In the 1940s, Jane S. Pinheiro, a local resident and self-taught wildflower artist, became concerned that rapid growth in the Antelope Valley was endangering wildflower fields. She envisioned a "Poppy Park" to protect California's official state flower, the California Poppy, and other native wildflowers, and shared that goal with the Lancaster Woman's Club, of which she was a member. In 1963, Jane and other club members established the first springtime Antelope Valley Wildflower Center to foster public appreciation for area wildflower displays. In the late 1960s, a botanist from U.C.Davis, after examining Jane's paintings at the Wildflower Center, said they were so botanically correct that they could be used for identification purposes and should be protected. The Lancaster Woman's Club then formed the Wildflower Preservation Committee to raise funds to acquire a collection of Jane's paintings, with Dorothy Bolt appointed chairman to oversee fundraising. The committee adopted an additional goal after Jane received a copy of a five-year study by the Resources Agency of the California Department of Parks and Recreation recommending that the best location for a state park to preserve the state flower was around the Antelope and Fairmont Buttes, fourteen miles west of Lancaster. Jane then suggested raising funds to buy land for a "Poppy Park" as well as to buy her paintings, and Dorothy Bolt began the land-purchase effort by contacting the California State Parks Foundation. The foundation agreed to support the land-acquisition campaign and to act as trustee for the money raised, and it worked with the California Department of Parks and Recreation. School children throughout California contributed through "Pennies for Poppies," and the Wildflower Preservation Committee ultimately achieved both goals. The group purchased 125 of Jane Pinheiro's wildflower paintings, and in 1976 the dream of a Poppy Park became a reality when 1,763 acres of land were dedicated and the park officially became the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. In 1982, the Jane S. Pinheiro Interpretive Center was dedicated, the 125 paintings were donated to the State of California for display there, and local citizens formed the Poppy Reserve Interpretive Association, with Grace Pickus as its first president, to support visitor services. In 1991, Milt Stark's A Flower-Watchers Guide, featuring Antelope Valley wildflowers, was published. In 1994, the association became the Poppy Reserve Mojave Desert Interpretive Association when it expanded its mission to support additional state parks.
