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Summary
Board and Staff
Sales and Publications
Membership
Seminars
Ostrander Ski Hut
Wilderness Center
Yosemite Theater
Art Activity Center
Statement of Financial Position
Statement of Activities, 2001
Park Highlights for 2001
SUMMARY
For the Yosemite Association, the first year of the twenty-first century was
a mix of successes and challenges. The tragic events of September 11 affected
Yosemite in much the same way that they did other travel destinations, and
we were reminded that despite our relatively isolated location, we are touched
by the circumstances of others around the world.
The park experienced another year of declining visitation, and our sales within Yosemite suffered. Our efforts to find new opportunities in places such as Mariposa and the Fresno Yosemite International Airport did not meet with success. Unfortunately, the release of the association's expensive new landmark publication, An Illustrated Flora of Yosemite National Park, came when the economy was not strong, and initial sales of the volume were disappointing.
Other new publications and programs had more auspicious beginnings. The 1st Annual Yosemite Winter Literary Conference attracted 90 participants, and their evaluations were filled with positive comments. As well, critics were enthusiastic in their praise of our new titles, including Antelope, Bison, Cougar, Yosemite - An Enduring Treasure, and Missing in the Minarets.
The membership program prospered with the addition of 1,465 new members (one of our best years ever), and our volunteer activities, member events, and work weeks were as vital as ever. Our members responded to our year-end appeal with donations totaling over $65,000 - a terrific boost at a time when our resources were severely stretched.
We entered 2002
hoping that the new year would bring stronger sales for us in Yosemite, a
return to a more viable financial position, and the continued health of our
traditional programs.
The board and staff of the Yosemite Association are confident that we will
find renewed success thanks to the impressive support that we continue to
receive from our members, vendors, partners, and friends.
We extend a new millenium thank you to everyone who contributed to our work this year.
Steven P. Medley
President
BOARD AND STAFF
There were two additions to the board of trustees of the Yosemite Association in 2001. Assuming one of the regular seats on the board was Phil Frank, the San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist know for his "Farley" cartoon strip. He was elected to a six-year term to replace long-time board member Dan Wolfus.
Named to fill one of the three ex officio Yosemite Fund positions on the board was Jeani Ferrari of Turlock. She replaced Martha Brown of Mariposa who ably served the Fund and the Association for several years. Ms. Ferrari joined Tom Bowman and Elvira Nishkian as Yosemite Fund representatives.
In staff changes, long-time Seminar Coordinator Penny Otwell retired in 2001. Almost exclusively responsible for the success of the Yosemite Field Seminars over the years, Penny was well known to the hundreds of members who participated in the outdoor education program. Her warm demeanor and personal touch distinguished her work, and everyone at the association wishes her success with her artistic career and her other endeavors.
In the membership department, Connie Nielson returned to work after a five-month absence caused by a serious medical problem that seems to be resolved. We are happy to have Connie back, pleased that her health condition is improved, and appreciative of all her hard work on our behalf. Anne Steed, who served as secretary/cashier for many years, moved into a part-time position in membership in late summer.
In other changes,
Mary Anne Corbaley was hired to replace Ferol Conklin as Assistant Sales Manager,
Sandy Hamm joined the staff as a warehouse assistant, and Shelly Malenfant
was employed as a part-time secretary/receptionist.
SALES
AND PUBLICATIONS
Y.A.'s sales and publications program met with mixed results in 2001. Due
to a variety of factors including declining park visitation and the impacts
of the September 11 tragedy, our sales within Yosemite declined by 7% overall,
and by 4% and the Valley Visitor Center. On the other hand, the remodeled
Museum Store experienced remarkable sales growth, and our product sales over
the Internet through the Yosemite Store grew by almost 30%.
The biggest publishing event for Y.A. in 2001 was the completion of An Illustrated Flora of Yosemite National Park. This landmark treatise, over eighteen years in the making, received critical acclaim but did not sell as well as we had projected. Because it was a very expensive volume to produce, we found ourselves with more capital tied up in flora inventory than we had hoped.
Other new publications included Antelope, Bison, Cougar - A National Park Wildlife Alphabet Book (and accompanying note cards), a pictorial guide entitled Yosemite - An Enduring Treasure, and Missing in the Minarets - the story of the disappearance of Walter Starr, Jr., in 1933. Each of these new titles sold strongly during the year.
Y.A. opened a new sales facility in the Fresno Yosemite International Airport in July. While early sales results were promising, the events of September 11 caused significant changes at the airport and our shop was closed. We hope to resume operation of the store using volunteers during 2002.
Two sales stations that opened the previous year were closed during 2001. The portable yurt in the Camp 6 day visitor parking area was converted in August to an information station operated by volunteers (sales were very slow), and the outlet in downtown Mariposa, lacking financial viability, was shut down.
Our wholesale
business proved healthy during the year with gross sales of $374,000 that
were 7% over budget.
MEMBERSHIP
During 2001, YA welcomed 1,465 new members, and at the end of the year had a total roster of 8,251 members. Our "membership-in-a-bottle" campaign, designed to attract new members while visiting the park, was fully deployed at all our seasonal and year-round sales stations and volunteer locations park-wide, resulting in a record year for adding new members to the association.
More than 460 members enjoyed a warm, sunny day as they attended auditorium programs and interpretive walks at our annual Spring Forum in March in Yosemite Valley. Sessions covered a wide variety of topics, including a talk with Park Superintendent Dave Mihalic, Sierra Nevada natural history, a photo essay entitled "Yosemite without the Icons," a Yosemite Valley Plan update, Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR) Dogs Demonstration, a walk along the Old Big Oak Flat Road, the story of Yosemite's Indians, and the ever-popular "Bat Lady" Patricia Winters and her winged friends.
Forty-six hardy members volunteered on five different work trips during the fifteenth summer of the Cooperative Work Weeks program, assisting the NPS Resources Management Division with restoration and exotic plant species eradication projects in Yosemite Valley, at Tenaya Lake, at a backcountry site near Sunrise, and in El Portal. Together they donated over 1,800 hours of labor to help preserve Yosemite, and they shared the cost of food for each trip. Yosemite Institute provided culinary services and naturalists to coordinate camp logistics, and Yosemite Concession Services provided a grant to help underwrite the expenses of this program.
Forty-nine incredibly patient members volunteered for a month or longer in the park, answering visitor inquiries and promoting membership in the association. They donated more than 6,700 hours of service and recruited more than twenty-five percent of the new members we welcomed this year. The Yosemite Museum Gallery, Happy Isles Nature Center, and Parsons Lodge were available for park visitors to enjoy only because of this crew's efforts. These volunteers also assisted thousands of people at visitor centers and information booths stationed in a variety of locations in Yosemite Valley, Tuolumne Meadows, and Wawona.
Nearly 300 members were treated to fine autumn weather when they attended the twenty-sixth annual Members' Meeting at Tuolumne Lodge in September. Chicano poet and educator Francisco Alarcón engaged attendees with an entertaining and inspiring talk, highlighting the day filled with interpretive programs, socializing, and our traditional fundraising silent auction and prize raffle.
In response to
special appeals, "Life" and "Participating Life" members
generously donated more than $21,000, and annual members donated over $46,000
to help offset YA's revenue shortfall. Our members continued to distinguish
themselves in many ways as stalwart supporters of Yosemite and the important
programs, publications, and services the association provides, and we are
most grateful for their vital assistance.
The 2001 Yosemite Field Seminars catalog included fifty-one courses and featured the black-and-white photography of William Alsup. Two new cooperative classes were offered - a bighorn sheep seminar with the Mono Lake Committee, and a digital camera workshop with Ansel Adams Gallery. Other new additions were courses on topics such as essentials of ecology, botany of the White Mountains, and buffalo soldiers in Yosemite.
A notable new program was the 1st Annual Yosemite Winter Literary Conference. This four-day event attracted some 90 participants, who were treated to presentations by national literary figures including Gretel Ehrlich, Terry Tempest Williams, Robert Hass, Pam Houston, James Houston, and others.
Despite a number
of new initiatives (a series of winter courses packaged with rooms in park
lodging units had to be cancelled for low enrollment) and efforts to cut costs,
the seminar program finished in the red again with a negative net income of
$22,782.
At the request of the National Park Service, YA continued its operation of the Ostrander Lake Ski Hut for another winter. Howard Weamer and George Durkee once again served as the main hutkeepers.
The Wilderness Center continued to serve backcountry users in 2001 under the cooperative management of the National Park Service and the Yosemite Association. Besides handling all requests for wilderness permit reservations and the issuance of wilderness permits, Wilderness Center staff also ran the successful bear canister rental program (a cooperative venture with Yosemite Concession Services Corporation).
A 2001 study showed that about 98% of wilderness users are carrying bear canisters - a figure that testifies to the effectiveness of the rental program. A number of Y.A. members, individuals, and companies donated funds for the purchase of new canisters to ensure sufficient inventory to meet the needs of backpackers.
Because of several years of declining attendance, Yosemite Theatre was moved from the main Visitor Center auditoriums to concessioner facilities in Yosemite Valley. Overall operation of the program was assumed by Yosemite Concession Services Corporation, with the cooperation of the Yosemite Association.
The Art Activity Center celebrated its twentieth season of operation with visiting artists providing classes in drawing, sketching, painting, sculpture, and other media from April through October. The program, promoting individual creativity in the Yosemite environment, is offered jointly by Y.A., the N.P.S., and Yosemite Concession Services.
STATEMENT
OF FINANCIAL POSITION
For year ending December 31, 2001
| ASSETS | |
| Cash and cash equivalents |
$206,602
|
| Accounts receivable |
109,524
|
| Prepaid expenses |
48,050
|
| Inventory |
950,350
|
| Property and equipment |
74,144
|
| TOTAL ASSETS |
$1,388,670
|
| LIABILITIES | |
| Trade accounts payable |
$124,642
|
| Deferred seminar revenue |
63,497
|
| Loan payable |
15,000
|
| Royalties payable |
46,147
|
| Sales tax payable |
5,681
|
| Vacation payable |
15,744
|
| TOTAL LIABILITIES |
$270,711
|
|
NET ASSETS |
|
| Unrestricted: | |
|
Designated for programs |
$28,195
|
|
Undesignated |
804,162
|
| Temporarily restricted |
135,602
|
| Contingency reserve |
150,000
|
| TOTAL NET ASSETS |
1,117,959
|
| TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS |
$1,368,670
|
| REVENUES, GAINS, AND OTHER SUPPORT: | |
| Contributions |
$114,643
|
| Auxiliary activities |
78,749
|
| Publication sales |
1,645,039
|
| Seminars |
184,032
|
| Memberships |
350,927
|
| Investment income |
4,836
|
| Other income |
13,165
|
| Theater |
29,657
|
| Wilderness Center |
124,779
|
| Designated programs |
67,770
|
| TOTAL REVENUES, GAINS, AND OTHER SUPPORT |
$2,613,597
|
| EXPENSES | |
| Cost of Sales: | |
|
Publication costs |
1,439,050
|
| Auxiliary activities: | |
|
Seminars |
206,814
|
|
Theater |
9,467
|
|
Wilderness Center |
80,519
|
| Supporting services: | |
|
Management and general |
388,503
|
|
Membership |
207,218
|
| Aid to National Park Service |
345,613
|
|
2,677,184
|
|
| INCREASE
IN UNRESTRICTED NET ASSETS |
80,562
|
| TEMPORARILY RESTRICTED NET ASSETS | |
|
Contributions |
40,975
|
|
Auxiliary activities |
41,466
|
| Net assets released from restrictions | |
|
Restrictions satisfied by payments |
(139,045)
|
| Expiration of time restrictions |
(87,545)
|
| DECREASE
IN TEMPORARILY RESTRICTED NET ASSETS |
(144,149)
|
| DECREASE IN NET ASSETS |
(63,587)
|
| NET ASSETS, AT BEGINNING OF YEAR |
1,181,546
|
| NET ASSETS, AT END OF YEAR |
$1,117,959
|
HIGHLIGHTS OF 2001
January
An orphaned, 115-pound bear cub, whose mother had been killed the previous
summer, was placed in a den near Glacier Point and allowed to return to the
wild as part of a pioneering rehabilitation program.
March
The Merced Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management Plan was released
by the National Park Service.
May
The parent company of Yosemite Concession Services Corporation, Yosemite's
chief concessioner, began negotiations to purchase of the Tenaya Lodge in
Fish Camp. The sale was completed in June.was issued by the National Park
Service.
June
Fran Mainella was named the new Director of the U.S. National Park Service.
She is the first woman to hold the position.
A problem mother
bear that had been raiding Yosemite campgrounds since the mid-1990s was killed
by park managers, and her two cubs were captured and sent to the California
Department of Fish and Game in Sacramento for possible placement in a wildlife
rehabilitation center.
July
First Lady Laura Bush visited Yosemite with a group of her friends, staying
at several of the High Sierra Camps before ending her trip at the Ahwahnee
Hotel.
August
An 11,500-acre fire burned just west of Yosemite, but did not enter the park.
More than 400 residents were forced from their homes, eight people were injured,
and four residences and four outbuildings were destroyed.
September
Paraplegic Mark Wellman ended his attempt to climb Half Dome when his partner
was injured in a mountainside fall.
October
Visits to Yosemite plummeted and the local economy suffered in the wake of
the September 11 terrorist attacks on the East Coast. The biggest decline
was in international visitors.
December
Plans for enhancement of the area at the base of Lower Yosemite Fall were
changed to mitigate concerns on the part of American Indians about impact
upon cultural resources there. A key modification was relocation of the site
for restrooms.