Yosemite National Park Announces Public Site Visit for the Mariposa Grove Restoration Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

Date: September 30, 2011

Yosemite National Park has scheduled a public site visit for the Mariposa Grove Restoration Project on Friday, October 14, 2011 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The site visit will include a guided walk through the lower portion of the Mariposa Grove where park staff will discuss the project, the history of the Mariposa Grove, and ecology of giant sequoias. The public is encouraged to share ideas about how to improve the overall visitor experience and protect resources in and around the grove. People wishing to attend this site visit should meet in front of the Mariposa Grove Gift Shop and come prepared for hiking in fall weather conditions. Park entrance fees will be waived at the entrance stations for those attending the site walk.

On August 31, 2011, Yosemite National Park began public scoping for preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the restoration of the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias and improvements to the nearby South Entrance Station. The project is consistent with goals outlined for these areas in the General Management Plan (NPS, 1980). The purpose of public scoping is to inform the public of the proposed project and to help identify issues and concerns to consider during the development of site design alternatives for the EIS. The Mariposa Grove Restoration EIS will fulfill environmental analysis and public review requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act (Section 106). A draft EIS is anticipated for public review next summer.

The public is encouraged to submit comments about this project electronically through the National Park Service Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) System at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/mariposagrove or comments may be mailed to: Superintendent, Yosemite National Park, Attn: Mariposa Grove Restoration EIS, PO Box 577, Yosemite, CA 95389. The formal scoping period will continue until 30 days after publication of the Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS in the Federal Register (forthcoming.) For more information on this project and the Mariposa Grove, visit our website: http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/mgrove.htm.