Planned Center for the Sawtooths will provide information on nature and history
The Sawtooth Interpretive & Historical Association plans to create a visitor center and staff housing in the mid-Sawtooth Valley after accepting a donation of the Sessions Lodge property in the tiny community of Obsidian.
“The Sawtooth Association is honored to receive this once-in-a-lifetime gift that will benefit education, preservation and conservation programming for generations to come in the Sawtooth Valley,” said Stewart Wilder, president of the association’s board of directors.
Beginning in the 1970s, the seven-acre property along state Highway 75 has been home to a cafe, gas station and motel. Lately, the lodge property has been vacant.
The donors—Al, Ezra and Amelia Jones—are longtime residents of the area.
“We are really pleased to be able to make this donation,” the Joneses stated in a press release from the association. “We are excited to be part of a committed team of people and organizations working together to help preserve and enhance the Sawtooth Valley’s natural beauty we all love so much.”
The nonprofit Sawtooth Association was established as a “cooperating association” in 1972 when the Sawtooth National Recreation Area was established by Congress. It operates in cooperation with the Sawtooth, Salmon-Challis and Caribou-Targhee national forests and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.
According to its website, the Sawtooth Association’s mission is “to protect and advance the natural and cultural history of Idaho’s Sawtooth-Salmon River Country through preservation and education.”
The mid-valley hub will be called the Center for the Sawtooths, the press release states. It will allow the association to build a year-round presence in the Sawtooth Valley and provide nonprofit partners with housing and office space.
“The facility will be used to strengthen visitors land ethics, support research and educational entities, and develop new learning opportunities.”
Statement from Sawtooth Interpretive & Historical Association
“The Sawtooth Association’s vision is to build a legacy for future generations with an education center that serves visitors and the local community,” the press release states. “The facility will be used to strengthen visitors’ land ethics, support research and educational entities, and develop new learning opportunities.”
Sawtooth Association Executive Director Lin Gray said the donated property has six to eight rooms and the cafe was turned into a bunkhouse years ago. She said she hopes work can be accomplished in time to provide staff housing by summer for up to eight naturalists and historic specialists.
“Our summer crews contact over 20,000 people each summer, so they are the ones we want to provide with housing,” Gray said. “We are excited to expand into winter, spring and fall education.”
Gray said the Sawtooth Association provides interpretive programs and educational material focusing on reducing the impact of visitors on the SNRA.
“You will find SIHA’s crew operating the Redfish Visitor Center & Gallery and the Stanley Museum; teaching leave-no-trace principles at trailhead portals; inspiring young visitors in junior ranger programs; hosting events such as the Sawtooth Salmon Festival and Forum and Lecture Series, plus so much more,” the press release states.
Funds for the nonprofit organization are generated by book sales, membership fees, donations and grants.
“The Sawtooth Association is always looking for opportunities to engage our wider community,” Gray said. “It’s exciting to imagine all the ways this site can help fill the needs of our community and nonprofit partners. We have a lot of work ahead of us. We are energized to bring our vision of an educational center serving the Sawtooths to life.”
To learn more, go to discoversawtooth.org.