Yosemite National Park Holds Workshop on Merced River Plan  Last Spring Workshop Will Focus on Recreational Activities and Resource Protection

Date: May 19, 2011

Last Spring Workshop Will Focus on Recreational Activities and Resource Protection

Yosemite National Park is currently working on the Comprehensive Management Plan for the Merced Wild and Scenic River (MRP). This plan will provide the framework for management decisions regarding the Merced River and the Merced River Corridor in Yosemite National Park. The park contains 81 miles of the Merced River, a federally designated Wild and Scenic River.

The park has conducted five workshops since April that focused on numerous topics that directly relate to the MRP, such as hydrology, biology, transportation, cultural resources, and user capacity. The last workshop is scheduled on May 25, 2011 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Yosemite Valley Auditorium. The workshop will focus on recreational activities in the park that directly relate to resource protection along the Merced River corridor. Yosemite National Park experts will present an overview of current recreation conditions and areas of managerial concern.

Public participation in the planning effort is vitally important. The public is highly encouraged to attend this workshop to learn more about the Comprehensive Management Plan for the Merced Wild and Scenic River.   

People entering the park to attend a workshop will have the entrance fee waived. These people should inform the Park Ranger at the entrance station that they are entering the park to attend the workshop.

The recreation workshop is available for viewing as a webinar. Online webinar participants will be able to view the workshop in real-time video as it is delivered to the live audience. In addition, webinar participants will be able to submit questions. For more information on how to view these workshops as webinars, and to learn more about the Merced River Planning effort, please visit https://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/mrp_meetings.htm or www.webex.com

			Agenda for the day (subject to change):
1:00 p.m.		Welcome	Don Neubacher Park Superintendent
1:05 p.m.		Introduction and Overview of Workshop	Laurie Durnell Facilitator
1:10 p.m.		Merced River Plan Schedule and Planning Update Where are we with the planning effort?	Kathleen Morse Chief of Planning, Division of Planning
1:20 p.m.		Presentation • Background of Recreation in Yosemite National Park • Wilderness segments 1, 5, and 8: Upper Merced/South Fork above and below Wawona • Scenic segment 3: The Gorge	Bret Meldrum Division of Resources Management and Science Jim Bacon Division of Planning
2:05-2:10 p.m.		Opportunity for any Clarification Questions	Laurie Durnell
	2:10-2:20 p.m.		BREAK
2:20 p.m.		Presentation • Recreation segments 4, 6, and 7: El Portal/Wawona/ Yosemite Valley	Bret Meldrum
3:05-3:10 p.m.		Opportunity for any Clarification Questions	Laurie Durnell
3:10 p.m.		Facilitated Discussion	Laurie Durnell
3:55-4:00pm p.m.		Wrap-Up and Next Steps	Kathleen Morse