A mysterious bench makes its appearance
Commentary by PAT MURPHY
It’s a lovely thought, executed in a restful
setting.
But, alas, it’s illegal.
There, on a slight rise just above the trailhead creek in Adams Gulch
and tucked in a cluster of young aspen, is a wooden bench.
In the first few days after I first spotted it during regular hikes
with my two Labs, a small piece of paper with a handwritten note was left behind under a
rock on the bench.
"Simmons Memorial Bench," it read, with a caution not to sit
on the bench until concrete footings for the legs had hardened.
The note has vanished. The concrete has hardened. On my morning, midday
and afternoon hikes, I’ve yet to see anyone at the bench.
So, who’s "Simmons"? And who paid for a finely finished
wooden bench, about six feet long, with slatted backrest and arm rests?
It’s a mystery.
But this is no mystery: unless there’s a change of heart, the
Forest Service will remove the bench, which is unauthorized.
Benefactors of this tribute to "Simmons" will be angered when
the bench is removed, and when they show up to reclaim the bench, the Forest Service will
discover the identity of "Simmons."
The Forest Service is not heartless. But it’s required to enforce
rules.
The agency appreciates the harmlessness of a bench in Adams Gulch. But
one of the Ketchum Ranger District’s staffers says impromptu and unauthorized
accoutrements on public land soon would lead to an unsightly collection of odds
‘n’ ends amounting to unsightly clutter.
Had benefactors of the "Simmons" bench sought Forest Service
permission, they might well have received it—if their reasoning was convincing and
made a lasting contribution to the pastoral setting in Adams Gulch.
Pressed as it is for funds, perhaps the Forest Service in time will
relent and encourage donors to offer benches for places such as Adams Gulch, where not
everyone wants to hike or bike, but may simply want to sit and take in the idyllic
panorama of foothills, streams, trees and passersby with their frisky dogs.
The "Simmons Memorial Bench" is spotted in one of those
places where perhaps an older couple not up to hiking could simply pause and enjoy some of
Mother Nature’s treasures.
Heaven knows, the "Simmons Memorial Bench" in Adams Gulch is
a lot less offensive or intrusive than motorized dirt bikes ripping through the Gulch,
shattering the quiet and leaving an odor of gasoline in the air.
Such rules – "no" to benches, "yes" to
motorized dirt bikes – just never make any sense.
