Yosemite National Park Opens Public Scoping Period For Invasive Plant Management Plan Update

Date: March 18, 2010

Yosemite National Park announces the opening of the public scoping period for the park’s Invasive Plant Management Plan Update.  The scoping period will run from April 15, 2010 to April 30, 2010.  The public is invited to submit written ideas regarding this planning effort. 

Yosemite is home to about 1400 native plant species, over 400 of which are endemic to the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.  Non-native invasive plants fundamentally threaten natural systems and wildlife not only within the park, but throughout the national parks throughout the United States. 

In 2008, an Invasive Plant Management Plan (2008 IPMP) was created to provide for a comprehensive, prioritized program of invasive plant prevention, early detection, control, systematic monitoring, and research.  The 2008 IPMP took a conservative approach since it was one of the first plan/compliance documents completed for invasive plant management in the Pacific West Region.  The 2009 Big Meadow Fire, and issues related to managing Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) and other plants highlighted the need for a more adaptive, programmatic plan that offers the additional tools necessary to address the threat that invasive plants pose to park resources.

Goals for this plan include:

• Create a more adaptive plan in order to give resource managers the ability to eradicate existing weed infestations in order to minimize threats to Yosemite’s natural, cultural and scenic values.
• Establish a protocol for assessing the efficacy and risk of herbicides considered for use in the park.
• Preserve native plants and sites valued by American Indians.
• Implement the most appropriate control technique for each species and site.
• Ensure that the invasive plant program is regularly monitored and improved, environmentally safe, and is supported by science and research.
• Address the language in specific sections of the plan, for example, language which prohibits herbicide application within the bed and banks of Wild and Scenic Rivers and within 10 feet of flowing and moving water.
• Ensure that we cooperate with park partners and property inholders to control invasive plants.

Public participation is integral for the success of this plan. The public comment period for Invasive Plant Management Plan Environmental Assessment runs from April 15 to April 30, 2010. To request a copy of the plan and to make comments on this or any other topic, contact the park by any of the following means:

• Attend a National Park Service public open house to talk with project specialists and obtain more information on the project. Visit the park’s planning website (listed below) for upcoming dates.
• Add your name to the park’s planning mailing list and receive the Planning Update newsletter as well as other planning-related notices. You can also submit your email address to receive the park’s periodic electronic newsletter.
• To request a copy of the Environmental Assessment (CD or hard copy), write, email or fax your request to the address listed below.  All comments must be postmarked by April 30, 2010. You can submit comments by any of the following means
• Mail:  Superintendent 
   Attn: Protecting Park Biodiversity from Invasive Plants.
   P.O. Box 577
   Yosemite, CA 95389 
• Phone: [phone];   Fax: [phone]
• e-mail us
• Access PEPC (Planning, Environment, and Public Comment) on the web at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/yose
  The plan is also available online at www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/invasive.htm