Stanislaus National Forest

News Release

USDA Forest Service
Stanislaus National Forest

Five Receive National Recognition for Cultural History Event

Sonora, CA (June 7, 2008) ... The Forest Service today announced that three Stanislaus National Forest (NF) employees and two Tuolumne County community leaders have been selected to receive the prestigious national Windows On The Past Award. The five are being recognized for outstanding leadership in organizing the well-attended “Home on the Range” cultural history event held last September at the historic, 1870’s era Fahey Cow Camp, located on the Forest’s Mi-Wok Ranger District.

Those named for the national award are District Public Service Program Area Leader Beth Martinez, Interpretive Specialist Phyllis Ashmead, and District Archaeologist Stacy Lundgren. The award is also being received by Foothill Farmlands Arts Festival Director BZ Smith, and Festival co-director and Farms of Tuolumne County President Sasha Farkas. The five will receive the award in a noontime ceremony on June 14, at this year’s family-oriented Pinecrest Lake Fish Fair in the Pinecrest Amphitheatre. Event Information is available by calling the Summit Ranger District at (209) 965-3434.

“Heritage professionals across the agency implement a complex program of cultural resource stewardship, public outreach, and support to Forest Service programs. These five have been nominated and are receiving this national award because they have gone above and beyond the call of duty to employ creativity and demonstrate exemplary leadership in the Heritage Program,” said Acting Forest Supervisor Kathy Hardy.

Last September’s Fahey Cow Camp “Home on the Range” event, deemed by several hundred attendees to be a shining success, celebrated the rich heritage of our public lands, local farms, and ranches. Tucked in the pines, the iconic Fahey Cabin was carefully restored in 2005 by Forest Service “Passport in Time” project volunteers. It served as the key center piece of the event, conducted in partnership with the larger “Foothills Farmlands Festival.” Visitors and local families enjoyed local art, cowboy demonstrations, home grown foods, story telling, spoken history, educational activities, and music scheduled throughout the day.

The Forest Service Windows on the Past award recognizes extraordinary accomplishments in heritage public outreach such as interpretation, volunteerism, tourism, or other educational or recreational use or enhancement of cultural resources. Forest Service employees or private citizens are eligible for this award. Each nominated recipient of this special recognition receives a national award with a plaque and a letter of congratulations.

Last September’s success will be carried forward and expanded at this year’s upcoming “Head to the Hills through Aspen Meadow” event, scheduled for Sunday, September 7th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Aspen Meadow Pack Station, located off Highway 108, on the Stanislaus NF’s Summit Ranger District. The free-admission, family-oriented event will celebrate the “western way” on the Stanislaus National Forest. Featured will be high-Sierra and western Americana, music, food, stories, hands-on art demonstrations, Plein Air Painters, horse back rides, and more.

In the future, Fahey Cow Camp, including the cabin, barn, and coral, will continue to serve as a center-point for interpreting the rich heritage of the Stanislaus NF. Plans are currently underway to restore the historic horse barn next to the cabin. Members of the public interested in helping with the project may contact Stacey Lungren at (209) 586-3234 on the Mi-Wok Ranger District for more information.