|| Excerpted from Louise Alice Jackson's "The Story of Mineral King" at http://www.tularecountytreasures.org/mineral-king.html.

Between 1945 and 1960, with the national economy and disposable wealth rapidly growing, both state and federal agencies were promoting increased commercial use of Sierra resources and the potential of a Mineral King Valley ski resort emerged. In 1946, Alf Engen, U.S. Olympic Ski Team coach, declared the valley to be the best ski country in the United States. A year later a winter survey team concurred with that assessment and in 1948 the Sierra Club, along with several other organizations, local communities and businesses, publicly backed a proposal for its recreational development. In response, the Sequoia National Forest issued a prospectus for a small winter sports complex, but no qualified bids were received. The narrow, winding dirt road into the valley proved too great a deterrent. Sill, the dream continued. Several moneyed interests and ski enthusiasts including Luggi Foeger, Walt Disney, and Robert Brandt and his wife, actress Janet Leigh, visited the valley. The Brandts requested a re-opening of bids and in February of 1965 Sequoia National Forest issued a new prospectus for a huge multi-million dollar sports complex. This time, the agency received six bids, four of them far exceeding the prospectus requirements. In March of 1965 the Sierra Club once again released a statement backing the concept of a Mineral King ski area, but two months later its members voted to oppose it. That summer the Mineral King community formed the Mineral King District Association to resist planned destruction of its three cabin enclaves. When Disney’s WED Corporation won the bid in December, the Sierra Club led a fight by the District Association and several other organizations to stop the immense $35 million development. In 1966 the National Park Service became involved when it held a hearing on wilderness designation along its portion of the Mineral King Road. In spite of the increasing opposition, the Forest Service and Disney Corporation forged ahead. By 1968, with several years of research, development of a master plan, and state funding lined up for an all-season road, the resort appeared to be an accomplished fact. However, the next year the Sierra Club won an injunction against the building and maintenance of the planned all-season highway and a ten-year journey through the nation’s district and federal court system began. Finally, the lawsuit reached the Supreme Court of the United States. On April 19, 1972, the Supreme Court, by a vote of four to three, rendered its decision. The Sierra Club could not show that the club itself would suffer economic or other injury from development of the valley so it lacked standing to sue. It was a landmark decision [...] because of the dissenting opinion of Justice William O. Douglas, which asserted that environmental well-being is as important as economic well-being and that entities as well as individuals may sue if they can show direct cause for harm. That opinion would help guide and motivate the forces for conservation throughout the nation and the world for years to come. Planning resumed for the Disney resort, but on a smaller scale. At the same time, another long-contemplated solution to protect Mineral King’s historic and natural character took shape. California Congressman Phillip Burton was helping to craft an “omnibus” bill redefining the management of nearly one hundred national scenic areas, trails, and rivers. In conjunction, California Congressman John Krebs also wrote a bill to include Mineral King’s transfer to Sequoia National Park in the omnibus bill and President Jimmy Carter agreed to support it. On October 12, 1978 the bill passed.