Royce and Nita, local artists and now live-in managers of the WalnutCreek Center for Education and Research, a remote, off-grid former ranger station run by a couple of local colleges write: "We are paid a little stipend to keep the place in working order and to welcome college groups and facilitate their research. That’s this year’s big news. Nita has been doing more artist-in-residences and just completed a six-week project in Bluff, Utah. Royce has continued to make gates and sculptures out of steel. We are looking forward to another year of creating art and hope to start a sculpture garden here or somewhere close by. Come out for a visit! It’s 14 miles of sloppy roads this time of year but mostly it’s a very well maintained road. We are 40 miles NW of Prescott and a world away from the noise and confusion of city life. We love our new home!"
Here is some more information on our position at the Walnut Creek Center, in case you are interested in supporting the project or know someone who might be:
Walnut Creek, our new home! 21125 W. Walnut Creek Road, Prescott, AZ 86305 928-445-3831
"Last summer we applied for and were appointed as caretakers/station managers for Walnut Creek Center for Education and Research. The property consists of a house, a barn—that’s converted into two classrooms and storage, and several smaller out-buildings sitting on about 8 acres of mountain meadow—just over the mountain from Paddock Place, where Royce used to live and we were married."
"It is owned by the US Forest Service, built in the late 1930’s as a fire fighting station, by the CCC (civilian conservation corps) with a good well. It was decommissioned as such about 15 years ago and has more recently been leased by Prescott College and Northern Arizona University—and is used for education and research. One of the biggest research projects had to do with the Hanta virus—a potentially deadly virus found in deer mice urine."
"Currently, NAU is putting together a big research project whereby our place will have 5 acres of the meadow planted with a variety of plants from different elevations...ours is one of 10 planting sites in AZ. This is a long-term study on climate change. They’ll also be looking at the various gasses in the soil and there will be an updated weather station here. It should be very interesting. It will be funded mostly by a grant from the National Science Foundation."
"The house is 1100sq.ft. that is totally off the grid. We have a small solar array and we are hoping to expand on that real soon; we burn wood for heat and have a backup propane furnace that kicks in below 50 degrees(for when we’re gone). We also have a propane water heater and a flush toilet! Wahoo! The peace and quiet are palpable and SO refreshing. The house is surrounded by huge black walnut trees…hence the name of the station and we have a little yard and garden surrounded by a picket fence. We also have juniper, pinon and ponderosa pine a little higher up. The creek is running the highest that we’ve seen in the 5 months we’ve been here, no surprise since we just got a foot of snow and it’s mostly melted now. The road here is really quite a wonderful 14 miles of well maintained dirt. The last 2-3 miles are not maintained, so right now it is a frightful muddy mess, some areas with 14” ruts and mega-slop. It was a minor miracle that my van made it the other day. We just got new mud tires for Royce’s truck but we may end up getting something with 4WD. we’ll see."
"Ponder this. Given the economy and the state of the world, this place could possibly go the way of Camp Wood---the fire station over the mountain from here. Meaning, they simply tore off all the buildings and let it revert to nature. If the Center doesn’t come up with more sponsors or partners of some sort it may be totally decommissioned too."
"So, we are actively seeking partners. Anyone is allowed to become a partner, even an individual. Partners could suggest a research project, get to spend time out here, bring groups, be represented on the board—visit with us and get to feel like you’re doing something really good for our planet. So, if you have a relationship with a school or university, perhaps you could suggest to us someone to contact--- or maybe you would just like to be a partner yourself in some way."
"Right now larger groups have to camp out, though there is a kitchen in the barn and a flush toilet out-house. One of the grants we’re going to write has to do with getting the old fashioned tent-cabins…hard floor and canvas top, like they used in the original fire station days. This site is on the National Historical Register along with our Hyde Mountain Lookout Tower, that’s pretty cool too."
"There is a lot of fascinating history to this place---it is on the original toll road between the Colorado River and the new town of Prescott; it was originally inhabited by the Hualapai and Yavapai Apache Indians; it was a town for a short time with a post office, named Charmingdale. Then there was a fort built just down the road ---to fight the Indians, we know how that ended…"
"We hope to be here for a long time and to build our Spiral Art Garden, and to expand on what is already here. Since art is one of our strengths we plan to expand the educational activities to include art classes where we build large scale art. We have lots of ideas and we are seeing some of our dreams come true already. Maybe you can join us for a visit or more…" Email us at roycenita@gmail.com
