Suit Could Limit Yosemite Access

Posted by Jeff Wetherington Jan 28, 2007

Last November, two local Yosemite environmental groups, Friends of Yosemite Valley and Mariposans for the Environment and Responsible Government filed suit in federal court to halt commercial construction in the popular 116 year old National Park that directly affected the Merced River, which flows into the Yosemite Valley. Judge Anthony Ishii of the U.S. District Court, agreed with the plaintiffs who argued that further commercial development in Yosemite would bring larger numbers of visitors to the area and further threaten the Merced's fragile ecosystem, which is protected under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. His ruling halted all of the current $60 million renovation and construction work in the park.

The government is appealing Judge Ishii's ruling, fearing that the natural outcome of such a decision will result in Yosemite being forced to limit the number of visitors to the park...and possibly setting a precedent of limiting visitors at other National Parks. The government claims that radical fringe groups want to see a system in place that would set quotas on the number of people who can visit National Parks in order to minimize the ecological and environmental impact on those parks.

Yosemite was in the midst of a $442 million renovation and remodeling plan that was drawn up after the Merced breached its banks and flooded campgrounds, parking lots and damaged rooms at the park's popular Yosemite Lodge in 1997. Those plans included the relocation of campground areas, rebuilding employee housing, rerouting an important access road and upgrading hotel rooms. In their lawsuit, the two groups claimed that some aspects of that remodeling and renovation, which included blasting out parts of the river canyon, would threaten, and possibly cause irreparable harm to, the Merced.

Whatever your position on the case, this is an issue to keep a close eye on to see how it ultimately is resolved.