Valley of the Moon Natural History Association

Brief History

The Valley of the Moon Natural History Association was established in 1977.  The Association’s first newsletter came out in 1982 under the banner of Moonletter and has been going ever since.  The mid 1980s saw the formation of the inaugural Docent Council, which has since grown to over 100 active volunteers, as well as the Jack London Beauty Ranch Restoration Committee, which put on community consciousness- and fund-raising festivals and lobbied Sacramento HQ to produce a General Plan for Jack London State Historic Park twenty years ahead of schedule, thus enabling physical restoration to begin. As a result, by the end of 2006 London’s Cottage, a completely refurnished historic house museum, was opened to the public.

Other projects embarked on by the VMNHA since the 1990s include a museum exhibit of the Cruise of the Snark and funding the “Wolf House Express” golf carts to help State Parks meet its mandated obligation to provide disabled access to key interpretive sites within the park. 

Photography and fine arts field seminars, piano recitals on Charmian London’s Steinway to raise money to restore it, storytelling and dramatic presentations by Jack London portrayers were all sponsored by the VMNHA.  While Jack London’s empty and partially restored Cottage awaited its final infusion of state funds VMNHA docents designed and executed an extensive photographic display funded by the Association that kept alive the building’s significance in the Beauty Ranch story. 

From 2000 on, the VMNHA has played a key role in providing monetary support for training, coordination and recognition of docents, volunteer trail maintenance, Cottage staffing, Earth Day projects, and a series of exhibit shelters and displays at Annadel and Jack London Parks.  The contents of the displays on London’s ranch and inside the House of Happy Walls, produced by a team of volunteers from the Board working with the park staff and partly funded by the Sonoma County Landmarks Commission, are the result of hundreds of hours of donated labor.

Areas of concern we currently face are insufficient funds to continue design and production of interpretive panels that average $4000 each; assisting state parks with funding augmentations to keep key historical buildings open to the public; adequate funds for reprinting park maps and producing new research publications; and providing donations for the new Annadel Visitor Center construction.  We are challenged by the need to carefully prioritize our program objectives for the immediate future.

What is going on now

This year is Jack London State Historic Park's 50th Anniversary.  Several special events are scheduled to celebrate the anniversary. For more information, click here.

Meanwhile, our many activities to support Annadel, Sugarloaf Ridge and Jack London State Parks are continuing.  Hundreds of volunteer hours will be spent this year to:

• help staff the Sugarloaf visitor center, the Jack London Museum and the Cottage.
• provide training for new and continuing docents.
• lead hikes and guided tours on weekends and for school groups.
• patrol the parks on horseback and bikes.
• drive the Wolf House Express golf cart.
• repair and build trails.
• Visitors to the House of Happy Walls Jack London Museum will enjoy music played by volunteers on Charmian London’s piano.

The VMNHA received a $100,000 gift specifically for the construction of a visitor center and ranger offices at Annadel State Park.  More privately raised money will be needed to complete this project but we hope to see the opening of this building this year.  

Currently the Lake Alliance is immersed in a million-dollar fund-raising project to restore Jack London’s manmade lake and dam. Once a once-pristine natural and cultural setting has deteriorated into an eyesore and has been an important unfunded priority since the park expanded in the late 1970s.

People interested in joining us for volunteer opportunities are encouraged to e-mail sstmarie@parks.ca.gov.

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