Amanda Schuster remembers an archery range, covered wagons, a
big swimming pool, a tree house, and rustic cabins spread out over
40 acres of land on the northern shore of Lake Arrowhead.
She remembers the gigantic pine trees covering the mountain,
breathtaking towers that turn into dangerous fire hazards when fall
begins, as demonstrated this year.
Schuster, a third-year communications studies student, also
remembers last summer as the best summer of her life.
For two months she worked at Bruin Woods, the UCLA alumni family
resort in Lake Arrowhead that came within one mile of being burned
down last week.
The Old Fire, which had burned over 90,000 acres of land in the
San Bernardino area, spared the resort.
Bruin Woods serves as a conference center during the academic
year and a rustic mountain resort for UCLA Alumni Association
members during the summer. Summer camps are also offered for the
children of alumni.
Schuster echoed the sentiments of many other student workers and
alumni families when she expressed relief in knowing the property
is safe.
“I’m so glad that nothing happened to it ““ if
they were to move it somewhere else, it wouldn’t be the
same,” she said.
Molly Crockett, a third-year psychobiology student at UCLA, has
been going to Bruin Woods every summer with her family since she
was 3 years old. Two years ago, she worked at the resort as a
student counselor.
Crockett said the people and the program make Bruin Woods what
it is, but losing the beautiful property would be horrible.
Crockett’s mother, UCLA alumna Susan Crockett, said it was
shocking to think the fire could have destroyed the resort where
she and her family have spent the past 18 summers.
“[My family] has very strong feelings for Bruin Woods
““Â our children grew up there,” she said.
Many of the same families go to Bruin Woods every summer and
keep in touch by e-mail during the year.
“[Bruin Woods] is like a family reunion for us but with
people we like,” Crockett said. “Bruin Woods not
existing is unimaginable for families like us.”
Schuster said she understood a fire could easily endanger Bruin
Woods, but she never thought it would actually happen.
When the fire began and the property had to be evacuated last
week, officials were ready. Evacuation plans were quickly
implemented, and guests and staff safely evacuated the area.
Psychology professor Margaret Stuber, a regular camper at Bruin
Woods and a faculty lecturer there for one summer, said there were
more preparations for a forest fire this past summer than ever
before.
“There were plans of where to meet children if we were
separated in case of fire, and we were expected to keep our car
keys with us at all times,” Stuber said.
Susan Crockett attended a meeting at the resort last summer that
explained the area’s drought situation and why so many of the
ancient pine trees were dying.
She said she learned Lake Arrowhead had far too many trees per
acre for the rainfall to sustain.
Trees in the area do not produce enough sap, an essential
defense against bark beetles who burrow into trunks and eventually
kill them. The dead trees then need to be cut down at a cost of $75
to $2,000 per tree.
“[The area around Bruin Woods] looked completely different
last year,” Molly Crockett said, noting the trees that were
cut down.
Susan Crockett said water levels at Lake Arrowhead used to be
higher, and Bruin Woods was surrounded by dense forests.
“[My family] was undone by how different the area looked
last summer,” Crockett said. “I can’t even image
what it must look like now around there.”
Ross Harold, a Bruin Woods student counselor and executive
director of internal affairs for the UCLA Alumni Association feels
the fire will not make the Bruin Woods experience much
different.
However, Harold said the destruction in the area might be
depressing to see when he returns to work at Bruin Woods for the
Christmas session.
“Bruin Woods is more than just a property,” he said.
“It’s the people that go and the different experiences
that it offers.”