December 18, 2009
On September 29, Friends of Yosemite Valley and the National Park Service (NPS) jointly announced a court-approved Settlement Agreement ending 10 years of litigation. This milestone consolidates our Ninth Circuit court victory of 2008 and opens the door for a new generation of protection for Yosemite's Merced River and valley. Under the terms of the Settlement the multi-million-dollar development-minded Yosemite Valley Plan is now rescinded. Follow-on plans to redevelop two Valley hotels are gone too, along with schemes for new parking, roads, and much more. Yosemite today appears to be at a truly new beginning.
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For a century, Yosemite officials have both managed and planned for the environment without real focus on the protection and enhancement of its living core, its very heart.
South of the Tuolomne River, that "core" biologically, scenically, and culturally is the Merced River. Yosemite Valley's astonishing beauty, its sonorous river falling inward from vast cliffs, only underscores this uniqueness. Designation under the WSRA entitles the Merced to substantial proactive planning and management to protect and enhance it. Yet at the beginning of our work a decade ago, the Merced was already so designated, yet no plan existed to protect it at all. Friends of Yosemite Valley formed, leading a hard fight over new and well-funded development plans for hotels and fast-moving construction projects cutting a new roadway into the Merced Canyon's banks. Since 1997 our outreach, protests, and lawsuits (opposed by some "mainstream" groups*) were mixed with heartbreaking losses. But we had the rising voice of the courts.
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The park recently began a scoping process for the new plan. The new Merced River Plan begins with some agreements. We agree that protection of the "Outstandingly Remarkable Values" (ORVs, "values") is the primary focus and purpose of this plan. Protection of these values will become foundational to all other plans for Yosemite. As mentioned, earlier plans are gone. Small projects now underway wind down, and the park begins three years of relative quiet. At this point, the park will fill data gaps concerning things unknown. (Surprising at first, one learns that as recently as 2000 locations of wetlands in Yosemite Valley were unknown, for example.) Park officials have decided to create a geography of the things that comprise what is unique and special in Yosemite, which we have long supported. In theory this geography includes places to experience the river's unique qualities, which we hope brings us full circle to grappling with the capacity question. After the Settlement, we learned that planners have decided to take a new look at transportation in this plan, which adds a difficult problem. They will also consider conceptual site plans in the corridor (worrisome, as in the past these became a foil for pro-development land-use schemes).
We had hoped for personnel changes, and we've seen change beyond our dreams this year. Most of the core administration of Yosemite has changed since the election of President Obama. The new Park Service Director, Jon Jarvis, is the first true "science guy" in anyone's memory, a promising sign. Yosemite has a new Chief Planner, a new Merced River Planner, new scientists on the ground, and three User Capacity Scientists hired for the Merced Plan, among others.
The new Merced Plan is being watched intently by the entire Park Service and other land agencies. It is a summit moment for Yosemite. The outcome will surely influence how user capacity is addressed and how plans are formed for Wild and Scenic Rivers across the U.S. At this writing scoping is scheduled to close December 4 (we hope for an extension). Comments on a Draft Merced River Plan will take place during 2011.
For more information: www.yosemitevalley.org
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TOC for Forest & River News, Winter 2009