VAN NORDEN MEADOW MUSINGS

Van Norden Meadow, with the passage of time, has also been a place of passages for people and wildlife.  Early Indian tribes used the meadow for literally thousands of years; records of their time up at the summit can be found in petroglyphs, and tool fragments still found around the area.  

Later, emigrants on the long trip to California rested in the meadow, then called "Summit Valley", after their long journey up the mountain through Stevens (now Donner) Pass.  The Donner Party, with their sad fate, has to some degree diverted attention from the many settlers who traversed the area successfully .

Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway in the United States, essentially followed the old wagon routes up Donner Pass, and bordered the edges of Van Norden Meadow.  The intercontinental railroad, which also borders Van Norden Meadow, sometimes presented harrowing situations for Lincoln Highway motorists attempting to cross it; trains could barrel out of the snow sheds, presenting a sudden need to clear the tracks in a hurry.  Portions of the old Lincoln Highway are still passable today when the snow has melted, and crossing the tracks can still generate a frisson of fear.

The gold rush brought miners to the Sierra, and it also brought flumes, canals, ditches, diversions, and dams.  Summit Meadow was subjected to damming in 1900, and was submerged until the 1970's.  The land was patient under captured water, though, and had an amazing rebirth once the old dam was broken open.

This was a great benefit to wildlife.  The development of Highway 40, followed by the building of Highway 80, has had a large impact on many species' travel over the Sierra.  The transcontinental railroad, and the ski resorts, with their runs, lifts, buildings, and parking lots, cause additional fragmentation of migratory routes.  Hence, Van Norden Meadow, verdant again, has become a valuable traverse, and feeding grounds for an astonishing range of wildlife.  

Van Norden Meadow is exceptionally rich in forage.  The interplay of granite, woods, wetlands, and meadows offers an exceptionally diverse selection of plants, a virtual cafeteria for creatures ranging from fragile butterfly size on up; the carnivores benefit as well by the richness of the zone.  

This is all threatened, history and wildlife alike, by Royal Gorge LLC's plans to foist a dam on Van Norden Meadow, which will result in drowning an area that teems with wildlife.  One wonders how Misters Foster and Syme, who presented themselves to the community as environmentalists, can even contemplate such a deed.  Additionally, one wonders whether Sugar Bowl Ski Resort approves of, and is involved in this scheme to inundate this vibrant meadow.  Sugar Bowl owns a large portion of the meadow, and one would imagine Royal Gorge LLC would have to have their cooperation in order to flood Van Norden Meadow.  Sugar Bowl, by the way, prides itself on being a "green" ski resort.

Corporations eager to assert their "green" credentials should reflect on their collective values before submerging Van Norden Meadow.  Destruction of Van Norden Meadow is a high price to pay to provide water for fractional time shares, and ski-related development.  It will be a sad day indeed if ski-developers reap the profits of development, while species dependent upon Van Norden Meadow reap the ruin.