Many of the 4 million visitors to Yosemite each year
remember the national park for its towering granite cliffs,
magnificent glacial valleys – and for its congestion. On Nov. 14,
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt unveiled a new management plan
that he says will reduce traffic and help restore the park’s
natural habitat.
Though park officials have been
trying to create a new park management plan for 20 years, they were
forced to accelerate the process after the Merced River flooded
Yosemite Valley in 1997. The Final Yosemite Valley Plan, based on
over 10,000 public comments and the outcome of nearly 20 public
meetings, will shape management for the next 15 years. The plan,
expected to be signed by the Park Service Regional Office this
December, will cut day-use parking by almost two-thirds, construct
satellite parking lots near park entrances, and use a fleet of 500
buses to shuttle visitors through the park.
The
buses may use diesel to start with, though the “cleanest
technology” is the goal, says park spokeswoman Debra Schweizer.
Although the $343 million plan calls for the construction of new
economy motel units and employee housing, the total number of
overnight lodging facilities will decrease from 1,260 to 981. Many
of the lost spots are tent-cabins, the park’s least expensive
accommodations. Some Yosemite advocates, including the local
chapter of the Sierra Club, say that will make the park less
accessible to the average visitor. More important, the groups say
the plan allows for too much new construction. “(This plan is)
about more concessions and commercialization of the public lands,”
says Joyce Eden of Friends for Yosemite Valley, “not the people who
love and appreciate the park.”
Many national
environmental groups disagree. Five organizations, including the
American Alpine Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council,
sent out glowing reviews of Yosemite’s final plan. “I think they
did a remarkable job,” says the Wilderness Society’s Jay Watson.
“When all is said and done, there will be less development in the
valley than there is currently.”
A copy of the
two-volume Final Yosemite Valley Plan can be viewed on the Web at
www.nps.gov/yose/planning/yvp/.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Yosemite shuffles into a new era.
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