FLPA presentation to the Board of
Supervisors, March 11th, 2025

By Anna Schaad Montgomery and Karen Atkinson

Good morning, my name is Anna Montgomery and this is Karen Atkenson. We are board members and
directors of the 501c3 nonprofit FLPA – Friends of Lone Pine Airport, and we’re here to share with
you what FLPA accomplished in 2024 and the first part of 2025, as well as giving a brief view of
upcoming plans.

Friends of Lone Pine airport was founded in 2022 by a few locals and friends with the desire to
advocate for the Lone Pine Death Valley Airport, to restore and revitalize the historic terminal
building and hangars, to foster youth in aviation, and more. 2024 was our biggest year yet, with
some major accomplishments. January at the airport started out strong with airport manager Steve
Lovins installing a new hose reel – a much needed improvement. In March, FLPA signed a memorandum
of agreement (MOA) with the County, outlining our relationship and goals in collaborating on the
airport. Our most immediate goal was restoration of the airport terminal building, which we believe
dates back to the 1940s. The County contracted out the work to replace the roof, which was
significantly deteriorated and leaking into the building in several places. The funds for this work
was secured with the help of Matt Kingsley, who got a line item for the Lone Pine airport in the
budget for the first time in many years, and Ashley Helms who worked with us tirelessly to advocate
for restoring the building. FLPA began work restoring the exterior of the building in May. We
received a $5000 Community Project Sponsorship Program (CPSP) grant, which was extremely valuable
to the project, not only for providing funds, but for raising additional funds, because it showed
we had the support of the County.

FLPA volunteers put over 400 hours of labor into scraping, caulking, repairing, priming, and
painting the building. New insulated exterior doors were installed on the front and back of the
building. We also hired Bishop Glass to replace all the window panes on the front and sides of the
building. The most dramatic part of this was replacing the 8 x 10 picture window, which was hazy to
look through due to years of pitting by the wind. The new window is double painted, insulated and
tinted on the outside, and made a dramatic difference. In addition, we commissioned a custom
fabricated metal sign by Jon Vanderhoven, who created the sign fixed to the front of the Bishop
airport. We believed this would give some continuity between the two airports. The sign was
installed in January and is a stunning edition, providing a unique and
artistic first impression to aviators and visitors to the airport.

But there’s more! In the fall of 2024 we received a large private grant that was donated
specifically for the purpose of purchasing a tractor mower for the Lone Pine airport. FL PA
purchased this tractor mower and it was delivered on January 20th, 2025. This is a game changer for
our airport. Also in the first months of 2025 we began work on the interior of the terminal
building. FLPA received a $15,000 grant from the Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) for the
interior restoration of the building. We began with the pilot’s lounge, which is an important
gathering space for pilots, search and rescue crews and other emergency operations. Volunteers
stripped and refinished the hardwood floors, replaced the water-damaged ceiling tiles with tongue
and groove, and installed tempered glass in the interior windows looking into the County office. We
created a built-in bookshelf where there once was an unused doorway blocked off, removed the fake
paneling on the back wall, repaired all holes and damaged paneling, and painted it. In addition,
volunteers refinished the floors in the adjacent front office, repaired the walls and painted, with
plans to install an historical display of local aviation history.

What’s in store for the rest of 2025? This year we look towards continuing the momentum by leasing
the historic Tunnel Aircamp and Cessna hangars, doing critical structural repairs to these historic
buildings. Over the next several years, FLPA seeks to restore the Tunnel Aircamp hanger into a
usable, cultural space that can facilitate aviation and cultural events for the greater community.
And if that isn’t enough, just last weekend, we inherited a partially built airplane from the
Bishop organization SCAMP – Sierra Communities Aviation Mentoring Program. FLPA will be setting up
an after school program to continue the work building this airplane, and begin looking into
creating a certified CTE aviation program here at the Lone Pine airport!

In closing, as we charge ahead into this new year, there is no limit to what we can accomplish
together to strengthen and enrich our beautiful little community. If we all put some skin in the
game, we can move mountains. FLPA seeks to work in the spirit of collaboration, to make the Lone
Pine Death Valley airport an even more vital asset to our community. We look forward to our
continued collaboration with the County of Inyo on projects revitalizing the airport. To learn
more, please check out our extensive website at friendsoflonepineairport.org and on instagram at
friendsoflonepineairpot. Donations can be made on the website, or reach out to volunteer.
You can also mail a tax deductible donation to FLPA at PO BOX 1, Lone Pine, CA 93545.