Tourist sparks fury for toppling 113-year-old tower in Death Valley

A tourist has toppled a 113-year-old tramway tower in Death Valley, sparking fury on social media.

The National Parks Service said on Tuesday that the historic tower in the Saline Valley area in California had been pulled down some time between 1 April and 24 April.

The NPS said that the incident was likely to have unfolded when a person used a winch to pull their vehicle out of deep mud and used the tower as support, pulling it out of the ground along with its concrete base.

Rangers found tire tracks nearby indicating that a vehicle had driven off a nearby legal roadway and become stuck in the mud.

“I have hiked along sections of this tramway, and am amazed by the tenacity it took to build,” said Superintendent Mike Reynolds.

“I hope the person responsible for this damage will contact us so we can discuss restitution.”

The Saline Valley Salt Company built the 13-mile aerial tram in 1911, to transport salt from the valley to Owens Valley.

It climbed over 7,000 feet at steep vertical grades of up to 40 degrees, NPS said.

The tram tower in question is one of four within the Death Valley National Park, with the remaining tramway running across land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

The tramway is listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its age, steepness, length, preservation and scenic setting, NPS said.

The news comes just weeks after some other badly-behaved tourists were caught tumbling protected rocks at another park in Nevada.

In April, two men were caught on video vandalizing the federally-protected red rock formations in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Unlike that incident, the damage done in Saline Valley is likely fixable.

Before the tower was toppled, the service had secured funding to stabilise the tramway, but it is not clear if that funding can now be redirected to re-anchor the tower.

Some responding to the news on the Death Valley National Park Facebook page volunteered to help right the artefact, while others voiced their annoyance over the incident.

“I would be all for background checks before entering a National Park,” one said. “I think a lot of people don’t deserve to be there.”

Another simply said: “And this is why we can’t have nice things.”

Others suggested it could simply have been an accident.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the NPS-wide tip line at 888-653-0009 or online at go.nps.gov/SubmitATip.