Big Changes in Yosemite

[tgtaylor]

From a trip I made a couple of months back, big changes are in the works for Yosemite. For starters the Camp 4 parking area has been repaved with asphalt and the rutted front area filled in with a rock surface eliminating all the ruts that have been there for years. Yosemite Village food court is closed for remodeling with a temporary food court set-up in the conference center. It doesn't have the selection of the former and the prices are higher (for example the bowl of Chile was $6.95 IIRC) but at least you can get your morning coffee. A new and much larger curb along Northside Drive is being installed. I exited the park the day before they were to pave the Camp 4 parking area so it, and probably the Northside Drive curb are completed.

Thomas

[xkaes]

Enjoy what they offer while you can. The current proposal is to raise the DAILY admission fee from $20 to $70. That should solve all the problems you have mentioned -- because you won't be able to afford to go there!

[Michael Kadillak]

Enjoy what they offer while you can. The current proposal is to raise the DAILY admission fee from $20 to $70. That should solve all the problems you have mentioned -- because you won't be able to afford to go there!

I absolutely agree it should fix the problem, but why stop there? Take it to $125 or use your annual parks pass. It is time the realities of park maintenance should be properly addressed. It will similarly fix the problem in Rocky Mountain National Park as well as many other parks around the country. It is time the people in attendance own a stake in preservation of the outdoor experience. If they cannot get on the bus then they are not deserving of entry. I am tired of the riff raft in parks that do not appreciate the responsibility of individual stewardship credos that are posted but rarely observed and what it takes to properly maintain these facilities.

[Willie]

I absolutely agree it should fix the problem, but why stop there? Take it to $125 or use your annual parks pass. It is time the realities of park maintenance should be properly addressed. It will similarly fix the problem in Rocky Mountain National Park as well as many other parks around the country. It is time the people in attendance own a stake in preservation of the outdoor experience. If they cannot get on the bus then they are not deserving of entry. I am tired of the riff raft in parks that do not appreciate the responsibility of individual stewardship credos that are posted but rarely observed and what it takes to properly maintain these facilities.

If they can't get on the bus they aren't deserving of entry?

The Parks are a US Treasure and many who visit are not able to afford $70, much less $125.

As for Park Maintenance when I worked as a Park Ranger years ago most of the fellow workers of any kind would never, ever stop and do anything that was not their personal job description. Small things were 'call maintenance' when a few minutes cleaning up rockfall, signs pushed over and the like would have taken care of the problem before it got bigger. Instead they would ignore it and let it get bigger.

I do not believe there should be any entrance fee for any US National Park nor for any State Parks. Taxpayers are already paying for them.

[Michael Kadillak]

If they can't get on the bus they aren't deserving of entry?

The Parks are a US Treasure and many who visit are not able to afford $70, much less $125.

As for Park Maintenance when I worked as a Park Ranger years ago most of the fellow workers of any kind would never, ever stop and do anything that was not their personal job description. Small things were 'call maintenance' when a few minutes cleaning up rockfall, signs pushed over and the like would have taken care of the problem before it got bigger. Instead they would ignore it and let it get bigger.

I do not believe there should be any entrance fee for any US National Park nor for any State Parks. Taxpayers are already paying for them.

Getting on the bus is a metaphor for respecting the treasures in the National Park System. The mentality of "we deserve entry" because we are a tax payer is an extension of the mentality of friggin entitlement where nobody feels a need to treat these parks with respect including the Park Rangers. It would take a country minute to weed these wannabes out of there. The increase in entry fees is the best way to solve the problem. The issues of congestion would quickly be resolved in short order. When you really want to go you figure a way to make it work. I think they should also level heavy fines for vandalism and violating the rules of the park as well.

[Thad Gerheim]

Riff raff? Its those 30 foot motorhomes chugging along at 15 miles an hour in the middle of the road at 4 miles to the gallon of gas. And then the people sit inside at the campgrounds with their generators running. Maybe, they should charge by a persons carbon footprint! I think the problem lies more with the park administration like with the forest service- too many chiefs and specialists and not enough boots on the ground.

[xkaes]

not enough boots on the ground.

If the FED adequately funded the Parks and Forests, etc. there would be more "boots on the ground". When I'm 20 miles from the nearest trailhead and find a landfill full of empty beer cans and lawn chairs hauled in on horseback, how can a management deal with it? How can they even find it? I once turned in a group of hunters years ago at Bandalier National Monument where hunting is illegal -- and CLEARLY posted. My friend and I saw them kill a herd of 20 wild burros. Hunters? Not really. Murderers. We were many miles from the nearest Ranger Station -- and unarmed. Get real. Quadrupling entrance fees won't come close to paying for the needs of the Parks, Monuments, Forests, Refuges, etc.

FYI, the bastards copped a plea deal in Albuquerque Federal Court.

[Two23]

Enjoy what they offer while you can. The current proposal is to raise the DAILY admission fee from $20 to $70. That should solve all the problems you have mentioned -- because you won't be able to afford to go there!

Well, let's think that through. Haven't been to Yosemite in about five years, but regularly go to Yellowstone. (Was in Mt Rainier & Olympic a few months ago.) I see a lot of $3,000 cameras with $5,000 lenses in these places. Travel to Yosemite for my wife & I would cost somewhere around $2,000 (plane & rental car). Hotels are what, another $150+ per night? Meals in NP lodges are running us about $30+ each. Wife & I each have ~$200 boots, and probably $150 in outdoor clothing, plus nice Osprey back packs. Most of the others we see at the NP are dressed about the same. I don't have a $3,000 camera or $5,000 lens, but the Nikon stuff I do have is not cheap either. What I'm getting at here is the park entrance fee is in the end about the cheapest part of the trip. I wonder if there could be some sort of alternative to an entrance fee though, such as maybe some hours of service to the park? I honestly wouldn't mind running a chain saw or Bobcat along a trail to help out.


Kent in SD

[John Kasaian]

Well, let's think that through. Haven't been to Yosemite in about five years, but regularly go to Yellowstone. (Was in Mt Rainier & Olympic a few months ago.) I see a lot of $3,000 cameras with $5,000 lenses in these places. Travel to Yosemite for my wife & I would cost somewhere around $2,000 (plane & rental car). Hotels are what, another $150+ per night? Meals in NP lodges are running us about $30+ each. Wife & I each have ~$200 boots, and probably $150 in outdoor clothing, plus nice Osprey back packs. Most of the others we see at the NP are dressed about the same. I don't have a $3,000 camera or $5,000 lens, but the Nikon stuff I do have is not cheap either. What I'm getting at here is the park entrance fee is in the end about the cheapest part of the trip. I wonder if there could be some sort of alternative to an entrance fee though, such as maybe some hours of service to the park? I honestly wouldn't mind running a chain saw or Bobcat along a trail to help out.


Kent in SD

There is! My Scouts did that several times but private parties are also welcome---entrance and campground fees are waived for participation in projects.
In past years several groups would join forces and descend on Tuolumne Meadows to pick up litter on a designated day.
Actually as crowded as Tuolumne Meadows gets, that's a sweet deal just to score a campsite!
Just send whatever park you want to visit an email and request a POC who can send you a calendar listing available projects.

[Paul Kinzer]

There is! My Scouts did that several times but private parties are also welcome---entrance and campground fees are waived for participation in projects.
In past years several groups would join forces and descend on Tuolumne Meadows to pick up litter on a designated day.
Actually as crowded as Tuolumne Meadows gets, that's a sweet deal just to score a campsite!
Just send whatever park you want to visit an email and request a POC who can send you a calendar listing available projects.

Cool!