Campsite Plan Revisited

Yosemite officials take another look at project estimated to cost $104 million.

by Michael Doyle - Bee Washington Bureau
Fresno Bee - May 8, 2003

Yosemite National Park officials are re-examining the costs and consequences of adding Yosemite campsites, in the wake of surprisingly steep estimates placing the average at more than $130,000 each.

"At that price, you could build a multiroom Marriott hotel," a skeptical Rep. George Radanovich, R Mariposa, said Wednesday. "I know the park service is reviewng those estimates, because they think they're way out of line."

The consultant's study in question estimated it would cost $104 million to add 788 campsites outside of Yosemite Valley.

Radanovich represents the park and hoped the study made public last month would show the way toward offsetting some of the valley campsites lost in a devastating 1997 flood of the Merced River. Instead, the study conducted by EDAW Inc. is being characterized as only one step on a long trail.

"We're concerned about some of the numbers," Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said Wednesday. "There is certainly some good information in that report, but that by no means is the final product."

Gediman noted that any new campsite construction is several years down the road, as Congress itself has yet to provide funding for the work and no final decide signs have been made.

At the same time, there's no doubting park service campsites can be expensive. It also can be misleading to pin down an average cost per site because of all of the other associated costs that might be involved.

Jack Vance, facility manager at Sequoia National Park, noted Wednesday that the park has spent more than S25,000 per site just to rehabilitate campsites. The costs rise particularly high, Vance explained, when utilities must be installed.

"That can get really pricey, when you're talking about putting sewer lines in through the Sierra," Vance said.

Similarly, the consultants noted that Yosemite's Crane Flat and Hodgdon Meadow areas would require serious utility work at a "significant cost" before additional campsites were added.

"All the major campgrounds have at least one major utility problem that either limits the use of the campground or the expansion possibilities," the consultants noted.

There's more than just dollars and cents at stake. The campgrounds could become a private venture.

Bush administration officials have already indicated their interest in handing some Interior Department work off to private contractors, and Radanovich said the high cost estimates could prompt more intense interest in letting private contractors bid on the campground business.

"I'm certainly interested in the idea, particularly if it can be done cheaper," Radanovich said.

Officials with Yosemite Concession Services told Radanovich at a recent hearing that they would potentially be interested in pursuing campground operations. National Park Service Director Fran Mainella, too, told Radanovich she was open to the idea.

"We've done it before, and we've had mixed results," park service spokeswoman Holly Bundock said of the privately run campground concept, noting a prior experience at Crater Lake National Park.

The highly detailed Yosemite campground study identifies multiple reasons for the escalating costs of new campsites. These include the Americans with Disabilities Act requirement for accessibility to campsite structures including fire rings, food storage lockers, restrooms and showers.

Consultants also noted that modern campground standards are more demanding in other ways than those applied in the past, covering everything from improved utilities to better screening of individual sites.

"Campsites that were designed 50 years ago are now too close together," the consultants stated, and "the initial spacing of the sites was less than what is considered appropriate today."

Moreover, the EDAW study includes costs based on amenities that Yosemite officials might opt out of.

"The study proposes and includes costs for a fire ring in every campsite," the study notes, "but this could be reviewed as the designs progress and management issues are resolved."