A Recipe for Ruining Yosemite

Editorial
San Francisco Chronicle - July 25, 2003

If you think Yosemite Valley needs more trampled meadows, smokey barbecues and traffic jams, then Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, is the man to see.

The veteran congressman, whose district includes the spectacular park, wants to roll back plans to restore nature and curb human intrusion. His changes would guarantee the worst parts of a Yosemite visit -- cars and crowds -- and dump new rules for a park suffering from its own popularity.

A New Year's flood in 1997 gave rise to an unusual challenge and opportunity. Instead of restoring washed-away campgrounds and roads, what if park rangers used the flood's aftermath to rethink a visitor's experience?

Congestion, noise and even smog from campfires were marring a national treasure. The National Park Service wanted a plan for rebuilding that cleared the air, thinned traffic and still allowed 3.5 million sightseers a year to gaze at El Capitan and Half Dome.

In late 2000, in the final days of the Clinton administration, former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt approved plans to shrink campgrounds 800 to 500 campsites, and to remove campsites near riverbanks and meadow areas. Parking was dropped from 1,500 to 550 slots, with provisions for a bus system during high-use summer days.

The changes came after numerous hearings and lengthy study, but Radanovich never liked the package. Businesses at outside entry points to Yosemite thought the plans sent a stay-away message to visitors and they feared a drop off in business. In fact, park visits have tailed off in recent years, though a weak economy, a $20 entry fee, and bad publicity over four murders may be to blame.

As chair of a House subcommittee that oversees national parks, Radanovich has a chance to undo the new plans. He wants 1,200 parking slots, more campsites and a limit on bus plans. His suggestions, embodied in HR2715, are a return to the old days when tourism trumped nature.

His ideas will please the narrow needs of his constituents but what about millions more who want an unforgettable view of a national treasure?

In an added twist, he proposes tearing down the 100-year-old LeConte Lodge, a national landmark in Yosemite Valley, apparently because it's used by his nemesis, the Sierra Club, as a teaching center.

His pro-development ambitions may be too much even for the Bush administration. At a Washington hearing on his bill this week, the park service balked, reminding him of the ample public process and long shelves filled with maps and studies.

The Yosemite rebuild plan, according to Jon Jarvis, the National Park Service's regional director, "strikes a balance between recreational demands of day-users and campers visiting the park."

Radanovich should take the hint and drop his plan to pave paradise.