Bishop, CA – In an effort to better serve the public land protection needs of Southern Inyo County, conservation nonprofit Friends of the Inyo (FOI) will soon open its first ever Satellite Office in Lone Pine.
Located at 142 East Bush Street, in the Historic Forum Theater Building, the 700 square-foot corner suite is across from the Lone Pine Post Office, and, on the North Jackson Street side of the building, across from Stratham Hall and the Lone Pine Volunteer Fire Department.
Having an office in Lone Pine will strategically put FOI close to such iconic public lands as Alabama Hills National Scenic Area, the Mt. Whitney Ranger District of the Inyo National Forest, Death Valley National Park, and Conglomerate Mesa, for which FOI, along with local Tribes and other desert land advocates, is working to gain permanent protection. It will also allow FOI to be physically much closer to Inyo County Seat Independence than the organization’s Bishop Headquarters, thereby making possible greater engagement with County Government.
Lone Pine local Kayla Browne, the FOI staff member who will be in charge of the new Satellite Office, said, “As Desert Lands Organizer and a resident of Lone Pine, being a part of the community is important to me. The new Lone Pine Office will allow FOI to host gatherings and meetings, give people a place to come to for inquiries, and show our commitment to the communities of Southern Inyo County.”
To celebrate this expansion milestone in Friends of the Inyo’s 36-year history, the community and the media are invited to an Open House on the Lone Pine Satellite Office’s Grand Opening Day, Friday, August 19. The 5 to 8 p.m. Open House will include free food for the first 50 attendees, assorted beverages, coloring sheets and snacks for kids, and the opportunity to meet FOI staff and board members and to mix & mingle with fellow Eastern Sierra neighbors.
In extending her invitation to everyone to join Friends of the Inyo for this momentous occasion, Executive Director Wendy Schneider said, “At FOI we are very excited about the opening of our Lone Pine Satellite Office. While our work to protect and care for the public lands of the Eastern Sierra has always included Southern Inyo County, our new office is a more visible demonstration that FOI is a long-term, long-standing member of the Southern Inyo County community, and that we are a local employer and committed stakeholder that contributes to the area’s economic viability and culture.”
About Friends of the Inyo
Founded in 1986 as an all-volunteer organization, Friends of the Inyo was originally organized to comment on the Inyo National Forest planning process. It has since evolved into a fully staffed conservation nonprofit whose mission is “To protect and care for the public lands of the Eastern Sierra.” Supported by thousands of generous individual and corporate donors, volunteers and community partners, Friends of the Inyo engages lovers of the Eastern Sierra in the protection of our precious public lands throughout all of Inyo and Mono Counties. Learn more at www.friendsoftheinyo.org.
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Thank God for FOI,The Sierra Club and other strong environmental groups for helping keep this area from becoming nothing more than a crowded big-city money making metropolis like we see on the morning SoCal news,endless housing tracs and daily traffic jams that go along with it,with little regard for Wilderness areas and the Wildlife.
Their help in protection for the Alabama Hills and turning it into a National Scenic area and working against the planned (and later canceled ) big-money mining operations in the Conglomerate Mesa area is working wonders keeping our area free of the urban sprawl we,most of us anyway,moved here to get away from…
Mr. NIMBY is at it again…..and I do like what FOI is doing, great organization. But dude, just lighten up on the SoCaler’s….
Mono Person
I have to admit something to you…
I had to look up “NIMBY” to see what that means,thinking it was probably an insult.
When I found out what it meant,it’s a badge I’m proud to wear…
We at work got a good laugh at it,and they agree with that title for me….you’re the guy from Bridgeport,right ?
Love that area,probably my favorite in the Sierra.
Great Bridgeport memories since 1973..
Moving from the sprawl then complaining about others just wanting to the same thing you did is hypocrisy at its best. Thank you FOI for caring!
Extreme Right Winger
It’s not you “wingers” wanting to move up here….
Not enough money to be made by most..
It’s them coming up here treating the land as their playground,thinking they can do as they please…
You do as I did….move here by myself,not knowing a single person to fall back on, with no job,no money,a broken down truck,5 months sleeping in a tent by the creek…catching Trout to eat..
Finally finding two part time jobs…
Now,22 years later, making a living,not getting rich,but doing O.K.
You do all that,then we’ll talk…
D.D.
You can mostly thank the Feds, State, and City of LA landowners for keeping the area unpopulated. With the help of those environmental groups we could have bigger cities and local economies here ALONGSIDE a healthier natural environment.
I argue we cannot have a healthy economy without a healthy natural environment and vice versa. The local Tribes deserve some of their land and water rights back for example, IMO. Improving economies on Tribal lands will improve economies in the rest of the area. Those economies having access to more land will make them healthier. Locals with good jobs and full stomachs can take care of their communities better and negotiate more strongly with outside entities. Have more control over local resources, such as Conglomerate Mesa, and how we value and honor them. If there was more local wealth maybe Mammoth Mountain would be locally owned and not siphoning profits elsewhere. I am sure the McCoys would have favored a local sale.
Pedro
Maybe my view on things are different than some others living here in the Owens Valley,but I’ll sacrifice big money,big economy,bigger cities and a bigger population for what we have living here now.
If people really want all that “bigger” stuff,there are “bigger” places to move to where they can maybe have better success at “bigger” wealth, “bigger “profits and a life of luxury..
Where I once lived and spent a lot of years,what you said there with some of your writting,I and we heard that same type of thing in the 80’s during the housing boom..
Bring on the building,make houses affordable,the people and the jobs will come.
We all will become rich and well off with the new great economy..living happily ever after..
We’ll have better control on resources,locally governing and preserving them…
Now,35 + years later,go to the Antelope Valley-Lancaster internet sites and see how that turned out.
Crime,drugs,over-population,poverty,homelessness,and a trashy environmental disaster…and a miserable life for those that are living down there,and no longer a safe place for me and others that left when we did to even want to go back and visit or drive through anymore…
We need and appreciate FOI
Welcome to Lone Pine