Planet Podcast for November 15:Rockefeller Center opens

Thursday, November 15, 2007

By Planet User

By Sam Petri and Video by The Hole Production

  Jackson Hole, Wyo.-THERE WAS NO RIBBON CUTTING ceremony. No photo op, no speeches, and not a single commemorative plaque exchanged hands.

Last Tuesday, 1106 acres of land southeast of Phelps Lake in Grand Teton National Park, valued at $160 million, were officially transferred to the park by the Rockefeller family. For a piece of land this extraordinary, speeches and plaques would have been a trifle.
The property was the last GTNP inholding owned by the Rockefellers, whose patriarch, John D. Rockefeller, was largely responsible for the park we all enjoy. The donation is not only in line with the family’s commitment to conservation and historical preservation, but also was the swan song to their Grand Teton National Park legacy.

The transfer of the land became official when Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne signed conveyance documents in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 6. It shall henceforth be known as the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve, in honor of the man who envisioned it, and includes a new, environmentally sound, 7,000-square-foot LSR Preserve Center, designed by Carney Architects. Laurance S. Rockefeller passed away in 2004 at the age of 94.

But given the weight of the gift, what it means for GTNP and its visitors, it is surprising how much of the process has been nearly silent. The Department of the Interior website, which posts updates on the secretary’s activities, does not mention Kempthorne signing the land conveyance document in Washington, D.C., something anyone would have been proud to do.

Calls to Kempthorne’s deputy press secretary, Chris Paolino, regarding the signing went unreturned, as did calls to Clay James, the liaison for the Rockefeller family on this project, who was out of the country at the time of the land transfer, according to GTNP spokesperson Jackie Skaggs. Only a press release sent by GTNP to the local media officially announced the conveyance that has been six years in the making.

All the hoopla that could have happened last Tuesday took place six years ago, on May 26, 2001, when Laurance S. Rockefeller publicly announced his intent to donate the land to the American people. Vice President Dick Cheney along with the then-Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton accepted the transfer of land during a ceremony on the property, then called JY Ranch, a private Rockefeller-owned retreat.

The JY Ranch was once owned by Lewis Joy, who founded it in1906 and operated it, perhaps as Jackson Hole’s very first dude ranch, until 1932. In that year, John D. Rockefeller bought it and more than 30,000 acres more with the intent of transferring it to the federal government for a national park. Although John D. did turn most of the land into a national park, he kept 3,106 acres of the original JY Ranch as a family retreat. The property included about 30 buildings that dotted the southeastern shore of Phelps Lake. Eventually Laurance S. inherited the JY Ranch from his father, and in the 1990s he gradually donated 2,000 of its 3,106 acres to GTNP.

Laurance’s vision was finally completed last week when the final 1106 acres officially became part of the park.

Between the 2001 announcement and the 2007 paperwork, the family has directed and paid for work to return the land to near-pristine condition. The 30 or so JY Ranch buildings have been moved. Half of them will become employee housing in the Beaver Creek area of the park; the other half were moved just outside the park to another nearby Rockefeller property. Standing at the site of the old JY Ranch, it is impossible for the untrained eye to detect where they once stood.

The lack of ceremony this past Tuesday has less to do with the 2001 acceptance of the land and more to do with Laurance S. Rockefeller not wanting to make a spectacle of the donation in the first place. As Skaggs said, the Rockefeller Associates, who have been managing the estate, requested a “low key soft opening” and added that the family wanted the “land to speak for itself.” The timing of Kempthorne’s signing of the legal conveyance document would suggest a purposefully understated opening: On Nov. 1, the Moose-Wilson road leading to the LSR Preserve closed for the season to automobiles.

The low-key opening also is consistent with the feel Rockefeller wanted the Preserve to have – a relaxing setting in which to contemplate the natural beauty of the world.  An intersection of diverse habitats, from sagebrush meadows, forests and wetlands, to lakes and creeks, the Preserve offers an unparalleled wildlife-rich environment. The Preserve Center is dominated by a cozy lodge-like reading room, with comfy chairs, a large fireplace and shelves lined with books, a serene place to read, study, and ponder nature and our place in it.

Though the Moose-Wilson Road, which provides access to the Preserve’s 50-car parking lot, is closed to vehicles for the winter, the curious can still drive to Moose, head south on the Moose-Wilson Road and park at the Death Canyon turnoff, and walk or bike an easy half-mile to the new LSR Preserve Center. From there, they can explore the new eight-mile network of “naturalistic” trails completed by Northwest Woodland Land Services Inc. of Boring, Ore., which also built 18 single-log milled-benches, two road crossings, rock steps and a few handicapped accessible crushed-stone trails.

Two main trails lead to Phelps Lake from the Preserve Center: the Woodland Trail (a moderate nine tenths of a mile) and Lake Creek Trail (a moderate mile and a half). Both connect to the longer, peripheral Boulder Ridge Trail (a moderate to strenuous mile and seventh tenths) and Aspen Ridge Trail (a moderate to strenuous two and a half miles). You also can circumnavigate Phelps Lake via the seven-mile Phelps Lake Trail Loop. No matter how you look at it, access to Phelps Lake just got easier. 

Right now the new Preserve Center building is not open to the public, as the interior is still being finished. However, take a look inside the windows and the building appears to be almost ready. Skaggs said construction on the interior will halt for the winter. Come spring, construction will resume and the center will open as soon as it’s ready in the spring or summer of 2008. As of press time, an official opening date for the building had not been set.  For now, observing from the outside and enjoying the trails is as good as it gets. This being the quiet off-season, the getting is good – no one is out there.

Carney Architects have taken remarkable steps in the design and construction of the Preserve Center in hopes of earning the highest level of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. For example, the center relies greatly on alternative energy sources such as photovoltaic solar panels as well as geothermal wells to reduce the need for external energy consumption. Carney Architects used shredded blue jeans and soy bean-based spray to insulate the building.

Interior finishes contain no volatile organic compounds (VOC), and the Forest Stewardship Council, an organization dedicated to sustainable forestry, certified all of the construction timber. Carney Architects hopes such design features will add up to LEED Platinum Certification, however, that status will be determined after the building opens.

Laurance S. Rockefeller intended the preserve to be a place for people of all ages and abilities to get outside and interact with nature on a personal level. He believed profound experiences, like those that can be had on the LSR Preserve, can teach the value of our environment to others who will then become stewards of the land. If you are looking for an afternoon of adventure, go experience a place you’ve never been, like the new LSR Preserve. It’s only 20 minutes away.
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Planet Podcast for November 15:Rockefeller Center opens | Planet JH News Article: News Podcasts

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