$60 for 60 Years of Service

60 Years of Service

May of 2014 marked the Death Valley Natural History Association’s 60th Anniversary as Death Valley’s non-profit partner! Many of our members and friends have made contributions to Death Valley National Park by contributing $60 for our 60 Years of Service Campaign to display a live feed of the Devils Hole Pufish in the Furnace Creek Visitor Center.

In 1952, Devils Hole was put under the protection of what was then Death Valley National Monument. Since then, most visitors have heard about Devils Hole, but few have ever seen it and even fewer have had the opportunity to observe the endangered Devils Hole pupfish in their natural habitat. In recent years, cameras were installed at Devils Hole as part of the Park’s monitoring program. This included an underwater camera that overlooks the rock shelf where the pupfish spend most of their time. We have now tapped into this live feed and it broadcasts live daily, giving the public a chance to see these incredible fish up close and personal!

Over $12,000 was needed to help display this feed and we exceeded this fundraising goal to help bring the pupfish and DVNP visitors closer than ever. 

What have we done in the last 60 years? In the beginning, Death Valley National Monument let us set up a display case of publications in the lobby of the Cow Creek Administration building and we had humble aspirations of bringing in 200 memberships. Since then, we’ve grown to over 1400 active members and donors and we’ve provided almost $3.5 million in aid to our partners, millions of pieces of free publications to our visitors, and the completion of dozens of resource and research projects. We’ve also funded the Death Valley R.O.C.K.S education program, organized quite a few Scotty’s Castle Organ Concerts, History and Natural History Conferences, and published a number of books. We’ve become the non-profit partner for Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and recently started providing interpretive hiking programs for adults as a Road Scholar affiliate. It’s never a dull moment filling the needs of our partners here in the Death Valley region.  Thank you for helping us celebrate 60 years of service!