| Table of Contents | Abstract | Executive Summary | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 |
| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

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CHAPTER 3 (Part 2)

GEOLOGICAL HAZARDS

Rockfalls

Most rockfalls are associated with triggering events such as earthquakes, rainstorms, or periods of warming with rapid snowmelt. The magnitude and proximity of earthquakes, the intensity and duration of rainfall, the thickness of the snowpack, and warming patterns all influence the triggering of rockfalls (Wieczorek and Jager 1996). However, some rockfalls occur without a direct correlation to an obvious triggering event; these rockfalls are probably due to processes associated with gradual stress release and exfoliation of granitic rock (Wieczorek et al. 1995).

Rockfalls have left abundant deposits of talus around the base of almost all the walls of Yosemite Valley. In 1930, Matthes mapped the extent of talus around the edge of the Valley, which, in some places, is estimated to be greater than 300 feet thick (Wieczorek and Jager 1996). At some locations, such as below El Capitan, where large prehistoric rock avalanches have occurred, these deposits extend from the base of the wall about 1,400 feet across the Valley floor (USGS 1992). The talus slopes along the east side of the Valley provide better-drained soils and warmer microhabitats than are found on the adjacent Valley floor. There are also crevices and caves there that are home to many animal species. Continued rockfall affects the growth form of many individual plants, keeps large areas in the early stages of succession, and creates potentially hazardous conditions for humans.

Rockfalls in Yosemite range in size from small individual blocks of less than one cubic meter to rock avalanches of several million cubic meters. All such events pose a potential hazard; even a rapidly moving small boulder can cause serious injury to people, vehicles, or buildings. The massive rockfall in 1996 that occurred in the Happy Isles area resulted in one death and severe damage to some park facilities (NPS 1999a).

The U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service have cooperated in documenting potential geologic hazards in Yosemite Valley, based on a review of archival records, aerial photographic interpretation, and field mapping completed by Wieczorek et al. in 1992. Additional fieldwork was conducted to assess earlier data and produce a report on the rockfall potential within the Valley, which was completed by Wieczorek et al. in 2000. This report identified two rings or zones of potential rockfall: the talus slope zone and the rockfall shadow line zone. During a rockfall, the majority of materials are deposited close to the Valley walls, in what is called the talus slope zone. The rockfall shadow line zone extends out from the talus slope and is defined as the area within which individual rocks could travel. Generally, people and development are in greater danger in the talus slope zone, closer to the affected Valley wall.

The talus slope and shadow line are illustrated in Vol. Ic, plate E. There are locations where the talus slope extends farther toward the river than the shadow line. These locations are usually areas of debris flow deposits. Debris flows can extend farther out onto the Valley floor than the shadow line because the shadow line is based on a mathematical calculation, and debris flows represent actual deposit events.

SCENIC RESOURCES

The scenery of Yosemite National Park is one of its most significant resources. From the first descriptions of Yosemite Valley by Euro-Americans in the mid-19th century, views of the pastoral valley juxtaposed with towering geologic features and dramatic waterfalls have been recognized as outstanding resources. Many of these views have become cultural icons of the American landscape experience, made timeless through the legacy of landscape documentation in Yosemite Valley. It is largely through the early writings, paintings, and photographs by visitors to the region, as well as nationally recognized artists, that the beauty of the landscape came to the attention of the nation, influencing legislation that led to the designation of Yosemite National Park.

Prior to the development of the 1980 General Management Plan, a study was conducted to analyze historic viewpoints—those features most visitors look for and can distinguish—and to identify existing viewing conditions within Yosemite Valley. First, the historic viewpoint analysis located places within Yosemite Valley that were consistently selected by eminent historic photographers as the best locations from which to photograph scenic features. Initially, five 19th century photographers were selected for the sample, and approximately 100 of their photos were mapped to show where they were taken and the extent of the view. Additional mapping was completed for 19th century paintings of Yosemite. However, because of the possibility that perspectives had been adjusted by the artists, less importance was placed on the paintings.

Next, a list of significant scenic features was developed. According to this study, the 11 most significant features within the Valley are Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, Bridalveil Fall, Three Brothers, Cathedral Rocks and Spires, Sentinel Rock, Glacier Point, North Dome, Washington Column, and Royal Arches. All points from which these 11 features were typically viewed (assuming that no vegetation or structures obstructed the view) were mapped to establish the scenic viewing possibilities from different locations on the Valley floor. Existing viewpoints were identified, and the quality of views and proximity to roads and trails were noted. Once the historic and existing viewpoints were established, views from these locations in the Valley were classified according to the criteria shown in table 3-14. As a result of the study, a Yosemite Valley Scenic Analysis graphic was developed (see Vol. Ic, plate F). This graphic is a compilation of the Yosemite Valley Historic Viewpoint Analysis and the Yosemite Valley Existing Viewpoint Analysis presented in the 1980 General Management Plan.

Using the Yosemite Valley Scenic Analysis graphic as a baseline, it is possible to define the extent of current impacts or visual intrusions within each of the scenic categories. Roads and traffic through Ahwahnee and Stoneman Meadows, for example, are a major visual intrusion when viewing Half Dome from the Yosemite Valley floor. Other major intrusions to the scenic beauty of Yosemite Valley from two popular vantage points (Upper Yosemite Fall and Glacier Point) include the National Park Service and concessioner maintenance and warehouse facilities, Camp 6 parking, Curry Village, and roads and traffic through Ahwahnee and Stoneman Meadows.

Inherent in the beauty of the 11 most significant features and other scenic resources are the foreground and mid-ground elements of the landscape. Particularly the Merced River and its ecosystem—a mosaic of aquatic, riverside, and meadow communities—and other characteristic features of Yosemite Valleyís landscape, such as California black oak woodlands and its premier cultural features, contribute to the Valleyís unique scenery.

CULTURAL RESOURCES

Overview of the Human Occupation of Yosemite Valley

AMERICAN INDIANS

Yosemite Valley was first inhabited between 4,000 and 6,000 years ago. Archeological sites in the vicinity of El Portal suggest that the Merced River canyon west of Yosemite Valley may have been inhabited as early as 9,500 years ago. The Yosemite Valley contains many archeological sites, manifesting thousands of years of human occupation. There is evidence of at least one population replacement, technological change through time, a highly developed trade network, and significant environmental manipulation through fire.

When Euro-Americans first entered Yosemite Valley in 1851, the American Indians living there were most likely a mixture of Southern Sierra Miwok, Mono Lake Paiute, and Central Sierra Miwok, as well as former Mission Indians likely from Yokuts, Plains Miwok, and Ohlonean groups. Their oral traditions and archeological evidence suggest that they had inhabited the Valley for centuries, perhaps as early as A.D. 500. Southern Miwok people called Yosemite Valley awahni, "place like a gaping mouth." The Miwok living in the Valley were known as the awahnichi,"people who live in awahnii." The American Indians wintered in villages at lower elevations along the Merced and Tuolumne Rivers and summered in Yosemite Valley. Some may have spent winters in the Valley, settling in sunny locations on the north side of the Merced River.

American Indian life was relatively stable in Yosemite from A.D. 1200 to 1800, though interaction with other Indian groups appears to have introduced new cultural and linguistic patterns. Trade with other groups was important both socially and economically for the Southern Miwok and the Paiute, taking place with groups living east of the Sierra Nevada crest and with people living west of Yosemite Valley.

The arrival of the Spanish in California in the late 18th century brought profound changes. Spanish soldiers and missionaries established a chain of missions and settlements along the Pacific coast, introducing European lifeways and converting native populations to Catholicism. Because Spain possessed neither the personnel nor the resources to engage in the widespread colonization of California, American Indians became the economic backbone of the mission system. While many Indians entered the missions voluntarily, induced by food, shelter, and clothing, many others were conscripted by Spanish soldiers.

After Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, the Mexican government passed legislation abolishing the mission system, and by 1834 all of the mission lands were secularized and opened to occupation. Because much of what was once American Indian land (mostly west of the Sierra Nevada) was occupied by Euro-Americans, many of the displaced Indian people migrated to the Sierra Nevada, aligning themselves with tribes living there. Then, between 1830 and 1840, epidemics brought by Europeans swept over California. In portions of central California, the American Indian population was decimated. Survivors fled to neighboring villages and often into the Sierra Nevada. The American Indians living in Yosemite Valley almost certainly felt the impact of these events.

The Mariposa Indian War of 1850, triggered by a decade-long influx of Euro-American miners, ranchers, farmers, and merchants taking over what had been American Indian lands, resulted in a call for volunteers to pursue the American Indians in Yosemite Valley, capture them, and relocate them to a reservation on the Fresno River. The battalion formed was the first group of non-Indians to enter Yosemite Valley. Some American Indians were taken prisoner and led out of the Valley, but all seem to have escaped and returned to Yosemite Valley before reaching the Fresno River. Later expeditions proved no more successful, and the Indians remained in Yosemite Valley. Although federal Indian agents were authorized to negotiate treaties with American Indians in the Yosemite area, the treaty signed by the Yosemite Indians (as well as many of the other California Indian treaties) was never ratified by the U.S. Senate.

After 1855, as the fame of Yosemite Valley grew, hotels and other travel-related amenities eventually were constructed. The American Indian residents of Yosemite Valley sometimes found employment in these enterprises and lived in small settlements, generally out of the path of non-Indian travelers and settlers. Employment opportunities in Yosemite Valley also served to draw in Indian people from surrounding areas. The management of the Valley was taken on by Euro-American institutions, and American Indian interests were subject to decisions made without their influence. Traditional housing was replaced with nontraditional structures; old village sites were vacated, and new villages were built. Part of this was an effort on the part of Euro-Americans to centralize the Indian people as a tourist attraction and control the activities of Indian people. The small groups that came together in these latter settlements blended their cultural practices, traditional arts, and beliefs. National Park Service and concessioner-sponsored programs and practices, such as photography, basket sales, demonstrations of traditional crafts, and sponsored events such as the Yosemite Indian Field Days in the 1920s, directly influenced changes in traditional lifeways. The last Indian village in Yosemite Valley was closed in 1969, and the structures razed.

American Indians continue to live in Yosemite Valley and El Portal today, but generally only those employed by National Park Service, a concessioner, or a cooperating association. As with other residents, they live in employee housing.

American Indians from Yosemite Valley and their descendants settled in nearby areas in the Sierra Nevada foothills and eastern Sierra Nevada, as well as elsewhere throughout North America. Several have retained their association with the Valley, as employees and cultural demonstrators for National Park Service interpretive programs. They have worked with the National Park Service to build and maintain the Indian Village of Ahwahnee adjacent to the Yosemite Museum. Examples of traditional dwelling, utilitarian, and ceremonial structures in the village preserve and interpret past lifeways. American Indian people continue to work cooperatively with the National Park Service in management of resources important in traditional lifeways.

The American Indian Council of Mariposa County, Inc. recently entered into an agreement with the National Park Service to establish a cultural center at the location of the last occupied historic Indian village in Yosemite Valley, and to maintain aspects of the traditional landscape through resource gathering, indigenous management practices, and traditional ceremonies.

EURO-AMERICANS

During the mid-1850s and 1860s, the natural scenery of Yosemite Valley was brought to Americaís attention through journal articles written by Thomas Starr King in the Boston Evening Transcript and James M. Hutchings in his California Magazine. A heightened awareness of the Valley landscape was also provided through the works of artists such as Thomas Ayers, Albert Bierstadt, and Carleton Watkins. Painted, photographic, and literary images of Yosemiteís beauty drew people to the Valley.

Hutchings, who organized the first tourist excursions in 1855, became a permanent resident of Yosemite Valley in 1864. He constructed several structures, including a sawmill. Other early entrepreneurs built hotels, planted orchards, and developed homesteads, many of which were built in areas with outstanding views. In 1864, the U.S. Congress and President Abraham Lincoln set aside Yosemite Valley and the Big Tree Grove (Mariposa Grove) as a public park to preserve the monumental scenic qualities of the area. The act stated that the Valley and the Mariposa Grove were to be managed by the governor of California and his eight appointed Yosemite commissioners, chaired by Frederick Law Olmsted.

The first documented non-Indian to enter the El Portal area was James Savage, who established a trading post at the confluence of the main stem and South Fork of the Merced River, seven miles below present-day El Portal. Other miners and traders arrived in the area during the next several decades, and in the early 1870s, James A. Hennessey developed a small ranch and orchard in the present-day Trailer Village area. Barium deposits were found near present-day Rancheria Flat in the 1880s. In 1907, the Yosemite Valley Railroad completed its rail line to the parkís western boundary, where the company established a railhead named El Portal. The rail line, which operated until 1945, resulted in the development of significant tourist, timber, mining, and cement industries in the area of El Portal.

By 1870, the establishment of hotels in Yosemite Valley had created a need for local fresh produce and livestock. James Lamon, Yosemite Valleyís first white homesteader, became one of the largest producers of commercial agricultural products in the Valley. Lamonís gardens and orchards produced strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, apples, pears, and other fruits. Remnants of two of Lamonís orchards still exist. One, in the Curry Village parking area, has been altered and partially paved. The other, which retains much of its original character, is near the concessioner stable at the east end of Yosemite Valley.

With the introduction of crops and livestock came fences, outbuildings, and other developments that detracted from the beauty of Yosemite Valley. Introduced vegetation also became a concern. In 1888, Frederick Law Olmsted outlined a policy for managing the Valley in the San Francisco Examiner. Cultivation of crops was to be restricted to areas that had already been plowed, natural meadows were to be preserved, and tree cutting was to be permitted only under the supervision of a landscape gardener.

During the mid- to late 19th century, there were mixed feelings about altering the natural beauty of Yosemite for human convenience. The single event with the biggest impact on the natural landscape of Yosemite Valley was the blasting of a portion of the moraine at the foot of El Capitan in 1879. This action forever altered the Merced River, the Valley stream system, and vegetation.

Major H.C. Benson, acting superintendent from 1905 to 1908 under the Department of the Army, stated in his 1907 annual report that "some definite general plan should be devised for the beautifying of the valley and making it the most beautiful park in the world. All bridges and buildings constructed in the future should conform to a definite plan, suited to existing conditions. All roads should be laid out according to a plan fully worked out by a competent landscape gardener, nothing should be done in the way of expending money which does not tend to carry out these ideas. All small buildings, practically shacks, should be replaced by stone buildings, and all bridges, when replaced, should be either of stone or concrete." Many bridges and roads were, in fact, built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1905 and 1915 (Carr 1998).

By 1914, there were scattered substandard and unsightly structures throughout the Valley, many of which were built by the U.S. Army for seasonal use. Other structures were built by entrepreneurs in the Old Village. In 1916, when park operations were no longer under the auspices of the U.S. Army, all structures were given to the U.S. Department of the Interior.

In 1915, at the Panama Pacific Exposition, Mark Daniels, the first landscape architect hired by the Department of the Interior as superintendent of parks, discussed the philosophy that would be used to lay out the national parks. He created a master plan for Yosemite Valley, with roads, varied accommodations, stores, and utilities. He advocated the park village concept, a plan used throughout the National Park System during the 1920s and 1930s (Carr 1998).

Stephen T. Mather, the first director of the National Park Service in 1916, recognized the importance of the writings of Andrew Jackson Downing and the landscape architecture of Frederick Law Olmsted. Mather strongly advocated the subordination of the built environment to the natural environment and relied on landscape architects to ensure that buildings were compatible with their sites. Yosemite has been an important laboratory for the National Park Service philosophy on the built environment. Key figures in the history of National Park Service architecture completed much of their early work on projects in the park. Charles Punchard, the first head of the National Park Service Landscape Engineering Department, worked on laying out the current Yosemite Village. Daniel Hull, his successor in 1920, improved circulation. Thomas Vint (successor to Hull) introduced several key elements that are important to the character of Yosemite Village, including the low-density massing of housing, the careful selection of materials, curvilinear streets, detached houses with garages and service alleys, and the use of vegetation in landscape design. During these years, many important architects and landscape architects were influential in the park. Gilbert Stanley Underwood designed The Ahwahnee, and the Olmsted brothersí architectural landscape firm designed the hotel grounds.

By 1930, Yosemite's managers had outlined issues of particular concern, including activities that encroached on meadows, such as the race track for rodeo events at Leidig's Meadow and parking areas at Stoneman Meadow. The committee recommended that a landscape map record the areas occupied by forests, woodlands, chaparral, and meadows. They also wanted to document the historic distribution of natural landscape types from photographs and records.

Beginning in 1933, many of the people who had worked in Yosemite were producing designs used by the Public Works Administration under John Wosky, another prominent National Park Service figure. The creation of the Public Works Administration also made many individuals available for work in parks. The Civilian Conservation Corps completed a tremendous amount of work at Yosemite, including the construction of roads, trails, bridges, fire roads, fire buildings, fire lanes, fire trails, comfort stations, campgrounds, and a dam at Yosemite Creek. Additional projects included revegetation, extensive landscaping, and debris cleanup. Between 1950 and 1956, a second major building plan, called Mission 66, resulted in seven new structures in Yosemite Village. Only one was built in the rustic style; the others were built in the new Mission 66 style.

Yosemite Valley

ARCHEOLOGICAL RESOURCES

Yosemite Valley is designated an archeological district and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Early archeological surveys of the Valley focused on prehistoric or historic American Indian sites rather than historic-era resources representative of homesteading, visitor, or National Park Service facilities. The entire Valley has been surveyed except for wet meadows, areas of dense vegetation, and some talus slopes.

The archeological district in the Valley comprises more than 100 known sites, many of which are significant for their ability to yield important information about prehistoric lifeways. The prehistoric sites encompass milling stations (granite boulders with mortar cups or milling slicks, the most common feature documented to date); midden soils; artifact caches and scatters (including obsidian waste flakes, obsidian and ground stone tools, soapstone vessel fragments, and dietary faunal remains); rock shelters; pictograph panels; human burials; house floors; fire hearths; and rock alignments. Historic archeological sites encompass trash deposits, building foundations, privy pits, utilities, human burials, and landscape features such as ditches, roads, rock alignments, non-native plants, and trails.

Individual sites in the archeological district vary by type, size, depth, complexity, length of occupation, variety of remains, and potential to yield important scientific information. A parkwide archeological research design (Hull and Moratto 1999) provides guidance in assessing the research potential of these sites. Important questions are identified in the areas of paleoenvironment, cultural chronology, economic patterns, settlement patterns, demography, and social organization. Sites are considered significant when they contain important information that relates to questions in these areas of inquiry.

Sites with low data potential primarily encompass mortar sites lacking in any additional features or artifacts; sparse debitage scatters with low flake densities and lacking tools; and historic sites with few artifacts and no distinct features. In addition, sites subject to previous evaluations through excavation that were found to have no data potential are included in this group. The near-absence of flaked-stone debris, lack of temporally diagnostic specimens, and apparent task-specific nature of many of these sites suggest that study of the deposits would contribute relatively little to the questions of interest in Yosemite. Subsurface evaluations, however, would serve to demonstrate whether subsurface deposits and more diverse materials are present, and such information might indicate greater data potential for some of these sites.

Sites with moderate data potential generally consist of deposits that exhibit multiple types of features (e.g., mortars and rock shelters) with or without lithic debris and tools; sites with numerous mortars, suggesting possible extensive use of the site; sites that previous records identified as containing substantial lithic scatters which have not been subsequently identified; and/or sites that archeological monitoring has demonstrated contain subsurface deposits. Such attributes suggest that various topics identified in the parkwide research design might be addressed, including cultural chronology, obsidian procurement, flaked-stone tool technology, subsistence, and settlement. The actual research potential of these sites might be considered more or less substantial if controlled subsurface evaluations were completed.

Sites with high data potential include deposits with a combination of features (e.g., mortars and rockshelters) in abundance; sites with denser concentrations of lithic debris; sites containing temporally diagnostic prehistoric or historic artifacts; deposits with dense historic debris scatters, historic features, and/or documented historic use; and sites with possible historic Miwok use dating to the late 1800s and early 1900s. These latter sites are particularly relevant to the qualities defining the significance of the Yosemite Valley Archeological District, while the other sites have evident potential to address diverse topics identified in the district nomination and the parkwide research design.

Sites with exceptional data potential combine all the attributes described for sites with high data potential, whose deposits are extensive and have already been determined to have a high degree of integrity. These sites usually contain subsurface features such as house floors and fire hearths that contain specific and unique information critical in addressing important questions identified in the parkwide research design.

While the majority of archeological sites in Yosemite Valley retain a relatively high degree of integrity, many have been disturbed by human activity and natural processes (Hull and Kelly 1995). Visitor use has the most widespread impact, although its effect is not as serious as other types of impacts. Several sites have been damaged by the construction of facilities and utilities. A significant number have been affected by ongoing natural processes such as tree falls, river migration, alluviation, and rockfall. Because Yosemite Valley is so geologically active, it has a high potential for buried archeological resources, especially in areas of alluviation and rockfall.

ETHNOGRAPHIC RESOURCES

Ethnographic resources consist of features of the landscape that are linked by members of a contemporary community to their traditional ways of life. As more specifically defined in the NPS-28 Cultural Resource Management Guidelines (NPS 1991a), ethnographic resources are any "site, structure, object, landscape, or natural resource feature assigned traditional, legendary, religious, subsistence, or other significance in the cultural system of a group traditionally associated with it." A traditional cultural property is an ethnographic resource that is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

An Ethnographic Evaluation of Yosemite Valley: The American Indian Cultural Landscape (Bibby 1994) identified and documented cultural and natural resources associated with American Indian occupation and use of the Valley. American Indians still living in the region provided oral history and assisted in the location of resources. The area evaluated extended from Pohono Bridge to Mirror Lake and Happy Isles, and included all historic areas of human habitation, sites of traditional and contemporary spiritual value, marked and unmarked graves, and areas of past and present resource gathering and food processing. Included were such features as bedrock mortars as well as plant materials such as California black oak stands and individual oak trees, grasses, mosses, sedges, and mushrooms. Most sites and features are historic, and tradition holds that many have long histories of use. The ethnographic evaluation recommended that Yosemite Valley be designated a traditional cultural property and listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a district.

In addition, the National Park Service has consulted with American Indian groups claiming affiliation with land and resources in Yosemite Valley and El Portal. These are primarily the Southern Sierra Miwok (American Indian Council of Mariposa County, Inc.) and the Mono Lake Paiute (Mono Lake Indian Community). Chukchansi Yokuts and Western Mono groups may have cultural ties to Yosemite Valley, while many Central Sierra Miwok individuals have some family ties.

As a result of the ethnographic evaluation and further consultations, over 104 sites, features, and plant species have been identified as having been used by American Indians. Forty-seven sites are either historic villages or other historic features. There are 16 sites with mythic or ceremonial value, 27 with food and water sources, 20 with plants used in making baskets or other utilitarian objects, and four with medicinal plants. Several village sites are also documented archeological sites and are contributing elements to the Yosemite Valley Archeological District: Wahoga (New Indian Village), Yowatchke (Old Village), Loiyah, Hollow, and Ahwahnee. Yosemite Valley is considered a traditional cultural property; Wahoga, because of its significance as the last occupied Indian village in Yosemite Valley, is considered an individually significant traditional cultural property.

Nine known historic American Indian burials are located in the Yosemite Cemetery. Two reburials of excavated remains were made in the cemetery in the 1970s. One burial site has been documented near the Museum/Valley District Building and another near Tenaya Creek in the eastern end of Yosemite Valley. An unmarked grave is reported to be in the area of El Capitan, and there is an early account of a cremation in the Valley. Other than the known historic and prehistoric burials in and near the Yosemite Cemetery, burials have no definable pattern and more likely occur throughout the Valley.

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE RESOURCES

According to the NPS-28 Cultural Resource Management Guidelines, a cultural landscape is a reflection of human adaptation and use of natural resources. It is often expressed in the way land is organized and divided, patterns of settlement, land use, systems of circulation, and the types of structures that are built. The character of a cultural landscape is defined both by physical materials such as roads, buildings, walls, and vegetation, and by use reflecting cultural values and traditions.

Thus, cultural landscapes are the result of the long interaction between humans and the land, and the influence of beliefs and actions over time upon the natural landscape. Shaped through time by historical land use and management practices, as well as politics and property laws, levels of technology, and economic conditions, cultural landscapes provide a living record of an areaís past, a visual chronicle of its history. The dynamic nature of modern human life, however, contributes to the continual reshaping of cultural landscapes. They are a good source of information about specific times and places, but at the same time, their long-term preservation is a challenge.

A determination of eligibility for listing the Yosemite Valley cultural landscape on the National Register of Historic Places is under way. The determination of eligibility provides an in-depth analysis of Yosemite Valley as a single entity, describes the Valleyís cultural significance and characteristics, and lists historic resources that contribute to that significance. The boundaries of the Yosemite Valley cultural landscape extend from rim to rim and from Pohono Bridge to Mirror Lake and Happy Isles, including the Valley walls themselves and several historic trails. The cultural landscape of Yosemite Valley is considered to be of national significance, based upon the application of all four of the National Registerís criteria of eligibility, as described below.

Criterion A — The area is associated with events that made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.

Criterion B — The area is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.

Criterion D — The area has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.

The geophysical characteristics of Yosemite Valley have shaped patterns of human use since the earliest days of American Indian settlement. As a result, the Valleyís cultural landscape is significant for its archeology, its role in the exploration and settlement of the west, and for its contribution to architecture, art, landscape architecture, recreation, and conservation. The unsurpassed historical significance of the Yosemite Valley landscape derives from the fact that countless generations of local tribal groups, and later untold millions of park visitors, have infused the Valley's natural features with great cultural significance. Groups as different as the Miwok and the U.S. Congress have recognized and celebrated the value of Yosemite Valley. The cultural processes of defining sacred space, of turning land into landscape, and of making a wild place into a public park, have made Yosemite Valley one of the most culturally significant natural places in America.

Thus, the significance of the Yosemite Valley cultural landscape cannot be described or assessed apart from its significance as a natural landscape. Landscapes depend on unity for their emotional effect, and at Yosemite this unity combines the pastoral and the awesome, the natural and the cultural, the past and the present. The Valley's cultural landscape encompasses cliff walls, meadows, rivers and streams, as well as roads, trails, and buildings.

The following is a noninclusive list of resources that contribute to the significance of the Yosemite Valley cultural landscape.

Though many of the contributing elements mentioned above may not be individually eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, collectively they contribute to the overall national significance of the Yosemite Valley cultural landscape.

HISTORIC SITES AND STRUCTURES

Many historic sites and structures within Yosemite Valley have been singled out for their significance, and are either National Historic Landmarks or are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. National Historic Landmarks are designated by the Secretary of the Interior and are structures of the highest national significance. Historic resources in Yosemite National Park were identified and evaluated in 1978 in the Draft General Management Plan (Cultural Resources Management Volume) and in the joint Memorandum of Agreement between the State Historic Preservation Office, the National Park Service, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (see Vol. II, Appendix D). A historic resources study (NPS 1987a) and project-specific reports identified and evaluated structures and sites not addressed in those earlier documents.

The Yosemite Village Historic District consists of the J.M. Hutchings homestead, sawmill site, and orchard; John Muir cabin site; the Yosemite Cemetery; a National Park Service residential area with 68 predominantly rustic-style buildings erected between 1918 and 1951, including four early 1900s army buildings; the Rangers' Club (1921), a National Historic Landmark; an administration building (1924); a post office (1925); the Boysen Studio (c. 1925); The Ansel Adams Gallery complex (1925); and a museum building (1926). All phases of National Park Service architecture are represented in Yosemite Village, from structures designed and built by the U.S. Army to fine examples of rustic style, as well as examples of Mission 66 style. The Rangersí Club, an early example of the rustic style inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, set the tone for future building in the area and the rest of the National Park System.

Yosemite Village's historic housing area retains substantial integrity, as do the Village's maintenance, service, and storage areas and the Lower Tecoya and Ahwahnee Row housing areas (all of which are contributing elements in the Valleywide cultural landscape). Modifications and new uses have not affected the integrity of the design from the period of significance (1924-1945). In addition, building configurations, color schemes, vegetation, circulation patterns, and street furniture have remained subordinate to the natural landscape over the past decades.

The Ahwahnee is both a National Historic Landmark and a property listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The facility was built in 1927 to provide luxury accommodations and attract wealthy and influential visitors to the Valley. The hotel was designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood to harmonize with the nearby rugged Valley walls. The grounds were designed and landscaped by the Olmsted brotherís firm. The firm's use of native vegetation to create a wildflower garden, the manipulation of landforms to give the hotel the appearance of being on a natural knoll, the views to Yosemite Falls, and the entry sequence are notable features of the original design. The Ahwahnee Meadow and surrounding natural landscape elements are also important to the setting of the hotel. While a nearby cluster of wood bungalows built in 1928 and the employee dormitory are not considered to be individually eligible for listing on the National Register, they are contributing elements to The Ahwahnee National Register property.

The Camp Curry Historic District includes the Camp Curry Entrance Sign, Mother Curryís Bungalow (1917), and the Tresidder residence (1916); the original registration building (now used as a lounge); 48 bungalow units built between 1918 and 1922; and canvas tent cabins dating from the late 1920s and early 1930s. The tent cabins are the most significant and intact tent cabin complex left in the National Park System. The use of the orchard for parking was first proposed by the Olmsted brothers' firm in 1927. Other structures, such as Cabin 90A/B and Cottage 819, are considered contributing elements of the Yosemite Valley Cultural Landscape Historic District within the Curry Village developed area.

The Stoneman House (a late-1960s alteration of a 1913 auditorium/dance hall), the Huff House (a private residence built circa 1923), the original post office (now used as the registration office), restroom buildings, and other miscellaneous facilities within the historic district's boundaries are not considered to be contributing elements to the district's significance. However, the Stoneman and Huff Houses, the post office, and the restroom buildings are contributing elements to the Yosemite Valley cultural landscape.

West of Camp Curry is the LeConte Memorial Lodge, a National Historic Landmark. It was originally constructed in 1903, in the Curry Village area at the base of Glacier Point, and was moved to its current location in 1919. Its Tudor-revival architecture and strong European tendencies are found in no other buildings in the National Park System. It has served as a Sierra Club reading room and meeting place for naturalist activities.

Camp 4 (Sunnyside Campground) was recently determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places for its associations with the growth and development of rock climbing as a recreational activity in Yosemite Valley. While camping is important as a recreational activity and a land use in the historical context of the Yosemite Valley cultural landscape, the individual campgrounds do not retain historical integrity and therefore are not considered contributing resources. However, Camp 4 is significant as a historic site for other reasons. Camp 4 was a meeting ground and important focal point for climbers in Yosemite Valley from 1947 to 1970, serving as a place of training, ascent planning, information and equipment exchange, and comradeship. The approximately 10-acre site includes the open, boulder-strewn areas (adjacent to the Valley Loop Trail at the base of the talus slope) used as campsites by many early climbers; the parking area (important for equipment/expedition staging and preparation); and the more concentrated campground area containing the original restrooms, the rescue camp section, and other camp infrastructure elements.

The Yosemite Chapel, the oldest standing building in the Valley, was constructed in 1879 and moved to its current location in 1901. Like the LeConte Memorial Lodge, it was moved during the period of significance, and is the last remaining structure from the Old Village along the Merced River and south of the current Yosemite Village.

In addition, eight granite-faced, concrete-arched, two-lane vehicular bridges were constructed along the Valley Loop Road between 1922 and 1933. Six of the bridges—Ahwahnee, Clark's, Pohono, Sugar Pine, Happy Isles, and Stoneman—cross the Merced River, while two more—Yosemite Creek Bridge and Tenaya Creek Bridge—cross these creeks. Each bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Other historic structures in Yosemite Valley include road alignments and several early trails, such as the Valley Loop Trail, the Four Mile Trail, the Yosemite Falls Trail, and the Mist Trail. These trails follow earlier American Indian travel routes and contain sections of distinctive rockwork and features such as footbridges.

Out-of-Valley Resources

EL PORTAL

Archeological Resources

The El Portal Archeological District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, contains 17 known sites. Prehistoric and historic human burials in both isolated locations and in cemeteries have been identified in El Portal. El Portal may also contain the best-preserved archeological resources from the protohistoric and early historic periods associated with American Indian cultural change. Although modern development has significantly altered the landscape and destroyed archeological deposits in many places, much could be learned from these resources. Historic archeological deposits representative of the ranching, mining, and railroad history of the area are also present.

Recent investigations in El Portal have focused on a large historic American Indian family truck farm and adjacent cemetery (Davis-King 1998) situated on the south side of the Merced River in the Riverside area. The truck farm was established by Johnny Wilson in the late 1800s. It contains important archeological deposits directly associated with American Indians living today, but is not identified as a traditional cultural place. The adjacent cemetery contains graves of ancestors of living American Indian people.

Ethnographic Resources

A systematic evaluation or overview of ethnographic resources has not been undertaken for El Portal. However, information from ethnohistoric research (Bates and Wells 1981; Davis-King 1998) indicates that several individuals and families have traditional ties to this area. Redbud, willow, sourberry, and other plant materials are known to be gathered there. At least three cemeteries are known, two of which were used during historic times and are the burial places for ancestors of some local American Indian families.

Historic Resources

A comprehensive evaluation of historic resources at the El Portal Administrative Site was completed, based on National Register criteria and an El Portal historic base map, drawn from primary and secondary source documents (maps, photographs, oral histories, and memoirs). The evaluation documents the locations of ranches, facilities associated with the Yosemite Valley Railroad, American Indian homes, tungsten and barite mining resources and facilities, and commercial, resort, and lodging facilities. Many of these exist today as archeological sites or landscape features.

Structures in El Portal that are either listed on, or are eligible to be listed on, the National Register of Historic Places include the Bagby Station, water tanks, and turntable; Hetch Hetchy Railroad engine number 6; Yosemite Valley Railroad caboose number 15; Murchison house and office (Yosemite Research Center); three National Lead Company residences (Rancheria Flat); and a store, school, El Portal Market, El Portal Hotel, and three railroad residences, all in the Village Center.

FORESTA

The Foresta tract was included in Yosemite National Park in 1890 and served primarily as a semi-active subdivision of summer homesites. The Big Meadow cemetery, established in 1894, contains the remains of five local residents. Additional, unmarked graves also are located in the Foresta area. Two Meyer barns (one from the early 1880s and one with a cribwork interior from the late 1870s) remain in the park, illustrative of vernacular building traditions; they are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These resources are the only tangible remnants of grazing and ranching activities that began in the 1870s.

The old Coulterville Road, the first stage road reaching the floor of Yosemite Valley, passed through the Foresta area on its way from Coulterville to its eastern terminus at El Portal Road in the Merced River gorge, one mile below the Cascades. The segment of the Coulterville Road corridor within the park is listed on the National Register.

The Foresta tract has been systematically surveyed for archeological resources, but not for ethnographic resources or potential cultural landscapes. Foresta was an important prehistoric settlement area, as reflected in the 22 documented village and camp sites. No detailed information is available regarding the subsurface nature of the archeological deposits, but based on surface evidence, National Park Service has prepared a draft National Register nomination for a proposed Foresta Archeological District. The Programmatic Agreement developed by the National Park Service, the State Historic Preservation Office, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation provides an ongoing process for identifying, evaluating, and treating the parkís cultural resources.

HENNESS RIDGE

Part of the Henness Ridge area has been inventoried for archeological and historic resources. The Old Wawona Road, an 1875 stage road linking Wawona and Yosemite Valley, and remnants of the Yosemite Lumber Company railroad logging operations have been documented in this area. No inventory of possible ethnographic resources has been undertaken, and the resources that have been identified have not been evaluated under National Register criteria. However, the Programmatic Agreement provides an ongoing process for identifying, evaluating, and treating the parkís cultural resources.

WAWONA

The prehistory of the Wawona area is similar to that of the park as a whole, although occupation in Wawona seems to have occurred somewhat earlier than that of Yosemite Valley.

The Wawona area has been designated an archeological district, determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. At least 72 historic and prehistoric resource sites are within the district boundaries. The significance of the district lies in its ability to provide information pertaining to subsistence strategies, seasonal use of specific ecological zones, demographic patterns, and both historic Miwok and pre-Miwok occupation of the area (NPS 1978).

American Indian people continue their traditional cultural associations with park lands and resources. Many places continue to be visited for traditional purposes; however, little formal research has been conducted to inventory and document traditional resources important to American Indian people. No formal inventory for ethnographic resources has been undertaken for the Wawona area. A cultural affiliation study currently under way will identify places, tribal groups, and families associated with this area. It is likely that traditional plant-gathering occurs. As in El Portal and Yosemite Valley, ancestors of local American Indian people are buried in the historic cemetery at Wawona.

Galen Clark was a central figure in the history of Wawona. Clark homesteaded land in the Wawona basin and established Clarkís Station along the Mann Brothers' Trail between Mariposa and Yosemite. Although never successful as a businessman (Clarkís Station changed hands several times, and the land is now the site of the Wawona Hotel), Clark was influential in the early management of the Yosemite Grant. He served as the state-appointed guardian for 22 years, responsible for daily oversight of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove. The remains of his homestead are still evident in Wawona, adjacent to what is now the Wawona Golf Course.

With construction of the Mariposa Road, which was completed to the Yosemite Valley floor in 1875, Wawona became a major stop along the transit route to Yosemite Valley. The original Clark's Station was eventually purchased by the Washburn brothers, who developed the Wawona Hotel complex that stands today. This resort facility comprised cow and horse pasturage as well as a short-lived air strip in the Wawona Meadow; a laundry; a slaughterhouse; a barn; a water ditch system that diverted water from the South Fork of the Merced River for irrigation, domestic water supply, ice, and power generation; and recreational facilities such as a golf course and tennis court. The noted Yosemite artist Thomas Hill established a studio adjacent to the hotel complex. The Washburn Company holdings, including the hotel complex, were purchased by the National Park Service in 1932 and the facilities remain in use today, operated by the parkís concessioner.

A cultural landscape study of the Wawona area, focusing on Washburn Company holdings, is under way. The most famous of the historic structures in Wawona is the Victorian hotel complex, which includes seven structures. It is significant for its architectural features as well as its historical associations with early California commerce and landscape painter Thomas Hill. The complex includes the Pavilion (former Hillís Studio), the Wawona Hotel, Little Brown (Moore Cottage), Long White (Clark Cottage), Little White (Manager's Cottage), and the annex. The complex was designated a National Historic Landmark on May 28, 1987. Also associated with the hotel complex is the Wawona Golf Course, overlying the eastern portion of the Wawona Meadow.

This resort complex once contained many other amenities necessary to support such a remote facility. Other structures include the Covered Bridge, the Gray Barn, the Slaughterhouse, and the Laundry (now used as a wagon repair shop). Other facilities exist today as archeological or landscape features, including the Washburn Ditch, the remains of Stella Lake, the foundations from Washburn Company employee residences, dumps, remains of cow and horse pasturage, a split-rail fence encompassing most of the southern Wawona Meadow, a remnant orchard, and many other features.

Also extant is the first wagon road into Wawona, the Chowchilla Mountain Road, originally constructed in the late 1800s. This road linked Wawona with the Mariposa area and followed earlier toll trails into the area.

The Pioneer Yosemite History Center, on the banks of the South Fork of the Merced River, contains many structures relocated from other areas of the park. Four of the buildings are listed on the National Register, including the Hodgdon homestead cabin, the Chris Jorgensen studio, the acting superintendentís headquarters, and the Yosemite Transportation Company office. Another, the George Anderson cabin, is eligible for listing.

Also extant in the Wawona developed area are several Civilian Conservation Corps structures and two government residences constructed immediately after the Wawona land purchase in 1932.

BADGER PASS

The Badger Pass area has been inventoried for prehistoric archeological resources; none have been located. The potential for historic-era archeological resources to be present here is associated with early use of the ski area. No inventory for ethnographic resources has been undertaken.

No historic structures in the Badger Pass complex are eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The structures in this complex have been altered considerably and no longer retain historical integrity (NPS 1987a).

SOUTH LANDING

The South Landing area has not been inventoried for cultural resources. It is a known log-landing area associated with Yosemite Sugar Pine Lumber Company operations in the early to mid-1900s and may retain historic features and fabric associated with that operation. It has been used over the intervening decades by the National Park Service as a firearms practice range and for materials storage and staging.

MERCED RIVER GORGE

Archeological resources in the Merced River gorge include historic and prehistoric sites. Historic sites are associated with the development and use of this canyon as a travel corridor. They include rock quarries, dumps, the remains of two work camps, a few unidentified structural foundations, and the Coulterville Road blacksmith shop in the talus west of Cascades, where a forge was built to serve travelers along this road. Four prehistoric American Indian archeological sites are located in and adjacent to the Cascades area. These sites are likely seasonal villages and contain features such as mortar rocks, midden soil, lithic scatters, and rock shelters.

American Indian people continue their traditional cultural associations with park lands and resources. Many places continue to be visited for traditional purposes, although little formal research has been conducted to inventory and document traditional resources important to American Indian people. While there is no ethnographic information or direct historical data related to the American Indian occupations in the Cascades area and near Pohono Bridge, these sites were not locales of isolated human activity. The people using these sites would most likely have traveled through these areas between Yosemite Valley and the lower elevations of the Merced River canyon. In the 1980s, a fragment of a Miwok basket was discovered in the rock talus above Cascades. At the western extent of Cascades is a large boulder that figures in a Miwok-origin story (NPS 1998d). Human remains have also been recovered from this area.

The Euro-American history of the Merced River gorge began in the 1870s, when James Hennessey of El Portal built and maintained a trail between El Portal and Yosemite Valley through the gorge. The Coulterville and Yosemite Turnpike Company constructed the Coulterville Road, which entered the Merced River canyon just west of the Cascade area and continued east to Yosemite Valley. In 1907, after two years of construction, the Yosemite Valley Railroad Company completed the El Portal Road between the rail terminus at El Portal and Yosemite Valley.

The Yosemite Hydroelectric Power Plant and associated structures (including the diversion dam, intake, screens and screenhouse, penstock, surge tank, and transmission line) were constructed in 1917-1918 to provide electrical power to Yosemite Valley. Water from the Merced River was diverted into a wooden penstock that paralleled the El Portal Road and dropped into the power plant for electricity generation. The electricity was conducted along 11-kilovolt overhead powerlines to the Valley. This property was determined eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The hydropower system is no longer in use, and in consultation with the State Historic Preservation Office and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (NPS 1986), many elements have been removed. The four Cascades residences, constructed between 1917 and 1924 to provide housing for individuals maintaining and operating this system, are also contributing elements of this historic resource.

The El Portal Road was substantially reconstructed in 1925, and when linked with Highway 140 through the lower Merced River canyon, it became known as the All-Year Highway (Quinn 1991; NPS 1997c). At the same time, the Arch Rock Entrance Station complex was constructed to serve increased visitation. This complex includes a ranger station/residence and a check station; a parking area, restrooms, and an additional entrance station kiosk were added later. The area is highlighted by the drive-through rock formation known as Arch Rock and the famed views of the Merced River canyon. The complex is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NPS 1987a).

Based on a cultural resources inventory completed for the reconstruction of the El Portal Road, the National Park Service, in consultation with the State Historic Preservation Office, determined that the Merced River canyon travel corridor is a significant historic property, eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (significant structures and features include hand-laid stone parapet guardwalls and drainage catchment structures). Following consultation with the State Historic Preservation Office and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, a majority of these features were removed as part of the roadís reconstruction. Other properties include the Arch Rock Entrance Station complex (eligible for the National Register as an individual property), rock quarries, historic trash scatters, sections of pre-1925 roadbed, historic work camp sites, and remains of the 1850 Coulterville Free Trail, which linked the foothill town of Coulterville with Yosemite Valley.

The Merced River canyon travel corridor determination of eligibility document (NPS 1997c) describes the important landscape characteristics of this property. They include views of the Merced River canyon, the use of natural materials, and purposeful design of situating the travel corridor to harmonize with the natural landscape.

HAZEL GREEN

Prehistoric and historic archeological sites are found in the Hazel Green area (Napton 1998, 1999). Six prehistoric American Indian archeological sites are located at Hazel Green. Mortar rocks with pestles, lithic debitage, and flaked-stone tools are common site constituents, likely representing seasonal villages.

Historic sites are associated with early travel through the area and include portions of historic roads, the location of the former stage stop, and sparse deposits of historical artifacts. Most prominently, a portion of the old Coulterville Road, the first road to reach Yosemite Valley in 1874, traverses the area. Leaving Hazel Green, the road winds into Yosemite Valley via the Merced Grove and Foresta. The Yosemite section of Coulterville Road is considered an important historical resource and, as such, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The other historic road in the Hazel Green area is a section of the Crane Flat Road. This road represents a remnant of the original Coulterville Road, built between Hazel Green and Crane Flat in 1872. Following construction of this segment, work on the road ended due to financial constraints. In reviving the project, the portion of the road to Crane Flat was abandoned and rerouted through the Merced Grove.

Yosemite Museum Collection (including Archives and Research Library)

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The Yosemite Museum collection and archives began as an element of the first museum founded in Yosemite Valley in 1915. It was the first officially designated museum in the National Park System. The new museum building, opened in 1926, was a cornerstone in the design of the Yosemite mall area and the focal point of the new National Park Service concept of park education and naturalist programs.

Yosemite's library was established in 1926 by the Yosemite Museum Association in the museum building, where it remains. It served the Valley community as a general library until the 1930s, when it began to serve the visiting public, scholars, and park staff as a research library.

The slide archive began as an outgrowth of the early park naturalists' programs to provide projected images for educational programs, first in lantern slide formats, then, in the mid-1930s, using 35-millimeter format to take advantage of new color films.

Museum Collection

The National Park Service manages and preserves museum collections to the standards outlined in the NPS-28 Cultural Resources Management Guidelines and the NPS Museum Collections Management Guideline (DO 24, Final). These irreplaceable collections are part of the nationís natural and cultural heritage.

The Yosemite Museum collection includes objects and specimens relating to natural history, flora, fauna, geology, history, fine arts, photography, prints, decorative arts, uniforms and clothing, archeology, and ethnography. Some 1.7 million museum objects have been catalogued. This collection is the documented history of all human and resource interactions within Yosemite National Park, both natural and cultural, and it provides a baseline for resource studies. The ethnographic collection is the largest in the National Park System. The archeology collection serves as the repository for archeological materials excavated in the park. The museum collection has significant value for comparative research purposes.

Individual collections of special significance include:

Photography: This collection includes more than 50,000 images, with an unbroken record from 1859 to the present. They document both the natural and cultural environment and include the works of significant photographers such as Ansel Adams, Carleton Watkins, and Eadweard Muybridge.

Paintings and Prints: The first images of Yosemite Valley seen by the American public, which were done by Thomas Ayres in 1855, are included in this collection. It consists of over 600 paintings and prints and includes works by Thomas Moran, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Hill, and William Keith, along with contemporary interpretations of Yosemite.

Ethnography: The largest and most well-documented collection of its type within the National Park System includes the Schwabacher Collection of Yosemite-area basketry.
It also includes an excellent collection of utilitarian baskets, clothing, and hunting and
gathering implements.

Specimen Collections: Entomology, herbarium, and faunal collections from 1916 to the present are included in this collection. These help establish a baseline for species and geographic distribution within the park.

Archives: Original documents, unpublished manuscripts, and other materials that document the resources and work of the U.S. Army, State of California, National Park Service, and various park concessioners constitute this collection, along with private and corporate papers of individuals and groups important in park history. This collection is used extensively by researchers.

Research Library: The library includes scientific and general works on natural and cultural resources, recreation, and planning. Its history collections are extensive and contain materials on ethnography, the Armyís administration, park operations, innkeepers, concessioners, early settlers, buildings, the Hetch Hetchy Dam, Wawona, the Mariposa Big Tree Grove, roads, trails, place names, geology, plants, animals, boundaries, famous visitors, and American Indians. Early accounts and descriptions are also available, as are guide maps, entrance folders, and information circulars from 1912 to the present. The library has special collections of the Yosemite Nature Notes (1921-1961, 1977-1978) and the American Alpine Club (climbing and mountaineering). There is a large collection of periodicals. The photography collection consists of approximately 18,000 black-and-white photographs and is exceptional for its documentation of Yosemiteís natural, cultural, and scenic resources over time. The natural history observation file records sightings of birds and mammals dating back to 1909. Also included are clipping files, microfilm records, and maps.

Slide Archives: The collection includes a wide variety of subjects such as scenic features, pictorials, physiography, animals, plants, ethnography, history, program aids, studies, and collections over a 60-year time span. It contains 90,000 original images from 1938 to the present. It is used primarily by researchers, park interpreters, and other park staff in preparing programs and doing research.

MERCED WILD AND SCENIC RIVER

Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (Public Law 90-542, as amended) states the following:

Outstandingly Remarkable Values are defined by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act as those resources within a river corridor that are worthy of special protection. These are the values for which a river is added to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act stipulates that these values are to be "protected and enhanced." The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act directs that "the agency charged with the administration of each component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System shall establish detailed boundaries thereof (which boundaries shall include an average of not more than 320 acres per mile on both sides of the river)."

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act directs that "the Federal agency charged with the administration of each component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System shall prepare a comprehensive management plan for such river segment to provide for the protection of the river values. The plan shall address resource protection, development of lands and facilities, user capacities, and other management practices necessary or desirable to achieve the purposes of this Act." The Merced Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management Plan/Final Environmental Impact Statement fulfills this requirement.

The Outstandingly Remarkable Values for segments of the Merced River administered by the National Park Service are listed in Vol. II, Appendix B.

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act directs that designated rivers will be "classified...and administered as one of the following:"

The classifications for segments of the Merced River administered by the National Park Service under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act are discussed below.

1987 Designation of the Merced Wild and Scenic River

Public Law 100-149 (1987) and Public Law 102-432 (1992) placed 122 miles of the Merced River into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. A total of 81 miles of the Merced River is administered by the National Park Service. (This portion of the Merced River is referred to hereafter as the Merced Wild and Scenic River.) The Merced Wild and Scenic River is divided into nine segments, some of which are within the Final Yosemite Valley Plan/SEIS study area, as discussed below. The main stem of the Merced Wild and Scenic River passes through Yosemite Valley (segment 2), through the gorge downstream of Yosemite Valley to the park boundary (segments 3A and 3B), and through the El Portal Administrative Site (segment 4). The Merced Wild and Scenic River South Fork passes through Wawona (segment 7).

Unlike the segments of the Merced Wild and Scenic River, the El Portal segment flows through an area that is managed for different purposes. The El Portal Administrative Site
(72 Stat. 1771) was set aside by Congress in 1958 to:

It was the intent of Congress that these lands be used for administrative and operational purposes to relieve the park of these burdens. Accordingly, the 1980 General Management Plan and the Merced Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management Plan/Final Environmental Impact Statement took the El Portal legislation into consideration in developing goals and management zones for the El Portal Administrative Site.

In January 2000, the National Park Service released the Draft Merced Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement; a final document was released in June 2000. This plan revises Outstandingly Remarkable Values, boundaries, and classifications for the Merced Wild and Scenic River based on the application of new scientific information and changed ecological and hydrological conditions in the river corridor.

Merced Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management Plan/Final Environmental Impact Statement

The Merced Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management Plan is collectively referred to as the Merced River Plan. The purpose of the plan is:

MERCED WILD AND SCENIC RIVER MANAGEMENT ELEMENTS

As a programmatic plan, the Merced River Plan does not specify detailed actions. Instead, it applies management elements to prescribe desired future conditions, typical visitor activities and experiences, and allowed park facilities and management activities in the Merced River corridor. The Merced River Plan applies a consistent set of decision-making criteria and considerations, composed of seven management elements: boundaries, classifications, Outstandingly Remarkable Values, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act Section 7 determination process, the River Protection Overlay, management zones, and the Visitor Experience and Resource Protection framework. These management elements are described briefly below, and in more detail in Vol. II, Appendix B.

The criteria and considerations provide an umbrella management framework for the seven management elements. To apply the management framework to future decisions on specific actions, the National Park Service would use the management elements as a set of decision-making criteria with which to evaluate projects in terms of visitor use, facility siting, and design, and other potential actions in the Merced River corridor. For actions that meet certain mandatory criteria (see Vol. II, Appendix B), the National Park Service would apply additional considerations to further evaluate potential actions.

Boundaries

A quarter-mile boundary is applied to the entire corridor, except in the El Portal Administrative Site. In the El Portal Administrative Site segment (segment 4), the boundary is the 100-year floodplain or the extent of the 100-foot River Protection Overlay (whichever is greater), from the park boundary downstream to the administrative site boundary (see Vol. Ic, plate G-2). (Note: This applies only for lands under National Park Service jurisdiction. The U.S. Forest Service has not delineated a boundary on lands under its jurisdiction along the El Portal segment of the Merced River.)

Classifications

East Yosemite Valley (Nevada Fall to Sentinel Beach), El Portal, and Wawona are classified as "recreational." The recreational classification reflects the current extent of developed areas and facilities in these segments. The impoundment segments (very short segments between Yosemite Valley and the gorge, and on the South Fork above Swinging Bridge) are classified as recreational due to the presence of small dams that interfere with the free-flowing condition of the river. The west Valley and the gorge segments are classified as ìscenic.î

Outstandingly Remarkable Values

As described in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act section above, Outstandingly Remarkable Values are the river-related values that make the river segment unique and worthy of special protection. The Outstandingly Remarkable Values are listed in Vol. II, Appendix B.

Wild and Scenic Rivers Act Section 7 Determination Process

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act Section 7 determination process is a procedure to ensure that water resources projects do not directly and adversely affect the values for which the river was designated Wild and Scenic. "Water resources projects" are those that are within the bed or banks of the Merced River, and the National Park Service must carry out a Section 7 determination on all proposed water resources projects to ensure that they do not directly and adversely affect the values for which the river was designated. The requirements of the Section , determination process can be found in Vol. II, Appendix B.

River Protection Overlay

The Merced River Plan establishes a River Protection Overlay to:

Above 3,800 feet, the River Protection Overlay is 150 feet on both sides of the river, as measured from the ordinary high water mark (defined as the 2.33-year floodplain). Below 3,800 feet, the River Protection Overlay is 100 feet on both sides of the river, as measured from the ordinary high water mark. An illustration of the River Protection Overlay can be found in Vol. Ia, Chapter 2, Alternatives, Actions Common to All Action Alternatives. Prescriptions for the River Protection Overlay can be found in Vol. II, Appendix B, and a graphical depiction of the River Protection Overlay can be found in Vol. Ic, plates G-1, G-2, G-3, and action alternative plates.

Management Zones

The Merced River Plan defines management zones, delineates zone boundaries, and establishes prescriptions for zones within the Merced River corridor. Management zoning is:

The prescriptions for the management zones can be found in Vol. II, Appendix B. The graphical depiction of management zoning for the Merced River Plan can be found in Vol. Ic, plates G-1, G-2, and G-3.

Visitor Experience and Resource Protection Framework

The Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (VERP) framework is a tool developed by the National Park Service to address user capacities and is adopted by the Merced River Plan to meet the requirements of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The VERP framework protects both park resources and visitor experience from impacts associated with visitor use, and helps managers address visitor use issues. The VERP framework (see Vol. II, Appendix B) is an ongoing, iterative process of determining desired conditions,¹ selecting and monitoring indicators and standards that reflect these desired conditions, and taking management action when the desired conditions are not being realized. The implementation of the VERP framework for the Merced River corridor would focus on protecting the Outstandingly Remarkable Values and would dovetail with future implementation of the VERP framework outside the river corridor.

1. "Desired conditions" encompasses desired cultural resource conditions, desired natural resource conditions, and desired visitor experiences.

VISITOR EXPERIENCE

Yosemite National Park, as guided by its enabling legislation and the National Park Service Organic Act of 1916, has two interwoven purposes:

The first is the preservation of the resources that contribute to Yosemite's uniqueness and attractiveness – its exquisite scenic beauty; outstanding wilderness values; a nearly full diversity of Sierra Nevada environments, including the very special sequoia groves; the awesome domes, valleys, polished granites, and other evidences of the geologic processes that formed the Sierra Nevada; historic resources, especially those relating to the beginnings of a national conservation ethic; and evidences of the Indians who lived on the land. The second purpose is to make the varied resources of Yosemite available to people for their individual enjoyment, education, and recreation, now and in the future. (1980 General Management Plan)

Visitor Use

While the 1980 General Management Plan was being developed, about 2.4 million people were visiting Yosemite National Park each year. Now, visitation approaches 4 million people annually, each person looking for individualized enjoyment, education, and/or recreation in an increasingly crowded park. In 1998, an estimated 2.1 million visitors entered Yosemite Valley.

To evaluate how successful the park is in achieving its purposes, a comprehensive survey of park visitors was undertaken in 1990 and 1991, in the midst of this period of extraordinary growth in visitation (Gramann 1992). That survey indicated that 73.7% of summer visitors traveling in their own vehicles visited Yosemite Valley; during other seasons this number climbed to 96%. Almost every bus (bringing about 8.5% of all 1990-1991 visitors) visited the Valley. Another survey of park users arriving by automobiles was conducted throughout 1998 by the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation Strategy (Nelson\Nygaard 1998b). Though conducted for different purposes, this study confirmed that the 1990-1991 visitation patterns are still accurate today. In 1998, about 80% of all visitors to Yosemite National Park traveling in their own vehicles visited Yosemite Valley.

Day visitors coming to Yosemite Valley by private vehicle stayed an average of 4.2 hours, while visitors with overnight accommodations stayed an average of 2.7 days (Gramann 1992). The lengths of stay were not found to be significantly different among weekday or weekend visitors. Campground and lodging room stays are limited to 7 days in Yosemite Valley, and many campers stay the full 7 days.

A free shuttle bus service is provided in the east Valley and served about 2.6 million riders in 1998. Twenty-one stops provide access to lodging, camping, and principal features and use areas. Camp 4 (Sunnyside Campground) is the westernmost stop on Northside Drive, and Sentinel Bridge is the westernmost stop servicing the south side of the Merced River. About 45% of Valley visitors reported using the shuttle buses, and over 90% of those visitors reported a satisfactory experience (Gramann 1992). No shuttle service is provided to west Valley locations. The park concessioner offers scheduled one-way or round-trip shuttle/tours in Yosemite Valley and to Tuolumne Meadows, the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, and Glacier Point (convenient for hikers wishing to hike one way to or from Yosemite Valley). No other in-park shuttle service from Yosemite Valley is available in summer. The park concessioner offers a free shuttle to the Badger Pass ski area from Yosemite Valley in the winter.

Only a small number of Yosemite Valley shuttle buses are outfitted to accommodate visitors with mobility impairments, particularly wheelchair users. Approximately 4% of visitor groups arriving by private vehicle included a person with impaired mobility, compared to nearly 14% of those arriving by bus (Gramann 1992). To provide maximum accessibility, visitors with mobility impairments arriving by private vehicle may obtain a vehicle placard at visitor centers and entrance stations that authorizes their use of designated parking spaces at major features and facilities in the Valley. The placard also permits limited use of the Happy Isles Loop Road and the Mirror Lake Road to gain access to designated parking spaces at Mirror Lake and Happy Isles.

Due to characteristics inherent in the natural environment and the desire to maintain natural areas free of development and roads, all-inclusive access to Yosemite Valley features is not available. Even the closest parking spaces and shuttle bus stops are often some distance from popular vistas or pedestrian destinations. The Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines for natural areas are still under development. When available, these guidelines would be used to direct specific actions implemented under the proposed alternatives. All buses acquired for use in park shuttle services in the future would meet existing guidelines for accessibility.

PARK VISITATION

Visitation to Yosemite increased steadily from 1990 through 1996. As a result of the January 1997 flood, which disrupted access to the park and damaged many overnight lodging and camping facilities, visitation decreased. Approximately 3.8 million visitors entered Yosemite National Park in 1998, and 3.6 million in 1999.

Figure 3-1 shows visitation to Yosemite National Park during 1998. To represent variations in seasonal use of the park, two months were selected for more in-depth analysis. April was chosen to represent typical off-peak season demand, when there are fewer visitors and less traffic in the park; August was chosen to represent peak-season demand. Roughly half of park visitors arrive during July, August, and September. The increased number of both day and overnight visitors creates the yearís highest demand for private vehicle circulation and parking.

VALLEY VISITATION

In 1998, an estimated 2.1 million visitors came to the Valley. The number of visitors varied by month in a pattern similar to parkwide visitation, as shown in figure 3-2. More than 50% of the total annual visitors came to the Valley in July and August.

April was selected as a representative month for the off-peak season because it has a moderate level of visitation. Daily visitation in April averaged 7,624, substantially lower than in the peak season. July and August were selected to represent typically busy months for the peak season. Daily visitor use in Yosemite Valley averaged 17,496 in August 1998. On an average day during the Valley's peak visitation season, an estimated 10,950 day visitors and 6,383 overnight visitors were in the Valley for at least a portion of the day.

A significant number of past visitors to Yosemite National Park no longer visit Yosemite or have changed the timing of their visits to avoid the busiest summer season. As part of the 1990-1991 visitor survey, a telephone survey of Californians was conducted (Gramann 1992). About 43% of respondents who had previously visited Yosemite said that crowding was a deterrent to a future visit to Yosemite. Of visitors surveyed in the park, more than 60% of off-season visitors arriving in private vehicles responded that they had planned Yosemite trips to avoid crowds; about 41% of off-season bus passengers reported the same motivation. Other park visitors responded that they avoid Yosemite Valley during busy periods.

The Yosemite Experience

For many visitors, driving through the park is the primary means for experiencing the spectacular views. Even during the peak visitation season, travelers on park roads outside Yosemite Valley encounter only minor congestion, except at key activity areas and at park entrance stations. As a result, driving into the park is usually a pleasurable experience, contributing to visitors' enjoyment of the park. The ability to make informal stops along park roads to take advantage of the unique and varied scenery contributes to each visitor's opportunity to experience the park on his or her own terms. Some visitors, depending on season and arrival time, have had opportunities to stop en route at small visitor contact stations, or if entering via the Tioga Road and Highway 120 from the east, at the Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center.

From the Big Oak Flat and South Entrance Stations, the drive into the park has a dense forest setting broken by occasional views to the west and clearings caused by recent forest fires. From the Arch Rock Entrance visitors travel through the narrow canyon of the Merced River along a winding road. The trip is highlighted by large granite boulders and views of the river. Tioga Road offers broad alpine views of meadows, domes, distant peaks, and Tenaya Lake. Exfoliating granite surfaces along the Tioga Road provide a unique view of the geologic processes at work in Yosemite. Approaching Yosemite Valley from the north and south, visitors are afforded views from above the lower canyon of the Merced River. Tunnel View is a major viewpoint of Yosemite Valley located at the east end of the Wawona Tunnel on Wawona Road. Because the tall, dense trees in the Valley hide the ribbon-like roads from Tunnel View, there is little or no evidence of human influence. Tunnel View also offers a spectacular panorama, with Bridalveil Fall and El Capitan in the foreground and the granite domes and cliffs of the east end of the Valley in the background.

THE YOSEMITE VALLEY EXPERIENCE

Visitor experiences in Yosemite Valley are highly individualized. Some come simply to see Yosemite's icons – its waterfalls and geologic features. Others visit to experience a place they've found unique, for personal challenges, timelessness, a place and pace different from their day-to-day experiences, or a personal connection with the grandeur or intricacies of Yosemite Valley. The Valley provides a transition zone – a place neither urban nor wilderness, but with elements of both. The continuum of visitor experiences extends from highly social to isolated, from independent to directed, from spontaneous to controlled, from easy to challenging, and from natural to more urban.

Because of its limited facilities and access, many of the Valley's more natural experiences are found in the west Valley. Except for roads and turnouts, visitor facilities in most of the west Valley are sparse compared to the east Valley. A hiking and stock trail loops around the Valley perimeter, but bicyclists have access to the west Valley only by sharing roads with motor vehicles (see Vol. Ic, plate 1-1). A concessioner-operated tram/bus tour provides narrated tours of the entire Valley for a fee, but the free shuttle bus system serves only the east Valley. Quiet, an important characteristic of a quality visit for many visitors, is sometimes difficult to find, as roads carry traffic on both sides of the Merced River for nearly the entire length of the Valley. As the number of park visitors and cars decreases in the off-season, it becomes easier to find quiet and solitude in the Valley.

When they reach the Valley floor, many visitors experience a sense of arrival as they pass through the Bridalveil Fall area on Southside Drive, where they encounter spectacular views of the sheer walls of El Capitan. Beyond this point, visitors making through-trips from south to north, turn back to the west across El Capitan crossover to reach the Big Oak Flat Road beyond the west end of the Valley. The sense of arrival that some visitors associate with a visitor center is not easily available due to the visitor centerís east Valley location and lack of adjacent parking. Limited roadside parking is provided at popular views and adjacent to many features along Southside Drive, the route to the east Valley. During heavy use periods, these parking areas may fill by midday.

First-time visitors are likely to follow road signs to the primary day-visitor parking area at Camp 6. Many visitors drive directly to desired destinations in anticipation of finding parking nearby, and from there proceed to the next desired location, creating their own driving tour of the Valley. Other visitors find it convenient to park adjacent to the east Valley shuttle bus route and continue on to various destinations by shuttle and on foot. Some visitors tour all of Yosemite Valley by car, using turnouts and parking areas for viewing, but park only at one or two locations to use facilities or walk to get a closer look at a feature. Many visitors, particularly first-time visitors, seek out the visitor center in Yosemite Village as a place to plan the remainder of their Valley or park recreational experience.

Once in the Valley, drivers often spend time negotiating the road system, searching for parking, and maneuvering through congested areas. The vehicle-dominated character of much of the developed portion of the Valley can detract from scenic views and the natural environment that visitors come to Yosemite to enjoy. Once out of their cars, the sight and sound of vehicles continue to affect visitorsí experiences.

Visitors arriving by commercial bus are often provided a bus tour of the Valley and an opportunity to get off the bus and explore, on their own or as a group. Buses use many of the same turnouts and parking areas as private vehicles. Buses park at the Lower Yosemite Fall parking area when they are empty.

A Restricted Access Plan has been occasionally implemented on the heaviest visitation days. When certain criteria (lack of parking spaces, long delays at intersections, etc.) are met and adequate staff are available, access to the Valley is temporarily restricted on Southside Drive at El Capitan crossover. Day visitors are directed to continue out of Yosemite Valley via the one-way loop using Northside Drive. When criteria indicate that the displacement of these visitors from Yosemite Valley would create crowding at other park destinations, the Restricted Access Plan is implemented parkwide. In this case, day visitors are turned around at park entrance gates and suggested to return in several hours. In 1995, access was restricted on all weekend days but one between May 20 and July 2. Because personnel were not available, access was not restricted in late July and August, despite higher traffic volumes (also see the discussion of the Restricted Access Plan under the Transportation section in this chapter).

Orientation and Interpretation

Visitors to Yosemite National Park can use park and other information resources to plan their visits. Yosemite's web site provides information about park lodging and activities, and the park's public information office mails pre-visit materials to those requesting them by phone or mail. The Yosemite Association also offers an interactive web site, allowing more in-depth orientation, and sells other interpretive resources. The park also provides assistance (updated information, publications, and seasonal staffing) to local, multi-agency visitor centers where visitors can stop en route. Once at park entrance stations, visitors receive free park publications with trip and activity planning information. During the busiest visitation periods, contact stations in Wawona and Big Oak Flat are staffed to provide additional assistance. A small visitor center is open during the summer in Tuolumne Meadows to introduce the area to visitors traveling on Tioga Road. Each of these facilities provides a selection of helpful park guidebooks and other resources sold by the Yosemite Association.

The park's principal visitor center is located in Yosemite Valley. Built during an era when most Yosemite visitors spent at least one night in Yosemite Valley, it is situated in Yosemite Village at the eastern end of the Valley, where it is most easily used by the Valleyís overnight guests. It is here that many first-time visitors expect to find assistance in planning their visits. However, the Valley Visitor Center is a mile from one of the day-visitor parking areas used by many first-time day visitors. This visitor center is the only venue for the parkwide orientation audiovisual program.

Wilderness users find information and trip planning assistance at wilderness centers in Tuolumne Meadows and in Yosemite Valley near the visitor center.

Wayfinding methods for visitors in the Valley are limited. Road signs lead to the day-visitor parking area at Camp 6. From there, visitors may board a shuttle bus, rely on maps received at the park entrance station, or get information from a small seasonal information station. A shuttle bus stop is nearby, but this stop and others throughout the Valley are not easily found. Many trails in the Valley are marked with directional and mileage signs, but a general knowledge of the locations of these destinations is often necessary to use them. Elements of a new road and trail sign system have been installed and are being tested in the Upper and Lower Pines Campgrounds area.

INTERPRETIVE FACILITIES

Interpretation is provided to park visitors in the form of walks, talks, evening programs, exhibits, school programs, etc. Several interpretive facilities are located in Yosemite Village. The Valley Visitor Center offers a parkwide orientation audiovisual program; exhibits on geology, waterfalls, history, and wildlife; and an interpretive publications sales outlet operated by the Yosemite Association. In the visitor center's auditoriums, the Yosemite Association offers interpretive "Yosemite Theater" performances, and other interpretive partners (the Yosemite Institute and The Ansel Adams Gallery) conduct programs for school groups and other visitors.

The Yosemite Museum (with an Indian cultural exhibit, changing art exhibits, and a museum shop), the re-created Indian Village of Ahwahnee (with demonstrations and exhibits), and a small informal amphitheater/gathering area are situated near the visitor center. The Yosemite Cemetery, near the museum, provides an opportunity to interpret the early history of Yosemite through tours and publications. The park's research library and portions of the museum collection storage are located in the Museum Building. The research library is open to the public and is used by visitors as well as park staff and professional researchers. The Wilderness Center, where visitors can learn about Yosemiteís wilderness and plan backpacking trips or day hikes, and the Art Activity Center, where visitors can take free art classes with visiting artists (in summer), are also located in Yosemite Village. The Art Activity Center is operated jointly by the Yosemite Association, Yosemite Concession Services Corporation, and the National Park Service. The Ansel Adams Gallery also offers Yosemite-related art exhibits.

Outside Yosemite Village, interpretive facilities include amphitheaters at Yosemite Lodge, Curry Village, and Lower Pines Campground, where interpreters provide evening programs. An amphitheater in the former Lower Rivers Campground is no longer used. Two smaller, informal amphitheaters are located at the LeConte Memorial Lodge and near Happy Isles. The LeConte Memorial Lodge amphitheater has fallen into disrepair. The Junior Ranger firecircle near Happy Isles is used primarily for the Junior Ranger program along with Yosemite Institute and Yosemite Association evening interpretive programs. Indoor facilities are used for interpretive programs at Yosemite Lodge and The Ahwahnee, which also houses exhibits on Yosemite's recreation history and American Indian culture.

The LeConte Memorial Lodge, near Housekeeping Camp, is operated by the Sierra Club in partnership with the park's Division of Interpretation. The memorial lodge has exhibits on Joseph LeConte, John Muir, and the Sierra Club, plus childrenís exhibits and a library.

The Nature Center at Happy Isles offers hands-on exhibits for children and adults on the lesser-seen aspects of Yosemite Valley, particularly its wildlife and river environment.

Outside exhibits are provided on trails, at features, and at roadside turnouts throughout Yosemite Valley. They are clustered in developed areas such as Happy Isles and along accessible trails such as Mirror Lake. About 25% of visitors reported using exhibits or museums during their visit (Gramann 1992).

INTERPRETIVE PROGRAMS

Interpretive programs are offered to the public by a number of organizations in partnership with the National Park Service. Park rangers offer free walks originating near the visitor center, Happy Isles, at shuttle bus stops, and in the Indian Village of Ahwahnee; evening programs at campground and lodging amphitheaters; school group programs; and talks at popular features such as the trail to Lower Yosemite Fall. The Yosemite Association offers an annual series of in-depth seminars about Yosemiteís natural features and history, theater presentations, information desk assistance, and sales of interpretive publications. The Yosemite Institute offers week-long residential field science programs in the Valley for schools, and environmental education programs for other organizations. Yosemite Concession Services Corporation, the park's primary concessioner, offers motorized tours of Yosemite Valley and the park, guided equestrian rides, free evening amphitheater programs, and interpretive walks. It also operates a mountaineering school. The Sierra Club offers walks and children's programs from LeConte Memorial Lodge. The Ansel Adams Gallery offers photography walks, tours of the gallery, and a film.

About 75% of auto passengers and 61% of bus users reported that they were aware of these programs. While 85% of these expressed interest in attending interpretive programs, only about 15% actually did. Another or overlapping 10% of visitors arriving by private vehicles also took a bus tour in the park. Only 4% of day visitors who knew about the programs actually attended. Those surveyed who were unable to attend a program reported that they did not have time or were not in the Valley when evening programs were given (Gramann 1992).

Recreation

Most visitor activities in Yosemite Valley take place in the developed eastern end and along trails leading from these areas to features above the Valley floor. The east Valley is the location of all Yosemite Valley visitor accommodations, campgrounds, and major facilities and services provided by the National Park Service and concessioners. Many visitors drive along the Southside Drive/Northside Drive loop to tour the features of the west Valley, and some visitors bicycle or walk to west Valley destinations. Picnic facilities in the mid- and west Valley are also popular destinations.

Many recreational opportunities are directly dependent on the attributes of the Valley; others can be experienced in many other places. In the 1990-1991 visitor study, respondents were asked to identify the activities that any party member had participated in while in the park.
(The survey solicited responses specifically regarding the most popular recreational activities and provided an opportunity to add ìotherî activities to the list. Other activities were not listed in quantities large enough to make the data meaningful, and no percentage of participation by visitors was provided for those activities.) The ability to sit or stand quietly is basic to the park experience. Artistic pursuits are also fundamental to the enjoyment of Yosemite Valley. Bird and animal observation and nature study are also popular (Gramann 1992).

SIGHTSEEING

About 90% of visitor groups reported sightseeing as a popular activity. Approximately 60% of visitor parties took photographs, and more than half reported nature study as an element of their trips. Many park visitors not actually visiting the Valley come into contact with its scenery, particularly those sightseeing at Glacier and Washburn Points and from viewpoints along the Wawona and the Big Oak Flat Roads.

WALKING, HIKING, AND BICYCLING

Walking and hiking are popular activities in the Valley, from a short stroll to the base of Yosemite Falls to a 17-mile round-trip day hike to the top of Half Dome. About 35 miles of hiking trails are available on the Yosemite Valley floor; approximately 22 miles are shared with horseback riders and 12 miles are shared with bicyclists. A leg of the Valley Loop Trail between Curry Village and Sentinel Bridge is shared with both bicyclists and horseback riders. There are several walking loops in the eastern end of the Valley, and two loops in the western end: between Swinging Bridge and the El Capitan Bridge, and between El Capitan Bridge and Pohono Bridge. In the summer, 44% of visitors arriving in their own car (and 32% of bus passengers) reported that they took day hikes.

Multiple trails lead from the Valley floor to wilderness areas above, the most popular being the Mist and John Muir Trails alongside the Merced River; the Upper Yosemite Fall Trail; and the Four Mile Trail to Glacier Point. Each of these is also popular for backpackers starting multi-day trips into Yosemite's wilderness and beyond. More than 6% of summer visitors backpack during their visit. Additional trails skirt the rim of Yosemite Valley above the Valley floor. Trailheads in the Valley are crowded, and backpackers must wait until they move beyond the range of day hikers to experience solitude and views. Even then, the human-made environment dominates many views into the Valley. Except for the Four Mile Trail, day visitors begin to thin as the trails switch back beyond the lowest elevation features.

Walkers and day hikers can circumnavigate the Valley using the Valley Loop Trail. A trail network provides multiple routes between the Happy Isles/Mirror Lake area and Yosemite Village. Self-guiding interpretive trails are at Mirror Lake, Cook's Meadow near Yosemite Village, and in the Indian Village of Ahwahnee. A multi-use (bicycle and pedestrian) trail links Yosemite Lodge to the Happy Isles area on both sides of the Merced River. Paved trails are approved for use by visitors with pets. Fewer than 2% of visitors traveling in their own vehicles travel with pets. Multiple uses on paved trails often result in congestion, especially in Yosemite Village.

No specific trail guides are provided for Valley floor trails, except for the self-guiding trails in Cook's Meadow and the Indian Village of Ahwahnee. Several other trails have outdoor exhibits to interpret features along the way.

Bicycling

Bicycling is a common means for enjoying and exploring Yosemite Valley. About 11% of visitor parties included bicycling in their activities while in the park, mostly in Yosemite Valley. The park concessioner rents bicycles and trailers by the hour and day. About 45,000 bicycles were rented in 1998. Many visitors, particularly overnight users, bring their own bicycles to the Valley. No publications are available for bicycle touring; however, a few outdoor exhibits are available along some trails and at popular destinations.

Bicycles are allowed only on paved trails and roads. More than 12 miles of multi-use bicycle trails have been constructed in Yosemite Valley. All of these trails are shared with hikers, and a few small segments are also shared with horseback riders. Some road segments, such as Happy Isles Loop Road and Mirror Lake Road, are closed to most vehicle traffic and provide relatively safe bicycle access. No bicycle trails exist in the west Valley; bicyclists must share the narrow and often-crowded Northside and Southside Drives with motor vehicles.

Lower Yosemite Fall

Yosemite Falls is the most famous, most accessible, and most popular destination in the Valley. The falls are visited by more than 2 million people each year. Two trails lead from the Lower Yosemite Fall parking area to the base of the lower fall. The most direct route is paved, wide, and generally straight. The second is less known, unpaved, and winds through the wooded area between the main trail and the National Park Service housing area to the east, crossing the braided stream via several bridges, and joining the Valley Loop Trail just before it reaches the bridge at the base of Yosemite Falls. An additional trail segment—part of the Valley Loop Trail—veers west from the main trail and leads to the Upper Yosemite Fall Trail trailhead. While the main trail leads directly to the falls, wayfinding along the eastern trail to the base of the falls is poor. A few outdoor exhibits discuss the falls and American Indian history associated with the area. Accessibility to the base of the falls for visitors in wheelchairs does not meet standards in the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities on either trail. At the base of the fall, a platform and bridge crossing Yosemite Creek are used for viewing. A 1998 study of the Lower Yosemite Fall Trail and viewing area assessed visitorsí perceptions and tolerance of crowding. While the number of people on the trail was not seen as a major problem, respondents were less tolerant of the number of people they encountered at the viewing area.

CLIMBING

Yosemite Valley's granite walls draw thousands of climbers from around the world each year. Climbing in the Valley includes wilderness/adventure climbing, traditional climbing, big wall climbing, recreational climbing, sport climbing, speed climbing, bouldering, big drop rappelling, and free solo climbing. The concessioner offers a mountaineering school in the Valley. Camp 4 (Sunnyside Campground), near popular climbing routes and features, serves as an unofficial climbers' camp. The camp is also shared by other campers and is the Valley's only first-come, first-served campground. Climbers often stage their trips (equipment preparation and parking) in turnouts near the start of their climbs. Because of the proximity of popular climbing walls to Valley roads and turnouts, climbing observation has also become a popular visitor activity.

STOCK USE

Horse use in Yosemite Valley includes private stock users and concessioner trail rides. Many private stock users stage their activities from the concessioner stable, where they can also board their stock overnight. There is no horse camp in Yosemite Valley, but camps are available seasonally in Tuolumne Meadows, Wawona, Bridalveil Campground, and Hetch Hetchy. About 14,000 visitors take concessioner-guided trail rides originating at the Yosemite Valley stable each year. The great majority of these are two-hour trips in the eastern end of the Valley, while about 2,500 trips are led up the Vernal and Nevada Falls corridor. These rides also offer an opportunity for individuals with mobility impairments to experience the wilderness, starting from Yosemite Valley. In the 1990-1991 visitor survey, about 9% of summer parties arriving in private vehicles and about 3% of summer bus riders rode horses while in the park. Guided horse trips are also available in Tuolumne Meadows and Wawona.

PICNICKING

Picnicking is popular in Yosemite Valley. This includes tailgate picnics at parking spots, lunch on riverside boulders or a bench near the visitor center, and automobile-based picnicking with grills, charcoal, and coolers. Nearly 20% of 1990-1991 study respondents reported that their parties picnicked in a picnic area during their visit. There are four formal picnic areas in Yosemite Valley: Cathedral Beach, Sentinel Beach, El Capitan, and Swinging Bridge (see Vol. Ic, plate 1-1). Church Bowl, near Yosemite Village, is also outfitted with picnic tables. Some picnickers also use outdoor seating associated with concessioner food service facilities. Many easily accessible stretches of the Merced River in the Valley, especially if there are turnouts or wide shoulders for parking nearby, have become informal but heavily used picnic areas.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Tennis is available on the courts at The Ahwahnee.

Winter activities include, but are not limited to, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Most ski routes follow summer trails or traverse the Valley's open meadows. The Valley sometimes has little or no snow for long periods. Ice-skating is available at a concessioner-operated rink at Curry Village and is popular in the winter among both visitors and residents. Skate rentals and lessons are available, as are cross-country ski rentals. Yosemite Valley also serves as a primary lodging center for visitors pursuing winter recreation in other park areas, particularly the Badger Pass downhill and cross-country ski area.

Rafting on the Merced River has grown in popularity with Valley visitors since the early 1980s; in the mid-1980s, the concessioner was authorized to rent rafts and provide transportation for rafters. About 10% of summer visitor groups who arrived in a private vehicle rafted during their visit. The Merced River is closed to rafting when water volume presents a greater than normal hazard. Due to both safety and resource degradation concerns, rafting use has been restricted to limited sections of the Merced River in recent years. Kayaks are also occasionally used on the river. A substantial amount of rafting and kayaking also takes place on the Merced River adjacent to the El Portal Administrative Site.

Swimming in the Merced River, Tenaya Creek, and Mirror Lake is popular among summer visitors in Yosemite Valley. About 25% of summer parties swam during their visit. Sections of the river with easy access from lodging areas, campgrounds, and day-visitor areas are most often used. Two public pools, at Yosemite Lodge and Curry Village, and a guest pool at The Ahwahnee, are also popular.

Fishing requires a state license, available in shops in the Valley, and is popular during the state's season from April through mid-November. The Merced River in Yosemite Valley is a "Special Regulation Area," allowing only catch-and-release fishing for rainbow trout (normal limits on brown trout) and no bait fishing. About 10% of summer visitor groups who arrived in a private vehicle (compared to 0% of bus riders) reported fishing while in the park.

TOURS

A variety of tours is available for visitors choosing to explore Yosemite by means other than private vehicles. Services are provided by Yosemite Transportation System, which is operated by the park concessioner. Several tour routes originate from lodging facilities in Yosemite Valley. Brief descriptions of these services are included below:

Visitor Services

OVERNIGHT USE

Table 3-15 presents a summary of existing campsites in Yosemite Valley, and table 3-16 presents a summary of existing lodging units in the Valley.

The number of overnight visitors in the Valley on peak-season weekends can be estimated by applying an average party size to the available overnight accommodations. The 1980 General Management Plan applied an average party size of 3.17 people for lodging rooms and 4 people for regular campsites. An estimated 348 backpackers use Yosemite Valley as a base for wilderness trips on a typically busy day. This total includes backpackers beginning or ending a trip in the Valley, and those that are in wilderness areas reached from the Valley. Including backpackers, the total overnight population of the Valley and its related wilderness areas on typically busy days is estimated to be 6,731 people.

The average length of stay for overnight visitors is estimated to be 2.7 nights. As a result, on an average day about 37% of the rooms and campsites turn over, and about 37% of the backpackers leave and are replaced by new backpackers. On a typically busy day, about 2,363 new overnight visitors arrive and begin their stay in the Valley.

The 1980 General Management Plan established a level of 10,530 day visitors to the Valley and 7,711 overnight visitors, for a total of 18,241 visitors per day. Based on 1998 traffic counts and estimates of the share of traffic represented by visitors, the number of day visitors during the busiest July and August weekends in 1998 exceeded that level; overnight use was less because fewer campsites and lodging units are available in the Valley than were available before the 1997 flood.

Camping

Camping in Yosemite Valley is provided in six campgrounds with a total of 475 campsites. Three campgrounds are on a reservation system through the National Park Reservation Service; one (Camp 4 [Sunnyside Campground]) is a first-come, first-served campground. Backpackers Campground is reserved for pre- and post-trip nights for wilderness permit holders, and Yellow Pine is a National Park Service volunteer campground. Camping demand is high, and campgrounds are full most days between May and September. No group camp is available in Yosemite Valley. (Prior to the January 1997 flood, when flooding and subsequent cleanup actions removed 374 campsites, a total of 849 campsites, including group sites, were available in Yosemite Valley. These campsites were usually full from May through September.)

About 37,000 reservations are made for Valley campgrounds each year, 33,000 for dates between May and September. About 27% of the 1990-1991 parties arriving by private vehicle in the summer reported camping while in the park (Gramann 1992). Of these, about 15% were recreational vehicle users. Tent camping decreased and recreational vehicle camping increased slightly in other seasons.

Each public campground (except backpackers) has a check-in station. Except for Backpackers Campground and Camp 4 (Sunnyside Campground), which accommodate only walk-in campers, little segregation of user types occurs in the campgrounds. Recreational vehicle users, car/tent campers, and others are adjacent to each other in closely spaced sites. Site boundaries are generally not designated, resulting in little separation between campers.

The Valley campgrounds have no public recreational vehicle hookups. The recreational vehicle dump station is located at the Upper Pines Campground entrance. At Camp 4 (Sunnyside Campground), to accommodate the first-come, first-served demand, campers share with other parties up to the maximum of six people per campsite. Pets are allowed in the Lower Pines, North Pines, and Upper Pines Campgrounds. Upper Pines Campground, along with Camp 4 (Sunnyside Campground), is open all year. Two vehicles per campsite are allowed for each of the drive-in campgrounds. Three vehicles per site are estimated for Camp 4 (Sunnyside Campground), and one vehicle per site for Backpackers Campground. Showers are available to campers for a fee at Curry Village. There is a 30-day annual limit on camping in the park, and a seven-day limit in Yosemite Valley from May to mid-September.

Lodging

A total of 1,260 lodging units are provided at Yosemite Lodge, The Ahwahnee, Curry Village, and Housekeeping Camp (see table 3-16). A full range of lodging accommodations are provided (as prescribed in the 1980 General Management Plan and the 1992 Concession Services Plan), from both experiential and economic perspectives. A total of 691 units are rustic, 181 are economy, 265 are mid-scale, and 123 are deluxe. No pets are allowed in concessioner lodgings units.

Reservation requests, occupancy rates, and requests for changes in units have indicated a strong visitor preference for units with private baths.

Housekeeping Camp

All units at Housekeeping Camp are rustic. Housekeeping Camp offers 264 tent cabin units, a small camp store, and a laundry and shower facility. Unlike other Valley lodgings, food preparation is allowed in these facilities.

Curry Village

Historic Curry Village offers cabins with and without private baths, tent cabins, and lodge units in Stoneman Lodge, for a total of 628 rustic, economy, and mid-scale units. Food service is offered in the cafeteria and fast-food outlets. Other facilities include a small grocery store with camping supplies and gifts, bike rental, swimming pool, ice-skating rink, post office, a mountain sport shop, information and reservations buildings, and employee housing.

Yosemite Lodge

Yosemite Lodge currently contains 245 mid-scale motel and cottage units (units damaged by the January 1997 flood have been removed). In addition, there is a registration center, two restaurants, a cafeteria, a bar, a gift and general merchandise store, a specialty gift shop, bike rental, swimming pool, post office, and post-flood temporary employee housing.

The Ahwahnee

The Ahwahnee, a National Historic Landmark, provides 123 deluxe hotel rooms and cottages. Visitor services include a dining room, a snack shop, a gift shop, and a bar. Adjacent are employee tent cabins and a dormitory.

DAY VISITORS

The number of day visitors in the Valley varies more than the number of overnight visitors. On a typically busy day, an estimated 13,950 day visitors come to the Valley. Day visitors are not all in the Valley at one time. Visitor surveys indicate that day visitors stay an average of 4.2 hours (Gramman 1992). About 4,677 day visitors are estimated to be in the Valley at one time on busy summer weekends, based on traffic counts for cars entering and exiting the Valley. In contrast to peak visitation days, the estimated average number of day visitors to the Valley in July and August is 10,950 per day, or about the same as the day-visitor limit set in the General Management Plan. About 4,022 day visitors are in the Valley at one time on the average day.

On the busiest summer weekends, an estimated total of 20,337 people visit Yosemite Valley. This includes an estimated 13,950 day visitors and 6,387 overnight visitors. On average summer days, the estimated total visitation to the Valley is 17,337 people. This includes about 10,950 day visitors and 6,387 overnight visitors. Visitation to the Valley declines significantly in the off-season. On average days in April, an estimated 6,940 visitors come to Yosemite Valley. Of the total, 4,400 are estimated to be day visitors. About 4,400 visitors enter the Valley for the first time on an average day in April, while 941 have stayed overnight in the Valley.

OTHER FACILITIES AND SERVICES

While in the park, about 35% of visitors arriving by private vehicle eat at a sit-down restaurant, 30% eat at a fast-food establishment, 30% buy groceries, 15% purchase books, 30% shop for souvenirs, and 15% shop for clothes. Except for grocery shopping, these percentages all increase for bus passengers (Gramann 1992).

Yosemite Village is the core area for most of the development and day use in the Valley. In addition to National Park Service and concessioner interpretive, housing, administrative, and maintenance facilities, the Village includes The Ansel Adams Gallery, the Art Activity Center, the main Yosemite National Park post office, Degnanís delicatessen (and gift shop), the Village Store complex, an ATM and check-cashing facility, and the Village Garage, which is open to visitors.

There is no service station in the Valley. The service station near Yosemite Lodge was removed after the January 1997 flood in anticipation of Yosemite Lodge redevelopment.

A medical and dental clinic is located near Yosemite Village. The clinic operates an ambulance service and provides general and emergency medical service to visitors and residents. At Happy Isles, a snack stand is operated out of a temporary facility near the shuttle bus stop and restrooms during the busy season. A previous snack stand was located closer to the nature center, but was destroyed by the rockfall of 1996.

The concessioner stable occupies seven acres between the Merced River and Tenaya Creek, adjacent to North Pines Campground. The facility includes a harness shop, blacksmith shop, corral, dog kennel, and employee housing.

Night Sky

Natural darkness and the night sky play an important part in the overall visitor experience. The natural darkness of Yosemite Valley provides outstanding opportunities for stargazing and observing the moon and star light by the Valley's walls. However, visitor safety and security in the park after dark are also accommodated. The National Park Service provides lighting in developed areas to assure a safe and healthful environment for visitors and employees.

The Valley floor is extremely dark at night, largely due to the Valley walls and limited sky exposure. Unlike urban or suburban settings, there is essentially no ambient light. Other locations, such as Wawona, share this low level of ambient lighting. There is no lighting for roads in the Valley other than car headlights.

Those who are wayfinding at night must rely upon signs and prominent natural features, as there are no poles or "beacons" of light to delineate roads or parking areas.

Developed areas in Yosemite Valley lighted at night are Curry Village, Yosemite Village, The Ahwahnee, and Yosemite Lodge. Other lighting is incidental and very specific, such as at restroom doors in campgrounds or to illuminate an exhibit at the Nature Center. El Portal, Wawona, and Foresta are small rural communities, intermittently equipped with night lighting, with the greatest extent being at the Wawona Hotel. There are a handful of lighting situations in Yosemite Valley that introduce light trespass (i.e., where light intended to illuminate one area illuminates other areas nearby) and light pollution (i.e., outdoor lighting that emits stray light upwards, illuminating clouds, dust, and other airborne matter and obscuring the night sky) (Pacific Lightworks 1997).

TRANSPORTATION

Highway Access to Yosemite

Private or rental vehicles and chartered tour buses are the major modes of transportation to the park, through one of four primary entrance routes (see Vol. Ic, plates A and B). Highways 140 and 120 provide access from the west. Highway 140 connects to Highway 99, a principal north-south highway about 70 miles from the park at Merced, and travels through the gateway community of Mariposa on its route to the park. San Francisco and Sacramento lie within three to four hours travel time of Yosemite, with the most direct access via Highway 120, which intersects with Highway 99 north of Modesto. Travelers on Highway 120 pass through the gateway community of Groveland en route to the park. The most direct southern access to the park is from Fresno along Highway 41. Travel time from Fresno to the park entrance is approximately 90 minutes. Travelers along Highway 41 pass through the gateway communities of Oakhurst and Fish Camp en route to Yosemite. Travelers from the east rely on Highway 120 as the exclusive access route. Highway 120 connects to Highway 395 at Lee Vining, about 15 miles from the Tioga Pass Entrance Station. This eastern access route is closed during the winter. Reno, Nevada is the closest major city to the park along Highway 395.

Each state highway leading into Yosemite is a paved, primarily two-lane road originally built to carry traffic over mountainous terrain at moderate to high speeds. All of the park entrance routes are characterized by segments of steep grades, winding curves, and narrower sections as they approach the park. Outside the park boundary, Highway 140 passes through Mariposa, where narrow lanes and crossing traffic can cause congestion. The town of Oakhurst has historically been a congestion point for traffic along Highway 41, south of Yosemite. Proposals have been presented for widening the road to four lanes from north of Fresno to Oakhurst. The proposed improvements would have little impact on road capacity to the park, because significant speed and capacity constraints exist along the section of road between Oakhurst and the park entrance. As it approaches the west side of the park, Highway 120 passes through the historic town of Groveland; narrow lanes and local traffic cause some congestion on the highway. The east entrance into the park from Highway 120 East offers relatively efficient access for traffic.

Congestion is a recurring problem at all of the park entrance gates during high visitation days. The Big Oak Flat Entrance could be expanded at its present location, but the Tioga Pass, Arch Rock, and South Entrances could probably not be expanded at their existing sites, and would likely require relocation if expanded.

Mode of Access

Most visitors to Yosemite travel by private vehicle, but tour buses accommodate a significant percentage of visitors (table 3-17). In addition, a small number of visitors use regional transit buses operated by VIA Adventures, Inc./Grayline of Yosemite (VIA) and the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS). An average of 73 visitors per day rode to Yosemite Valley on the 15 to 17 daily round-trips operated by VIA and YARTS in June and July 2000. In August, an average of 63 daily commercial tour bus trips enter Yosemite. It is assumed that all tour buses visit the Valley during their stay in the park. Tour buses carry an average of 1,673 visitors per day into the Valley. This represents about 12% of the 13,742 visitors that are estimated to enter the Valley on an average day in August.

REGIONAL TRANSIT

Regional transit operators provide bus service several times daily between gateway communities and Yosemite Valley year-round, with more frequent service in the summer.

In 2000, YARTS began a demonstration program that provided public transit service from Wawona, Mammoth Lakes, Coulterville, and along the Highway 140 corridor from Merced to Yosemite Valley. Including transit service provided by VIA and YARTS, 15 round-trips were provided on weekdays and 17 round-trips were provided on weekend days in May, June, and July 2000. In 2000, YARTS was in the first year of a two-year demonstration project to determine the need for voluntary transit service in the region.

TOUR AND CHARTER BUSES

During the summer, an average of 63 tour buses enter the park each day. On typically busy summer days, an estimated 76 tour buses enter the Valley. All tour buses eventually make their way to Yosemite Valley. Tours include day-visitor itineraries and overnight stays. Many tour itineraries include Yosemite as one of several destinations on a multi-day route. Charter bus activity has developed into a major component of visitor access. Many gateway communities are aggressively attempting to capture the business that tour buses can generate.

A large number of buses arriving and departing simultaneously at entrance stations can be a problem. Some entrance stations are not designed for tour buses (for example, restroom facilities that accommodate 40 to 50 people at one time are not available). As many as 10 buses can make up one tour group, and currently there are no regulations to manage the resulting overload.

The primary destination for charter tours, and the only formal bus parking historically provided in Yosemite Valley, is at Lower Yosemite Fall, where 23 bus stalls are provided. Loading and unloading areas at Lower Yosemite Fall are insufficient for the volume of buses entering the park on busy summer days. A large proportion of bus passengers go to Yosemite Lodge for overnight accommodations or meals. The absence of any designated bus staging area at the Lodge forces buses to share shuttle service lanes and private vehicle parking areas.

Special use permits are issued to tour group operators. Tour companies typically arrange tours with bus operators for access to the park. Some tours are one-time tours, while others are scheduled daily tours of the park and Yosemite Valley. There are approximately 400 bus operators on file, and there are no limits on the number of special use permits that can be issued each year. For those operators unfamiliar with permitting regulations, one-time free access into the park is provided. Tour operators who attempt to enter the park without a permit more than once are turned around at the gates; however, records on bus tours in the park are incomplete. Tour buses are inspected on a regular basis to ensure passenger safety.

Recent survey results indicate that typical operators are commercial and school bus companies. There are 285 additional surveys on hand for 1999 that will provide further information on the types and numbers of operators obtaining special use permits. Unlike commercial operators, school bus operators are not required to register for special use permits.

Several tour bus companies in the region transport both employees and visitors to Yosemite Valley. Tour bus companies include Bass Lake Tours, Scenic Air, Groveland, and Yosemite Pines RV Park. Some tour groups encourage visitors to use the Valleyís shuttle bus system, indicating that not all tour companies have a source of transport available for their customers. Backpacking and hiking tours are also available. These tours typically use vans when offering transportation service to visitors, and a fee is charged for each person.

Buses have maximum length restrictions that differ according to their travel itinerary. The normal maximum length of vehicles permitted into the park is 45 feet; at Glacier Point, the maximum length is 30 feet (not including concessioner and school buses).

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| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

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