Radanovich Pushes More Campsites for Yosemite

by Michael Doyle
Fresno Bee - July 16, 2003

Rep. George Radanovich is asking Congress to authorize new campsites and more parking in Yosemite Valley, circumventing key elements of park plans already in place.

"This bill will help preserve the character of Yosemite while making it more accessible for the people that the park was created for," the Republican lawmaker said Tuesday upon introducing the legislation.

Radanovich, whose district stretches from Mariposa to east Modesto, calls for campsites to replace at least some of those taken out by the New Year's flooding of 1997. He also calls for "the maximum amount of parking available" at Camp Six.

"This is the worst kind of political meddling in day-to-day management of a national park," said Jay Watson, California regional director for the Wilderness Society. "He's really looking to undermine the heart and soul of the park's plan," he said, referring to the Yosemite Valley Plan.

The National Park Service adopted the plan at the end of the Clinton administration. The plan calls for restoring the flooded-out Upper and Lower River campgrounds to their natural states. Restoring the campgrounds "would be inconsistent with" the Yosemite Valley Plan and the Merced Wild and Scenic River management plan, park service consultants said.

Radanovich's bill calls for an unspecified number of "low-impact" campsites at the Merced River sites. The Upper and Lower River camps held 361 campsites. Park service consultants previously concluded that the areas could "technically accommodate" 144 sites.

Radanovich's proposal for "maximum" parking at Camp Six would conflict with the Yosemite Valley Plan's provision for a limit of 550 parking spaces there. The legislation also prohibits the establishment of shuttle bus service for remote parking facilities or areas outside Yosemite's boundaries.

"We're concerned about the ultimate removal of the automobile," Stephen Welch, executive vice president of the Pines Resort in Bass Lake, told a Radanovich-led House panel that met in Yosemite Valley in April. "Access and affordability are issues for our customers."

Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said park officials had no role in drafting the legislation and still were coming up to speed on the details. Radanovich's bill had no co-sponsors when he introduced it.

And, on the Senate side, neither of California's two senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, both Democrats, has introduced similar legislation. Often, though, provisions from one bill are slipped, in whole or in part, into other legislation.

As chairman of the House national parks, recreation and public lands subcommittee, and as the lawmaker whose district includes all of Yosemite, Radanovich has an advantage in moving parks legislation. His new bill is not only about adding things to Yosemite Valley. He targets environmentalists with whom he has clashed frequently by requiring the removal of the historic LeConte Memorial Lodge. Once managed by photography legend Ansel Adams, the stone building is now operated by the Sierra Club under a special-use permit.