United States Department of the Interior
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Yosemite National Park
P.O. Box 577
Yosemite, CA 95389

Dear Park Employees and Friends:

What you have open before you today is a document that will help us safeguard the future of one of Yosemite's greatest natural features. From the slopes of Mt. Lyell, through untouched wilderness reaches, over waterfalls, and spilling into glorious valleys, the Merced River and its South Fork are the defining threads that knit together almost everything that is special about Yosemite.

The Merced Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management Plan lays out the policy direction by which the National Park Service will manage the 81 miles of river corridor under its jurisdiction. As stewards of Yosemite, we expect you to keep this plan at the ready and use it as the guiding policy document when you turn an idea into a project and move that project to fruition.

In 1983, Congress recognized that, although the Merced River was protected as part of Yosemite National Park, it was worthy of special protection. The mandates of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act guided our creation of this plan, which gives further instruction as to how we should conduct our activities in the wild and scenic river corridor. First and foremost, it is a plan that directs us how best to protect and enhance the Merced River's unique and treasured values.

And to the public who voiced their concerns as part of this planning process, I feel it is important to share with you the management direction to Yosemite National Park staff. This plan outlines how we will care for the Merced River in its context with this national park. I can assure you that it will not sit on a shelf but will become book-marked and dog-earred. This plan does not signify the end of the process but a beginning of greater protection of the Merced Wild and Scenic River well into the future.

Sincerely,

David A. Mihalic
Superintendent