

Raffle drawing for donated prizes (annual fundraiser): 1:15pm

Afternoon activities and field trips:

• Condor radio tracking demonstration

• Geographical landmarks - a 360 degree view from the Pacific Coast to the Sierra Nevada. Geologic features observed from the Lookout - the Rinconada and San Andreas Fault Zones. Speakers: Kevin Cooper, USFS Wildlife Biologist, Steve Schubert, MCAS.

• Native plant identification walk - along the crest of the Santa Lucia Mountains. Leader: Dr. Dirk Walters, San Luis Obispo Chapter, California Native Plant Society.

• Animal vocalizations workshop - learn to recognize and imitate common birds and mammals of the Santa Lucia Wilderness. Speaker: Kevin Cooper, USFS, Los Padres National Forest Wildlife Biologist.

• Feathers Workshop - Learn all about feathers with renowned artist, biologist, and taxonomist John Schmitt. Presenter: John Schmitt, contributing artist to National Geographic Field Guide to Birds.

• Volunteers training session - radio telemetry, facilities use, and scheduling.

• Meet with Hi Mountain Lookout staff - Late afternoon sit down chat with condor biologists and staff and reminiscing about experiences in ‘Condor Country’.

Sunset watch and dinner:
Gas stove and oven are available for cooking and heating food in the lookout facilities. Participants are encouraged to bring a potluck dish to share with their friends and guests. Note: no campfires are permitted for cooking or during the overnight campout (wear layered clothing).

Evening guest speakers: 7pm

• “Summer at Hi Mountain” - Cal Poly summer 2008 student internship slide show.

• “Trapping and banding birds of prey, Central Mongolia (2007) and South Texas (2008)” - Raptor research slide show by Paul Andreano, past Hi Mtn. Lookout Intern.

Astronomy observations: after dark
Telescopic observations of the evening skies, sponsored by members of the Central Coast Astronomical Society.

Optional Hi Mountain Campout:
Camping sites are available for Friday and/or Saturday nights at ‘Cypress Hill’ near the lookout. Other vehicle camping sites are located on the ridgeline near the entrance gate - with a view overlooking the mountains and coast - and at the USFS Hi Mountain Campground, located one mile down the road from the lookout. There are picnic tables and outhouses at the campground- bring your own potable water. No open campfires permitted and smoking in enclosed vehicles only.

For additional information about the open house event and driving directions to Hi Mountain Lookout, see our website at www.condorlookout.org

Please contact Steve Schubert at s_schub@webtv.net or at # (805) 528-6138 to RSVP if you are planning to attend the open house event and the number of people in your group

See you there!

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San Luis Obispo Gem and Mineral Club visits the Lookout

eclecticarcania.blogspot.com wrote…

Upon rounding the final bend on approach to the lookout we noticed a Forest Service SUV parked there and a couple of people on the tower with one being a woman (Karlien Lang) who immediately waved to us. This was yet another first for me up there as I had never met anybody else up there the other times I had visited Hi Mountain Lookout. The gal waved to us in a manner that struck me as seeming surprised to see us and a bit curious who we were.

In August 2008, the San Luis Obispo Gem and Mineral Club made a trip up to the Lookout and visited with Pat and Karlien. You can read all about their visit in this blog post on their website.

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A Summer at Hi Mountain with the Interns

Hi everybody, my name is Patrick White, for those of you who do not know me I am one of the interns working at Hi Mountain this summer. Another intern is Shannon Murphy, who worked here at the beginning of summer before she left to go to Costa Rica, and the other is Karlien Lang who took Shannon’s place about half way through the summer. We have been up here since Fourth of July weekend collecting telemetry data for the Condor Recovery Program. We have been coming up every weekend for three days a week, usually there were two of us, but once all three were here, and I have been up here two weekends alone too.

Shannon and I started our training by having Marcelle, one of the main Volunteers at Hi Mountain Lookout, drive us up to Hi Mountain for our first time to show us the ropes of setting up the lookout. The first thing you notice when you get up here is the view. You can see in every direction for what seems like a hundred miles. There are mountains in every direction, to the south you can see the Oceano dunes and to the North up to King City. The view is really nothing less than spectacular. After taking in the view Marcelle showed us all the basics like opening the doors and locks, turning on the power, water, and gas, and just showing us everything we need to live up here for three days a week for the whole summer. After we were comfortable with the lookout we went back to San Luis Obispo and got ready for our training at Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge from August 29th through the 31st.

On Friday morning we met our trainers at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife station in Ventura. From there our trainer Wildlife Technician John Thompson drove us way out to Hopper Mountain which consisted of
driving on freeways to a long trip on a dirt road. Hopper Mountain is right next to an oil field which the condors nest near also, so the oil company lets the Fish and Wildlife Service use their roads. It is a pretty amazing place; the roads just go up and down the sides of mountains which are very high compared to the valley below. Eventually we make it to the field camp which consisted of a Ranch House, a couple trailers, and a barn. We unloaded all of our stuff, get back in the car, and take off to do our first telemetry ever.


On the way up to the site called “Silver Tanks” we see our first Condor ever, so we stop the car and just watch the bird circle above us. It was the first time Shannon and I were able to see just how impressive these giant birds are in person. After a few minutes we get back in the car and head back up the mountain because we wouldsee plenty more Condors that weekend. When we got to “Silver Tanks” John showed use the basics of using the telemetry equipment, we tracked our first few Condors there and even had one fly over us while we were tracking it. For the rest of that first day we continued to practice telemetry and John showed us some of the Nest Monitoring sites, which were a pretty tough hike to get to. I can only assume
anyone would be in awesome shape after working there for a month walking those trails. The next two days we were given a vehicle and sent out on our own to take telemetry readings all over the Wildlife
Refuge. We saw plenty more Condors and were just as awed at every one we saw. We knew that when we left we probably wouldn’t see another one for the rest of the summer.

During the next week Shannon and I prepared to go up to Hi Mountain for our very first weekend, which just so happened to be on Fourth of July. During that week we went down to the Forest Service
Office in Santa Maria to get our off-road vehicle, as neither Shannon nor I had a car that could make it up to the Lookout. It actually took the better part of the day because we were required to have a
Forest Service License. We met Kevin Cooper down there who took us through the process of getting the license. We had to watch a couple boring videos and read a pamphlet, take a test, and then take it out
for a short drive. After that we had to drive our bright green SUV out to the Pozo service station where we would switch out our vehicles for it every week before we would head up the dirt road.

It was finally time for us to start our first week, so we drove up to the Lookout on the Fourth of July. Shannon’s parents came up a few hours after we got there. We took telemetry data throughout the day and had a few visitors come up to check out the view and our interpretive center, although no one stayed to watch the fireworks. We had a barbeque that night and watched about five different fireworks shows, although they were all pretty far away. The fireworks in Pismo were the best. The next day we had a few more visitors, although no one was really that interested in the Condors. Then Sunday we finished our telemetry readings and packed up the lookout and left after our first weekend.

The next week I got the newly improved phone and computer for the lookout, so we could now send our data from at the lookout instead of having to bring it home to send it to everyone. And over the next
few weeks we had quite an eclectic mix of visitors. There were dirt bike riders, mountain bikers, horse riders, hikers, Forest Service employees, and people who came up just to see the lookout. I liked the people who came up to see the lookout the best, because they were actually interested in what we were doing and the condor recovery program. Perhaps the most interesting group of people who came up
were “The Condor Kids”.

Shannon and I arrived one Friday to see a group of about ten people cheering as we drove up to the lookout in our Forest Service Vehicle. They were all wearing the same shirt that said “Condor Kids
Return 2008″. It turns out that they were all former Cal Poly students who had worked with the Condor program about 20 years earlier and were on a reunion trip. They were all really excited about the
lookout and loved our visitor center, and were some of the best visitors we had the whole summer. They even offered us a beer for lunch! The rest of that weekend was pretty boring because there were
no other visitors the whole time, all our excitement happened at the very beginning of that weekend.

About halfway through the summer Karlien came up with Shannon and I for Shannon’s last weekend. Shannon and I showed Karlien everything she needed to know to work up here so that she could take
over for Shannon after that week. Shannon left to go to a summer work program in Costa Rica. For the rest of the summer it has been Karlien and I manning the Lookout, except for one weekend. We also started to
come up on Saturday through Monday then instead of Friday through Sunday.

One weekend Karlien could not make it up, so I went up by myself. I had already been up one weekend by myself earlier in the summer, so I knew it was going to be pretty boring. But this weekend happened to be the first weekend of deer season. Saturday I left the gate open so visitors could come up. A lot actually came up that day, but the only thing anyone wanted to know was if I had seen any deer. So the rest of that weekend I just left the gate closed, and no one even came up except to use the bathroom. It is much more fun when visitors actually want to learn something about what we are doing.

The next weekend everything was back to normal and we were getting the normal types of visitors again mixed with a few hunters every now and then. Not much out of the normal has really happen since then. We have been here for two months now, and I only have one more weekend up here, while Karlien will be here for two more. So if anyone wants to come up here for a visit these next two weekends are the best times to do so from late Saturday morning to mid afternoon on Monday.

Patrick White
Hi Mountain Lookout Intern

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Hi Mountain History Lesson

Here are the old lookout photos from the scrapbook that Kevin found (I wonder if the 3rd photo is the same building as the 1961 photo, or an earlier structure??. A 1976 photo from MCAS is also included). Below is the text that is posted on the Buck Rock Lookout Foundation website…from Dave Bulla’s letter, it suggests a lookout was present in 1926, but I wonder if that is correct. The mystery of the lookout’s past history continues.

-Steve Schubert

Hi Mountain Lookout listed in National Lookout Register

Thanks to the help of Kathy Ball (Buck Rock Foundation), Dave Bula (Forest Fire Lookout Association), Rex Kamstra (firelookout.com), the USFS Santa Lucia Ranger District (LPNF), and the many others who helped us complete our recent application, we are pleased to announce our acceptance to the National Lookout Register! When a structure is less than 50 years old, but has sufficient historical significance to be registered, the lookout is listed in the National Lookout Register with an NHLR number, and is automatically transferred to the NHLR upon the 50th anniversary of its construction. The Hi Mtn. Lookout will be eligible for listing in the National Historic Lookout Register in 2010. Listing in the National Historic Lookout Register is often a first step toward eventual nomination to the National Register of Historic Sites maintained by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

For those of you who don’t know Kathy Ball, she is the founder of the Buck Rock Foundation and has been involved with the Hi Mtn. Lookout Project for several years now. She helped us secure some of our first grant monies to get the project off the ground. You may have seen Kathy’s interview with Huell Howser on the PBS series “California’s Gold”. Kathy attended out Open House/Condor Campout in October 2002, and it was there that we first spoke to her about getting Hi Mtn. Lookout listed in the NHLR. Over the course of the following year, we exchanged dozens of emails and initiated the somewhat tedious application process. Applying to the register involved tracking down as much historic information about our Lookout as we could find, and making a case for why it deserved acknowledgement as a building of historic significance. You can read our official NHLR application here.

The Hi Mtn. Lookout was accepted to the NLR on July 22, 2003 (US Lookout #522) as “meeting those standards of historic and cultural significance established by the American Resources Group, Washington D.C., in cooperation with the Forest Fire Lookout Association, the National Forestry Association, the National Woodland Owners Association, and State and Federal forestry agencies.” At our 2nd annual Open House/Condor Campout on October 4, 2003, Kathy Ball presented us with our Certificate of Recognition and official NLR sign. It was a proud moment for all of us. There were even a few tears as Kathy praised the Lookout Project for it’s dedication to restoring Hi Mtn. as a field research station, interperative center, and Condor telemetry outpost. Kathy told us that Hi Mtn. was the first lookout to be restored and listed in the name of wildlife monitoring. We sincerely hope that the Hi Mountain Lookout Project will now seve as a model, inspiring other folks to find reasons to save and restore their forgotten, dismantled, or vandalized fire lookouts.

Aside from the national recognition it brings us, listing in the NLR has other benefits for the Lookout Project. Our listing paves the way to future recognition of Hi Mtn. in the National Historic Lookout Register and as a California Historical Landmark. So as we continue to pour love, money, and effort into our little lookout, we are witnissing history in the making! As an added bonus, the listing process started us digging into the murky past of the Lookout tower. It turns out that the original lookout was built in 1926 and may have stood in a different location on the long spine of Hi Mountain. The current tower was built in 1961 to replace the old one and fell into disuse by the mid 70’s. Bits and pieces of Hi Mtn. history continue to surface, but there is much we still don’t know. What did the original tower look like? Who staffed and maintained it, and what aretheir stories? As the project progresses, we hope to learn much more about the historical significance of the Hi mtn. Lookout to San Luis Obispo County. Below is one of the emails we received from Dave Bula while researching the Lookout for the application process. Its a great example of the interesting history we uncovered while putting our application together.

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the update on the old Hi Mtn LO. It was not at all uncommon for replacement fire lookouts to be built in a slightly different spot from the earlier lookouts. The usual reason was the elimination some nagging blind spot where fires often occurred without being seen directly from the LO until they got a lot bigger. Another advantage to moving the location slightly was the ability to continue to use the old LO even while the new one is being constructed. The old one didn’t need to be removed until after the new one was completed. This happened in a lot of places. In others, where the mountaintop was so small (like up on top of a rock pinnacle), this was not an option, but it was usually done when possible. There are a number of pictures of band new lookouts standing a few feet away from the old lookouts. I also know of some cases where the new LO was placed as much as a mile away from the old one. It just varied.

Now, we have just learned something new about the old Hi Mountain LO. While visitng a CCC museum, Kathy Ball found some old materials in their “Don Hobart Collection”. The CCC did not build the old Hi Mountain LO in 1926, since the CCC wasn’t even formed until after FDR was elected in 1932, but since the CCC did build a lot of other lookouts, the museum must (correctly) have felt it was appropriate to house this entire collection.

Anyway, among that stuff that Kathy found was an undated description of the Hi Mountain LO. It was called a “standard 14×14 cab” on a “10-foot wood tower”. Even though that data is undated, it couldn’t possibly have been describing the current 1961 15×15 LO on a cement block base. It had to be the 1926 LO. To save time, I’m going to quote a little bit of my reaction to this news from Kathy.

“You’re right, that does NOT describe the current LO. The current LO can’t be called a 10 foot wood tower no matter how such things are designed. 10 foot block base? Yes. 10 foot cinder block? Sure. But wood tower? No way. So I think you’ve found something here. Now what we can’t tell from this is whether the cab was up on legs or up on top of a lower wooden enclosed story, like my old Argentine LO is. Either way might have been described as a “10 foot wood tower.” I’ve seen both types described as such.

Now what about the cab itself? “Standard 14×14 house.” To many, that would suggest the classic L-4 cab. However, in 1926, the L-4 had not even been developed yet. Up here in the northwest the lookouts in 1926 were of the cupola variety, usually the D-6, but some were D-1’s as well. However by 1926, as you know better than anyone thanks to Buck Rock, the 4A cab, or whatever you want to call that cab with the steeply pitched roof and large windows, was well established in California. This design WAS standard in the Santa Barbara NF (the earlier name of the Los Padres NF). Chews Ridge LO, Figueroa LO, and others of this type were built. This has been my guess all along for what the 1926 Hi Mountain LO must have been. But with no picture, or otherwise undeniable proof, I’ve been reluctant to state it as such.”

So now I feel like we’re one step closer. Hopefully, a picture of the old LO will turn up someday, confirming all this.

Continued good luck to you and all your group down there on your most worthwhile condor project.

Dave Bula Western Deputy Chairman, FFLA

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Welcome to our 2008 Interns and Volunteers

With the beginning of the Summer 2008 tracking season, we would like to welcome 4 new individuals to the Hi Mt. Lookout staff. Congratulations to Cal Poly students Shannon Murphy, Patrick White, Karlien Lang, and Sara Silverberg for being chosen to staff the Lookout this summer! We wish you a productive, safe, and fun summer on the mountain. Keep us posted on your progress and adventures. Welcome aboard!

L to R: Pat White, Shannon Murphy, Karlien Lang

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The Preegrine Falcons of Morro Rock- by Steve Schubert

Here’s a chance to support the Lookout Project and learn something about Peregrine falcons at the same time. Steve Schubert, Hi Mt. Volunteer Coordinator, has authored a book that is now available for purchase online. Forty percent of sales proceeds for Steve’s book ordered online by August 1, 2008 will be donated to the Hi Mountain Condor Lookout Project!

The Peregrine Falcons of Morro Rock: - A 40-Year History - 1967- 2007 by Steve Schubert. Paperback, 44 pages, with color and black and white photographs. Art work by John Schmitt.

From Amazon.com:

The peregrine falcons of Morro Rock, located along the coast of Central California, have been admired and observed by travelers and visitors from around the world, and is one of the most well-known peregrine falcon nesting sites in North America. This 40-year history chronicles the yearly efforts of nest site attendants and endangered species management techniques - captive breeding, double clutching, captive hatching of thin, fragile wild eggs, and fostering falcon chicks into the wild nests - that has assisted in the recovery of a once imperiled species

Paperback copies may be ordered through Amazon.com or CreateSpace.com at the following links:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/143484823X
http://www.createspace.com/3338535

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Santa Lucia Wilderness Area, 24 May ‘08

Hello all,

On Saturday, May 24th, I hiked down from Hi Mtn. Lookout to Hi Valley and Huff’s Hole, in the Santa Lucia Wilderness Area of Los Padres National Forest. I met up with Gary Guliazi in Hi Valley, who hiked in from Hi Mountain Rd after driving in from the Arroyo Grande side.

At 9:30 am, the south wind was blowing 25 mph at the lookout, with a windchill of 33*F. The temperature remained in the 40’s all day at the lookout, with a cold persistent wind, mostly overcast skies and dark threatening clouds, following light rainfall the day before (one week prior the temp. at Pozo was near 100*F!!). Down below on the wind-sheltered lower slopes and into Huff’s Hole a light wind and cool temperatures made for a very comfortable day.


The highlight of the day in Huff’s Hole yesterday was seeing a tiercel peregrine swoop down to the ‘eyrie’ cliffs, perch and preen about 45 minutes, and then later return from a hunt following an absence of an hour, followed by an apparent food exchange with the female. The female falcon flew to a ledge, walked across the ledge to the other side and seemed to be feeding young (not visible yet), then wiggled down into the scrape to apparently brood young chicks. Angry cak-ing vocalizations and
a peregrine up high in the sky later upon our departure announced that all is well and is as it should be with peregrine falcons nesting on the Huff’s Hole cliffs, after all these years (this is my 30-year Huff’s
Hole peregrine falcon nest watch anniversary, when John Schmitt and I were hired by the the U.S. Forest Service in 1978 as seasonal Biological Technicians, camping out in Huff’s Hole for more than 3 months as falcon nest guards).

Flowering (on Hi Mtn.slopes, Hi Valley to Huff’s Hole): chamise (profusely), woolly blue curls, soap plant, chaparral pea, black sage, spineflower, yerba santa, deerweed, mariposa lily, clarkia spp., golden
yarrow, milkweed, clematis, lupine spp., yellow-star thistle.

Bird sightings/vocalizations (Hi Mtn. to Huff’s Hole): band-tailed pigeon, California thrasher, wrentit, western wood peewee, bewick’s wren, house wren, canyon wren, black-headed grosbeak, spotted towhee, California towhee, mourning dove, white-breasted nuthatch, acorn woodpecker, Nuttal’s woodpecker, northern flicker, orange-crowned warbler, Anna’s hummingbird, western scrub jay, Stellar’s jay, oak titmouse, white-throated swift, ash-throated flycatcher, turkey vulture,
peregrine falcon.

Western grey squirrel and Merriam’s chipmunk also vocalized their presence from the oaks and brush-covered slopes. Bear scat was on the Huff’s Hole trail through the grassy protrero and likely bear tracks made large depressions in the soft oak duff from the old campsite down towards Huff’s Hole creek.

Note: conspicuously absent and/or not detected throughout the day, surprisingly missed but expected this time of the year in the chaparral and blue oak woodland, below Hi Mountain: lazuli bunting, black-chinned sparrow, sage sparrow, western bluebird, bullock’s oriole, red-tailed hawk (!), common raven, prairie falcon

Steve Schubert
www.condorlookout.org

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"Hi, but not Above"

Author/journalist and Hi Mt. Volunteer John FitzRandolph recently had this article about the Hi Mt. Lookout and desert tortoises published in The Cambrian. Thanks John!
http://condorlookout.org/archive/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/condor-tortoise.pdf

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"Hi But Not Above" by John Fitzrandolf

Author/journalist and Hi Mt. Volunteer John FitzRandolph recently had this article about the Hi Mt. Lookout and desert tortoises published in The Cambrian. Thanks John!

Download the entire article here (pdf)

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Hi Mt. History lesson

Here are the old lookout photos from the scrapbook that Kevin found (I wonder if the 3rd photo is the same building as the 1961 photo, or an earlier structure??. A 1976 photo from MCAS is also included). Below is the text that is posted on the Buck Rock Lookout Foundation website…from Dave Bulla’s letter, it suggests a lookout was present in 1926, but I wonder if that is correct. The mystery of the lookout’s past history continues.

Steve

Hi Mountain Lookout listed in National Lookout Register

Thanks to the help of Kathy Ball (Buck Rock Foundation), Dave Bula (Forest Fire Lookout Association), Rex Kamstra (firelookout.com), the USFS Santa Lucia Ranger District (LPNF), and the many others who helped us complete our recent application, we are pleased to announce our acceptance to the National Lookout Register! When a structure is less than 50 years old, but has sufficient historical significance to be registered, the lookout is listed in the National Lookout Register with an NHLR number, and is automatically transferred to the NHLR upon the 50th anniversary of its construction. The Hi Mtn. Lookout will be eligible for listing in the National Historic Lookout Register in 2010. Listing in the National Historic Lookout Register is often a first step toward eventual nomination to the National Register of Historic Sites maintained by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

For those of you who don’t know Kathy Ball, she is the founder of the Buck Rock Foundation and has been involved with the Hi Mtn. Lookout Project for several years now. She helped us secure some of our first grant monies to get the project off the ground. You may have seen Kathy’s interview with Huell Howser on the PBS series “California’s Gold”. Kathy attended out Open House/Condor Campout in October 2002, and it was there that we first spoke to her about getting Hi Mtn. Lookout listed in the NHLR. Over the course of the following year, we exchanged dozens of emails and initiated the somewhat tedious application process. Applying to the register involved tracking down as much historic information about our Lookout as we could find, and making a case for why it deserved acknowledgement as a building of historic significance. You can read our official NHLR application here.

The Hi Mtn. Lookout was accepted to the NLR on July 22, 2003 (US Lookout #522) as “meeting those standards of historic and cultural significance established by the American Resources Group, Washington D.C., in cooperation with the Forest Fire Lookout Association, the National Forestry Association, the National Woodland Owners Association, and State and Federal forestry agencies.” At our 2nd annual Open House/Condor Campout on October 4, 2003, Kathy Ball presented us with our Certificate of Recognition and official NLR sign. It was a proud moment for all of us. There were even a few tears as Kathy praised the Lookout Project for it’s dedication to restoring Hi Mtn. as a field research station, interperative center, and Condor telemetry outpost. Kathy told us that Hi Mtn. was the first lookout to be restored and listed in the name of wildlife monitoring. We sincerely hope that the Hi Mountain Lookout Project will now seve as a model, inspiring other folks to find reasons to save and restore their forgotten, dismantled, or vandalized fire lookouts.

Aside from the national recognition it brings us, listing in the NLR has other benefits for the Lookout Project. Our listing paves the way to future recognition of Hi Mtn. in the National Historic Lookout Register and as a California Historical Landmark. So as we continue to pour love, money, and effort into our little lookout, we are witnissing history in the making! As an added bonus, the listing process started us digging into the murky past of the Lookout tower. It turns out that the original lookout was built in 1926 and may have stood in a different location on the long spine of Hi Mountain. The current tower was built in 1961 to replace the old one and fell into disuse by the mid 70’s. Bits and pieces of Hi Mtn. history continue to surface, but there is much we still don’t know. What did the original tower look like? Who staffed and maintained it, and what aretheir stories? As the project progresses, we hope to learn much more about the historical significance of the Hi mtn. Lookout to San Luis Obispo County. Below is one of the emails we received from Dave Bula while researching the Lookout for the application process. Its a great example of the interesting history we uncovered while putting our application together.

Hi Steve,
Thanks for the update on the old Hi Mtn LO. It was not at all uncommon for replacement fire lookouts to be built in a slightly different spot from the earlier lookouts. The usual reason was the elimination some nagging blind spot where fires often occurred without being seen directly from the LO until they got a lot bigger. Another advantage to moving the location slightly was the ability to continue to use the old LO even while the new one is being constructed. The old one didn’t need to be removed until after the new one was completed. This happened in a lot of places. In others, where the mountaintop was so small (like up on top of a rock pinnacle), this was not an option, but it was usually done when possible. There are a number of pictures of band new lookouts standing a few feet away from the old lookouts. I also know of some cases where the new LO was placed as much as a mile away from the old one. It just varied.
Now, we have just learned something new about the old Hi Mountain LO. While visitng a CCC museum, Kathy Ball found some old materials in their “Don Hobart Collection”. The CCC did not build the old Hi Mountain LO in 1926, since the CCC wasn’t even formed until after FDR was elected in 1932, but since the CCC did build a lot of other lookouts, the museum must (correctly) have felt it was appropriate to house this entire collection.
Anyway, among that stuff that Kathy found was an undated description of the Hi Mountain LO. It was called a “standard 14×14 cab” on a “10-foot wood tower”. Even though that data is undated, it couldn’t possibly have been describing the current 1961 15×15 LO on a cement block base. It had to be the 1926 LO. To save time, I’m going to quote a little bit of my reaction to this news from Kathy.
“You’re right, that does NOT describe the current LO. The current LO can’t be called a 10 foot wood tower no matter how such things are designed. 10 foot block base? Yes. 10 foot cinder block? Sure. But wood tower? No way. So I think you’ve found something here. Now what we can’t tell from this is whether the cab was up on legs or up on top of a lower wooden enclosed story, like my old Argentine LO is. Either way might have been described as a “10 foot wood tower.” I’ve seen both types described as such.
Now what about the cab itself? “Standard 14×14 house.” To many, that would suggest the classic L-4 cab. However, in 1926, the L-4 had not even been developed yet. Up here in the northwest the lookouts in 1926 were of the cupola variety, usually the D-6, but some were D-1’s as well. However by 1926, as you know better than anyone thanks to Buck Rock, the 4A cab, or whatever you want to call that cab with the steeply pitched roof and large windows, was well established in California. This design WAS standard in the Santa Barbara NF (the earlier name of the Los Padres NF). Chews Ridge LO, Figueroa LO, and others of this type were built. This has been my guess all along for what the 1926 Hi Mountain LO must have been. But with no picture, or otherwise undeniable proof, I’ve been reluctant to state it as such.”
So now I feel like we’re one step closer. Hopefully, a picture of the old LO will turn up someday, confirming all this.
Continued good luck to you and all your group down there on your most worthwhile condor project.
Dave Bula Western Deputy Chairman, FFLA

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CALL FOR HELP! Summer ‘08 Internship Fundraiser

Hi Mountain Lookout needs YOUR help for summer ‘08! We are soliciting matching funds needed by end of April.

Cal Poly’s Biological Science Department has funding for one summer intern to staff Hi Mountain for summer 2008 (tracking Calif. Condors, opening the Hi Mountain Interpretive Center, educating the public about condors & the recovery program and providing a presence at the Lookout). We need to fund a second intern. We need to raise $2500.00. THE GOOD NEWS: we already have $1500.00!

IF you can help, please send a check, in any amount you can afford, to:
Morro Coast Audubon Society (check made out to “*MCAS/Hi Mtn Lookout S’08*”)
P.O. Box 1507, Morro Bay, CA 93443-1507

Thanks in advance of any help you can give! Questions? Contact Marcelle Bakula, fundraising volunteer, by email:marcelle@digitalputty.com (please put “Hi Mtn.” in subject line).

Thank you for your continuing support of the Hi Mt. Condor Lookout Project

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Celebration honors Jan Hamber, Noel and Helen Snyder and Pedro Nava

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