Norton Stops by Yosemite

Interior secretary defends restoration.

by Mark Grossi
Fresno Bee - April 23, 2004

Interior Secretary Gale Norton never visited Yosemite National Park before Thursday, but she quickly located the feisty politics of Yosemite Valley.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton looks at reconstruction work in a meadow Thursday at Yosemite National Park. Norton's Earth Day tour of Yosemite came the same week the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco stopped seven projects costing more than $100 million. Eric Paul Zamora / The Fresno Bee

She toured a Merced River site where crews have removed an old dam, then told the media that a lawsuit by environmentalists prevented further restoration. She said the Bush administration wants to complete the restoration and support the natural conditions in the park.

 

 

"It was the only obstruction in 81 miles of a wild and scenic river," she said during her Earth Day visit to Yosemite, where she described Bush's support of the nation's parks and the environment.

Environmentalists, who say Bush is attempting to dismantle decades of environmental law, also attended the Earth Day event. They took the opportunity to point out that the lawsuit also stopped a road re-routing project.

Park officials chopped down towering lodgepole pines and incense cedars before the order came from federal court Tuesday to halt the work.

"They have nothing to brag about in a national park," said Sierra Club official Dave Westman, who listened to Norton. "Especially on Earth Day."

Indeed, Norton, whose cabinet supervises the National Park Service, came calling on Yosemite the same week that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco stopped seven projects costing more than $100 million.

The projects are part of a $441 million Yosemite Valley improvement plan that has been under attack for years. The court order this week involved a long-running lawsuit focused on the Merced River, the central stream in the glacial valley.

The appellate court's two-page statement appeared to say the National Park Service must revise its plan for managing the Merced River corridor before moving ahead with the valley projects. The order directs U.S. District Court Judge Anthony W. Ishii to reconsider his ruling last month allowing construction to proceed while the park service corrects two flaws that the appellate court had found earlier in the park's Merced River plan.

"We are looking at exactly what the order means," Norton said Thursday. "I've asked for an analysis on the delays."

Norton didn't dwell on the lawsuit. Instead, she said the Bush administration had poured more than $200 million into rehabilitation projects for national parks in California in the past three years.

She also complimented many aspects of the park service's plans to renovate Yosemite Valley, including upgrades to an antiquated sewage system that overflowed into the river in the late 1990s.

"It's not headline material, but we can restore water quality by taking care of our systems in the park," she said.

Ushpal Thind of London walks through the Yosemite Lodge Area Redevelopment project, cleared of 200 trees before a court injunction. Eric Paul Zamora / The Fresno Bee

Norton walked through the renovation and trail-building work around Yosemite Falls. She sat along a quiet part of the trail to review notes on her way to speak with reporters.

Media crews pushed microphones close to Norton because her soft voice often could not be heard above the roar of the falls, which are booming with spring snowmelt.

In answer to a question, she addressed the environmental criticism that the valley plan -- which includes new motel units -- will transform Yosemite into a place meant only for the wealthy.

"We have to accommodate visitors," Norton said. "But we are re-routing roads and trails to make it easier for people to get out and walk. In many ways, we are doing the opposite of developing."

Another environmental faction supports the park service's valley and river plans. But one representative, Jay Watson of the Wilderness Society, said the administration's lack of commitment to Yosemite frustrates him.

"If the Bush administration truly cares about Yosemite, now is the time to stand up and fully commit to supporting and implementing the entire Yosemite Valley and Merced River plans," he said. "Anything short of that is like cotton candy -- sweet and fluffy."