Counter-Culture Art, Soaking Springs, And Palm Trees; How Should Death Valley's Saline Springs Be Managed?

While humans have been soaking in the warm springs found in the remote Saline Valley of Death Valley National Park for perhaps thousands of years, use during the past 50 or so years has the National Park Service taking a look at how the area is being used and what needs to be done to guide visitor use there. The Beat generation and the hippies had their way with it, the Park Service notes, but how should what they created be managed going forward?

The warm springs, which range in temperature from 61 to 117 degrees Fahrenheit, have been funneled into a network of soaking pools, creatively named "Crystal Pool," "Sunrise Pool," "Children's Play Tub," Volcano Pool," and "Wizard Pool." There are elaborate art displays, shower areas, dishwashing areas, a burro watering area, and non-native palm trees.

"The period of development for the site coincides with a strong counterculture social movement in American history. Populated by a segment of American society that had become disillusioned with the political and social establishment, the Counterculture Movement emerged in the 1930s with a back-to-nature approach and continued through the post-war era of the mid1940s," the agency notes in narrative contained within the park's Saline Valley Warm Springs Draft Management Plan and EIS. "The Beat Movement of the 1950s and the Hippie Movement of the 1960s and 1970s grew from the earlier counterculture movements of the early and mid-twentieth century such as the Nudist Movement and the German Wandervogel Movement.

"The Hippie Movement would then coincide, and in many cases comingle with, the Anti-War Movement, the Feminist Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Environmental Movement. The 1960s and early 1970s were a time of significant upheaval in American society, and the Beat and Hippie Countercultures that developed at the time clearly flourished at the Saline Valley Warm Springs and continue to thrive there to this day. At present, the site seems to be overlaid with the many layers of countercultural beliefs of its users.

"For members of the Beat Generation places like Saline Valley were distant places where one could get away from the greater materialistic American society of the 1950s. Like the primitive recreationists, the Beats sought out wild destinations and lauded literary works such as Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. They felt that real creative moments flowed from experiencing all aspects of the world, beautiful and ugly. A desert landscape that is both challenging and beautiful like Saline Valley would certainly have fit this description."

The Park Service proposes the following for the area:

* Fencing would be installed around the developed area to exclude burros.

* Officially designating the Chicken Strip airstrip as a landing strip through an associated rulemaking process, allowing it to remain open. Camping would be allowed at the airstrip.

* Camping permits would be required. Permits would be free at first, but a fee might be implemented later. Camping would continue to be limited to 30 days per calendar year. Dispersed camping will be allowed in designated areas.

* Remove non-native vegetation (including palms) from the Upper Springs. No replacement palms would be placed at Lower Springs when existing ones die naturally.

* Art that is found to be 50 years or older is considered eligible for the National Register. Art installations determined to be eligible would be managed in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act. Non-historic art would be removed regularly to preserve the natural beauty of the area.

You can find the draft plan here. Public comment is being taken on it through July 2.

“Saline Valley Warm Springs area is unique enough to need its own specific plan,” explained Death Valley National Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds. “The location is isolated, there are a variety of complex resource issues, and there are communities of passionate users.”

The Bureau of Land Management, Inyo County, and Timbisha Shoshone Tribe are cooperating agencies and provided input on the draft plan.

The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe considers the waters to be as source of puha, a life force energy. The preferred alternative includes increased cooperation between NPS and the Tribe, in line with the Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act of 2000.

The Timbisha Shoshone Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Barbara Durham, has expressed “support of the protection of the intangible and symbolic values of the Timbisha Shoshone that are extant throughout Saline Valley.”

“The Bureau of Land Management, Ridgecrest Field Office, fully supports Death Valley National Park and their efforts to provide the public with a sound management plan for the critical resources in the Saline Valley Warm Springs area,” said Caroline Woods, Acting Assistant Field Manager.

Cathreen Richards of the Inyo County Planning Department encouraged the NPS “to preserve Saline Valley Warm Springs as an important site to the history and culture of Inyo County.”