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During the past week, I ended up making two separate trips to Yosemite to deal with projects and policy meetings. The first day was sunny, beautiful, and inspiring due to the spring warmth, the thundering waterfalls in the Valley, the distant scenic views on the drive, and the overall beauty of the Park. The second trip was a marked contrast to the first as snow flurries, dark ominous thunderheads, and strong winds dominated the trip. The entire Valley and all the elevations above the Valley were blanketed with a fresh covering of white, and although the thundering waterfalls were still pouring over the cliffs, the entire landscape was completely different in appearance from the previous day.
On both days, it was easy to feel inspired, awestruck, and stimulated to do whatever CSERC staff can do to make a difference for the precious ecosystem within the Park. That is a true challenge these days as many powerful interests, including strong political interests, are working to steer the Park's leaders towards management that will maximize economic benefits to tourism and surrounding gateway communities.
At the same time, there are well-meaning, environmentally-focused organizations which routinely beat up on the Park for management actions that most neutral observers would find to be totally acceptable and benign. As a result of such competing pressures, Park officials appear at times to simply go through the exercise of listening to public input.
Over the past few years, CSERC has played an increasingly key role in Yosemite Park issues as our staff has repeatedly attended meetings, met with Park officials, reviewed thick environmental documents, and done fieldwork within the Park. Although Yosemite is a world-renowned destination and an icon to most Americans, the truth is that very few other organizations actively participate in the complex, lengthy processes that shape Yosemite Park plans, policies, and projects.
Whether it is responding to Park plans to tear up roads to replace sewer lines or to build new employee housing or to tear down existing Yosemite Lodge structures in order to replace them with new upgraded buildings, the pace of development in Yosemite is moving forward at a rapid pace.
Few people will venture into Yosemite over the next few years without seeing major construction projects taking place. Right now there are roads torn up, pipelines being replaced, new buildings being constructed, and bridgework going forward. The Visitor Center has just been remodeled. Perhaps most important of all, the Park is moving forward with approval for a revised Merced River management plan that will set firm direction for what happens in Yosemite Valley for decades.
Tom Hofstra, our botanist/ecologist, is leading CSERC's technical review of the River plan and various related policies that the Park is evaluating. He and I have already met many times this year with Park officials and planners to talk about CSERC's concerns and to press for more specific requirements that will give greater certainty to policies intended to protect the environment in the Park. We have provided detailed technical suggestions to the VERP (Visitor Experience and Resource Protection) plan that the Park expects to use to judge when visitors have exceeded the ValleyÕs capacity to handle visitor use. And we have also worked hard to build personal relationships with a wide range of Park staff so that we can learn from various perspectives exactly why certain projects are being proposed or why public input has or has not affected specific projects.
The bottom line with all this work is a simple one: CSERC recognizes that we are the dominant local conservation group adjacent to Yosemite with scientists on staff and long-term experience dealing with the Park. We understand that we have a unique opportunity to move past political games or media hype and to actually communicate face to face with key Park decision-makers and their support staff.
We also recognize that in many ways, our most important role will be to be a watchdog to ensure that promised monitoring or improvements actually take place... that the Park Service doesn't just keep allowing visitors to pour into the Park without truly protecting the delicate web of life that attracts visitors in the first place.
In coming months, Park officials will choose a final alternative for the Merced River Wild and Scenic management plan. That will set a strong direction as to how the Valley and the ecosystem of the river corridor will be managed for the coming decade. CSERC intends to continue our active role in helping to shape these kinds of decisions in Yosemite.
With such a wonderful, wonderful place to defend, there no need to get outside motivation to stay on top of Park issues. As we learn more about ways that you and others can help influence Park management with your letters and support, we will do our best to keep you in the loop with timely updates. In the meantime, we encourage everyone to take advantage of this year's greater-than-normal snowpack and to visit the Park during the height of the waterfall surges. The falls are truly thundering this season. |
