Yosemite Lodge Bill Backed by Panel

But fate of Radanovich legislation to dismantle landmark still unclear.

by Michael Doyle
Fresno Bee - October 22, 2003

Mariposa Republican George Radanovich made progress Tuesday in his effort to dismantle the historic LeConte Memorial Lodge, a much-admired Yosemite National Park building that he's never visited.

Radanovich's legislation to erase the national historic landmark from Yosemite Valley won easy approval Tuesday afternoon from the House subcommittee he heads. A lifelong resident of Mariposa County, Radanovich said the right opportunity has never presented itself for him to enter the storybook-style cottage.

"To be honest, it's either never been open when I've been there, or I haven't had the time to visit," Radanovich said Tuesday.

The Sierra Club opens the 99-year-old building between May 1 and Sept. 30 each year, offering classes, lectures and music to roughly 15,000 visitors annually. Radanovich said he's targeted the building for closure because the Sierra Club opposes his efforts to restore more public campsites in the park.

Radanovich is chairman of the House national parks, recreation and public lands subcommittee, which approved his Yosemite bill by voice vote after about five minutes of discussion Tuesday. He suggested he's open to a trade: keeping the LeConte lodge in exchange for more park campsites.

"I don't really have any objections to LeConte, except for the Sierra Club's opposition to the campgrounds," Radanovich said

But while Radanovich's legislation raced through the parks panel dominated by Western conservatives, its long-term fate is unclear. Neither of California's two Democratic senators, Barbara Boxer or Dianne Feinstein, have embraced the bill, and Radanovich's actions have drawn considerable opposition.

"In our opinion, Rep. Radanovich does not seem to be very familiar with the character of the lodge and its uses," said Harold Wood, a Visalia resident and chairman of the Sierra Club's LeConte Memorial Lodge committee. "It is not a private clubhouse for the Sierra Club as he seems to think, it is a 100-year-old National Historic Landmark dedicated for public use."

Wood said the lodge's curator, Bonnie Gisel, invited Radanovich to visit the building after the congressman introduced his Yosemite legislation last summer. The invitation was not accepted, though Radanovich and his family spent part of their August vacation in the park's high country.

Radanovich's targeting of the LeConte lodge is one part of a much larger bill designed to restore more campsites to Yosemite. The legislation calls for an unspecified number of "low-impact" campsites along the Merced River, where 361 campsites were washed away in a 1997 flood.

Yosemite plans call for the Merced River area to be kept undeveloped. The legislation also prohibits the establishment of shuttle-bus service for remote parking facilities or areas outside Yosemite's boundaries, and calls for the "maximum" amount of parking at Camp Six.

"Many provisions of this bill appear to run contrary to the Yosemite Valley Plan," said Donna Christian-Christensen, the Democratic delegate from the Virgin Islands.

Wilderness Society representative Jay Watson added his fear that the legislation "sends a very dangerous signal" to Yosemite officials and the park service, even if it never becomes law.

Radanovich, though, says Yosemite visitors need more opportunities, and he cast the legislation as a way to preserve the public's access to national parks. He contends it is hypocritical for the Sierra Club to maintain the LeConte building in Yosemite Valley at the same time the environmental group urges a reduction in the number of campsites.

First dedicated at Camp Curry on July 3, 1904, the building was moved a short distance away in 1919, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987. It is one of five Yosemite buildings listed as a national landmark, though this recognition does not by itself provide a shield against government action.