Could this plan to preserve ‘The Palm and The Pine’ work?

MADERA COUNTY, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – Plans to widen Highway 99 in Madera County to create a six-lane highway will come at the expense of “The Palm and The Pine” – but Visit Yosemite has a proposal that would not only preserve the historic tree-based landmark but also make it more visible.

“The Palm and The Pine” has been a constant fixture on Highway 99, between Avenue 11 and Avenue 10½, but the need for increased capacity on that stretch of the road comes with an expansion that threatens the two trees.

“It’s more of a symbolic marker at the center of the state, and it’s been there for longer than the highway itself,” said Brooke Smith with Visit Yosemite – Madera County.

In her capacity as Visit Yosemite – Madera County’s Director of Sales and Marketing, Brooke Smith has reached out to Caltrans “to propose a solution that preserves our region’s heritage.” In a series of emails seen by YourCentralValley.com sent to Caltrans and other government figures, Smith suggests creating a landmark similar to the mammoths walking over the highway further north in Merced County.

Smith envisages a safe pull-over area where travelers can stop, view, and take photos of the new landmark with signs that tell the story of “The Palm and The Pine” and its significance to the region. Smith compares it to the Phillip S. Raine Rest Area south of Tulare, which also includes signs detailing the history of the area.

In the emails, Smith says the goal is to ensure tourism is considered – and she says the budget given to the project should be able to accommodate that. According to the project description posted on Caltrans’ website , the project is estimated to cost over $126 million to create the six-lane highway.

“In a perfect world, I would love to see the trees replaced and a pullout created for people to turn out,” said Smith. “I would love to see highway markers that talk about them with ample room for people to know points of historical significance: the palm and the pine…that would be wonderful.”

A possible alternative to the proposed highway pullout would be relocating “The Palm and The Pine” to the Fossil Discovery Center in Madera County. While the Fossil Discovery Center is on Highway 99 in Madera County, it is around 15 miles away from the current “The Palm and The Pine” site.

“It’s not where they’ve historically always been,” said Smith. “So I think people would wonder what happened to them if they were gone.”

Smith says having a somewhere that not only relocates “The Palm and The Pine,” but also highlights its significance to those passing by creates a sense of pride in the community.

“It would be a shame…to miss out on the opportunity to make something really cool.”

In a statement to YourCentralValley.com, the California Department of Transportation says it is planning on adding 15 new palm and 15 new pine trees on the west side of the highway in the general vicinity to where the trees are now, and install a new water system for the trees to keep them healthy.

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