• Boundaries: In response to concerns that the maximum amount of area adjacent to the river should be included in the boundary, the corridor would be expanded in the preferred alternative to a quarter mile for the entire river corridor except in the El Portal segment, which would retain its floodplain boundary.

• Classifications: When the river corridor is expanded to include the full quarter-mile, as it is in Yosemite Valley and Wawona under the preferred alternative, then the corridor encompasses more areas and more intensive uses; it therefore necessitates a "recreational" classification as defined by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

• Outstandingly Remarkable Values (ORVs): The Merced River Plan/FEIS would include refined ORVs to more clearly focus on resources that are river-related or river dependent and rare, unique, or exemplary in a regional or national context. The final plan also would more closely link ORVs to the management zoning. This change would apply to all alternatives.

• Section 7 of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act: The Merced River Plan/FEIS would describe how the plan addresses each section of the act. In particular, the final plan adds a section on compliance with Section 7—the part of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act that defines what can occur within the bed and banks of the river. The Section 7 determination process has been formalized in the Merced River Plan/FEIS for all alternatives.

• River Protection Overlay (RPO): The Merced River Plan/FEIS would maintain the River Protection Overlay and would present stronger conditions which must be met for future actions. The RPO strengthens the approach to natural resource restoration and the removal and relocation of facilities within the zone and applies to alternatives 2, 3, and 4, as was the case in the draft plan.

• Management Zoning: Management zoning would be more closely linked to protection of ORVs. Also, the description of "Attraction Zones" would limit the area in which more intensive facilities could be provided. Camping and lodging would be divided into two separate zones to more explicitly limit where lodging and related visitor-serving commercial uses could occur.

• Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (VERP): The Merced River Plan/FEIS would contain a more detailed explanation and schedule for the VERP framework (including sample indicators and standards for resource and visitor experience monitoring) that the park is committed to implement over the next five years.

• The Merced River Plan/FEIS would contain a refined and updated analysis of environmental consequences based on the changes above.

YNP/General  The Planning Process  The Merced River Plan