Yosemite at a Glance:
Park History

The congressional mandate to the National Park Service is to preserve and protect while providing for public enjoyment and recreation. Problems that confronted the early guardians of Yosemite remain issues today. Public awareness and stewardship are extremely important.

Geology
Waterfalls

Yosemite Today

Education is one of the most important ways that the National Park Service can provide a foundation for public stewardship. The National Park Service is required to solicit public comment on resource protection plans and public opinion is a vital consideration in solving problems.

The Yosemite Valley Plan calls for the removal of unnecessary structures, protection and restoration of land, relocation of facilities from sensitive areas, and reduction of traffic congestion. Solving these problems will result in reduced impacts to natural resources, including the recovery of meadow habitat, restoration of riparian areas, and improved air quality.

Yosemite offers resources that are priceless to the human spirit and essential to our collective health and well-being. Yosemite is one of the cornerstones of Wallace Stegner's thought, “The national parks are the best idea America ever had.”