Merced River Plan

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JANUARY 2013 DRAFT PLAN: Read about the draft plan and download it
SUMMARY GUIDE: Read a 20-page digest with an inserted 2-page matrix

The Merced River Draft Plan would restore the bed and banks of the river to natural conditions, like shown here. Restoration actions will improve the free-flowing condition of the river.

The Merced Wild and Scenic River Draft Comprehensive Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement, released in January 2013, addresses the renowned Merced Wild and Scenic River's 81 miles within Yosemite National Park and the El Portal Administrative Site and functions as the guiding document to protect and enhance river values and manage use within the river corridor for the next 20 years.

The Merced River Draft Plan protects Merced River's free-flowing condition and the unique values that has made the celebrated river worthy of special protection under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (WSRA). The draft plan represents a rich collaboration amongst the public, research scientists, park partners, traditionally-associated American Indians, and park staff to explore visions for the future of Yosemite Valley and the Merced Wild and Scenic River. The draft plan brings forward the best in science, stewardship, and public engagement to ensure continual protection and enhancement of the rare, unique, and exemplary qualities of the Merced River.

The Merced River Draft Plan will:

• Establish the Wild and Scenic River's boundaries and segment classifications and provide for protection of the river's free-flowing condition in keeping with the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act's Section 7.
• Refine descriptions of the river's outstandingly remarkable values (ORVs), which are the unique, rare, or exemplary river-related characteristics that make the river worthy of WSRA designation.
• Document the conditions of ORVs, water quality, and free-flowing condition.
• Identify management objectives for the river, and specific actions that will be implemented to achieve these objectives.
• Commit to a program of ongoing studies and monitoring to ensure management objectives are met.
• Establish a user-capacity program that addresses the kinds and amounts of public use that the river corridor can sustain while protecting and enhancing river values.
• Fulfill the 1987 legislation designating the Merced River as a component of the National Wild and Scenic River System. Make appropriate revisions to Yosemite's 1980 General Management Plan.

Boating, in Yosemite Valley, continues to be a prime recreation opportunity in all the Merced River Draft Plan's action alternatives.

The draft plan analyzes six alternatives, including a No Action and five action alternatives. Alternative 1 (No Action) would continue current management and trends in the condition of river values. Action Alternatives 2-6 would improve conditions that threaten sensitive meadows, archeological resources, and scenic vistas and would incorporate a robust monitoring program to evaluate the success of restoration goals and adapt management actions accordingly. To provide for long-term success, the draft plan includes an environmental impact statement evaluating the plan's potential impacts across its five action alternatives.

A number of resources have been made available to assist you in reviewing the full Merced River Draft Plan document, which contains 13 chapters and 15 appendices. View planning maps and site drawings within the document to orient you to the river plan's key planning areas. Additional outreach materials, including a 20-page Summary Guide and fact sheets, summarize salient points of important topic areas, including the restoration, camping, parking, transportation and the preferred alternative.

Public Meeting Materials: As part of the park's robust outreach efforts in early 2013, Yosemite held several informational webinars in February to brief the public on the plan's key elements prior to the start of the public meetings in late February and early March in the park and in various gateway communities.

Comment on the Draft Plan: Due to the complexity of the Merced River Draft Plan, Yosemite held a comment period from Jan. 18-April 30, 2013, which included a 12-day extension to the original 100-day comment period. Although the comment period has closed for the Merced River Draft Plan/EIS, background content can still be viewed online through the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/mrp_deis.

Access Interactive Map: View an interactive mapping tool that allows you to examine components of the Merced River Draft Plan alternatives, as well as existing conditions in the river corridor. For assistance, follow map-viewer instructions. [1.2 MB PDF]

Contact Us: Contact Yosemite's Planning Division to request documents or to ask to be on the park's email list--call 209/379-1365 or e-mail us. The planning division,led by Planning Division Chief Kathleen Morse, can be contacted at 209/379-1110 with general inquires. Finally, receive updates on the Merced River Plan process on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/YosemiteNPS.

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Plan Future Timeline: View an expected timeline to finalize the Merced River Plan / EIS.

Plan History and Archive: The NPS prepared the initial Merced Wild and Scenic River Plan in August 2000. After multiple lawsuits and litigations on March 27, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion expanding the scope of what the NPS had previously understood must be included in a legally valid Merced Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management Plan.

Tuolumne River: Learn more about the Tuolumne Wild and Scenic River Draft Comprehensive Management Plan / Environmental Impact Statement