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Summary
Board and Staff
Sales and Publications
Membership
Outdoor Adventures
Ostrander Ski Hut
Wilderness Center
Art Activity Center
Statement of Financial Position
Statement of Activities, 2003
Park Highlights for 2003
Annual
Report for 2002
Annual Report for 2001
Annual Report for 2000
SUMMARY
The highlight of 2003 for the Yosemite Association was our celebration of
our 80th anniversary. As the nation’s first cooperating association and
fundraising organization in a national park, YA is proud of its history of
educational work
and service within Yosemite. To commemorate the milestone, we unveiled a new
80th anniversary logo, and sponsored a number of special anniversary events
throughout the year.
On August 4, we marked our birthday with a ceremony attended by park dignitaries
and visitors in front of the Yosemite Museum. In recognition of our long-standing
ties with the museum, YA presented the NPS with several gifts for the museum
and research library collections, including rare stereoviews and books and
a Native American basket.
Following addresses by Park Superintendent Mike Tollefson, Yosemite Fund President
Bob Hansen, and representatives for the Association of Partners for Public
Lands, Senator Barbara Boxer, and Congressman George Radanovich, the event
wrapped up with the sharing of two large birthday cakes prepared by chefs
at The Ahwahnee.
Notably, over 800 YA members made donations totaling more than $94,000 in
response to our campaign to raise $80,000 in our 80th anniversary year. These
generous gifts will allow us to continue our educational work at Yosemite
into the next 80 years and beyond.
Other anniversary events included a presentation on Sierra Nevada buffalo
soldiers by ranger Shelton Johnson at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum on August
17, and a special reception and dinner for member/donors of $1,000 or more
at the home of Kevin Kelly (COO of DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite) on
the Ahwahnee Meadow on October 4.
Several YA programs met with great success during the year. We added 3,555
new members (our total membership grew to about 10,000), and our two member
events proved very popular. Nearly 500 members attended our Spring Forum,
and 300 members joined us for our 29th annual “Members Meeting”
in Tuolumne Meadows.
Our member/volunteers proved invaluable at the park once again. Over 150 people
participated in either the month-long volunteer program or the cooperative
work weeks, and their collective work aggregated more than 12,300 donated
hours of service.
New publications included Yosemite Once Removed with photographs by
Claude Fiddler, and essays by Steve Roper, Nancy Fiddler, John Hart, Anne
Macquarie, and Doug Robinson, and Yosemite Meditations, a small gift
book offering a collection of Yosemite photographs by Michael Frye matched
with quotations about nature, the environment, and the national parks. Several
80th anniversary logo products also were developed.
Our financial results were positive for a second consecutive year and allowed
us to contribute $409,084 to the National Park Service in Yosemite for a variety
of programs and projects including information assistance, the bear awareness
effort, museum volunteers, wilderness education, and the Yosemite Search and
Rescue Fund.
All in all, our 80th year was a very gratifying one. With the help of our
members, friends, and partners, we were able to celebrate 80 years of providing
educational materials, programs, and services that promote stewardship and
enhance the visitor experience, while continuing our financial support of
the important work of the NPS in Yosemite.
We extend thanks to everyone who not only helped us accomplish what we did,
but also made the process so enjoyable and rewarding.
Steven P. Medley
President
BOARD AND STAFF
YA's volunteer
board of trustees contributed hundreds of hours of time and donated generously
to our organization in 2003. We appreciated the fine service and dedication
of the entire board that consisted of Christy Holloway, chair, Gerald Haslam,
vice-chair, Barbara Boucke, treasurer, Gerald Barton, Tom Bowman, Suzanne
Corkins, Phil Frank, Kimi Hill, Malcolm Margolin, Kathy Orr, Lennie Roberts,
Tom Shephard, Gina Tan, Phyllis Weber,
Jeani Ferrari, Kevin Kelly, and Ellie Nishkian.
In the annual board election (that was held without balloting because there
were no nominations by petition), incumbent Malcolm Margolin of Berkeley was
elected to a new threeyear
term. Keith Alley, Vice Chancellor for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies
at the University of California at Merced, was elected to replace Kathy Orr,
who left the board after twelve
years of distinguished service.
Dr. Alley is responsible for the development and support of research opportunities,
initiatives, and partnerships at the new UC campus. In his dual position as
dean of graduate studies,
he will oversee graduate degree programs and all issues related to graduate
students and postdoctoral fellows. An outdoor-lover, mountaineer, and cyclist,
Alley most recently worked as Senior Associate Vice President for Research
at The Ohio State University.
Alley also will be representing UC Merced in matters regarding the university's
Sierra Nevada Research Institute, now being created in Yosemite. He is committed
to increasing access for
diverse students from the San Joaquin Valley region to both education and
the natural treasures of Yosemite. He lives with his wife Jill in Merced.
Kathy Orr was actively involved in Yosemite over the course of her tenure
as YA board member. She originally worked as a volunteer for the association,
helping with membership recruitment, staffing of the museum and visitor center,
and more. She later became a Volunteer-in-the-Park (VIP) for the National
Park Service, spending many months each year contributing her time and knowledge
in assistance to park visitors. Despite leaving the board, she continues as
a valuable and highly regarded VIP.
The YA board recently passed a resolution thanking Ms. Orr for her years of
service to the organization and Yosemite. The impact of her absence from board
meetings has been diminished considerably, however, by the fact that we still
see her regularly in the park.
On the staff level, there were several key changes in 2003. Long-term employees
Connie Nielson and Anne Steed both left YA to pursue other opportunities.
Connie came to work in our office in August 1992, and quickly became a key
member of the membership department. She was primarily responsible for the
development of YA's volunteer program. Anne concluded fifteen years of service
with YA in September. She first worked as an assistant in the field seminar
program, next as administrative assistant, and finally as membership coordinator.
Both Connie and Anne were extremely popular with our members
and known for their warmth and excellent customer service. The voices at our
end of the "member information line," Connie and Anne also were
responsible for making our member events (such as the annual meeting and the
spring forum) so successful and well run. The departure of both these fine
employees has been keenly felt, and we extend them many thanks for their contributions
to YA, and best wishes for the future.
Hired to take over as new membership coordinator was Christine (Chrissy) Knight.
She most recently worked for DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite as an interpretive
guide, augmenting her lifelong connection to the park.
Chrissy's primary duty will be supervising our volunteer programs (both month-long
and work trips), calling on her previous experience as an on-site manager
for a residential volunteer program in Hawaii. We are pleased to
have her as part of our staff.
SALES
AND PUBLICATIONS
IFor
the second straight year, our overall sales grew. With in-park receipts increasing
by 7.6% from last year's figure, overall sales were up about 1%. That percentage
would have been higher if our wholesale business hadn't seen a decline occasioned
by the loss of a number of longstanding accounts.
While concessioners at the park continue to purchase our titles in large quantities,
independent bookstores in California (and elsewhere) are closing their doors
at an alarming rate. As the retail book business is consolidated in fewer
and larger companies, YA is working to develop new relationships to ensure
that our educational materials reach as large an audience as possible.
In the park, the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center set the pace for us with a
sales increase of 12.3%, and total sales of $584,179. Other meaningful growth
occurred at the YA-volunteer-only-run Happy Isles Nature Center (+37%), the
Wawona Information Station (+23%), the Tuolumne Wilderness Center (+20%),
the Yosemite Valley Wilderness Center (+18%), and the Museum Shop (+7%). Though
its gross sales weren't sizable, the
Mariposa Grove Museum had an increase of 168.5%.
Early in the year, a project to remodel the Yosemite Valley
Visitor Center lobby and bookstore was approved and funded. Architect Arch
Horst of Black River Associates was hired to develop plans for the remodel.
In anticipation of the initiation of work on the project, the lobby and store
were dismantled in early November, and the operation relocated temporarily
to the
Wilderness Center. When the project failed to gain needed approval from the
Department of the Interior and Congress, work was delayed until 2004. It is
expected that the remodel will go forward in the fall of 2004 and be completed
by spring, 2005.
During 2003, YA published Yosemite Once Removed - Portraits of the Backcountry
(a full-color coffee table book with photographs by Claude Fiddler, and
essays by Steve Roper, Nancy Fiddler, John Hart, Anne Macquarie, and Doug
Robinson), and Yosemite Meditations, a small gift book offering a collection
of Yosemite photographs by Michael Frye matched with quotations about nature,
the environment, and the national parks.
Major financial support for Yosemite Once Removed was received from
the William J. Shupper Family Foundation. YA also was pleased to receive a
grant from James McClatchy and the McClatchy Company for publication of a
history of the Tioga Road area written by Gene Rose.
Non-book products developed during the year include an enamel, cloisonné-style
pin to commemorate YA's 80th anniversary, and a YA member t-shirt, fleece
vest, and water bottle emblazoned with our 80th anniversary logo. The new
logo
was created by Michael Osborne Design of San Francisco. A poster entitled
"Sierra Nevada Buffalo Soldiers," reproducing a historic photo of
a black cavalry detachment on its way to Yosemite, also was undertaken.
Our two most profitable publications during 2003 were The
Complete Guidebook to Yosemite National Park and Two Bear Cubs.
Other strong-selling titles included Map and Guide to Yosemite Valley,
The Wild Muir, Yosemite - An Enduring Treasure, The Photographer's
Guide to Yosemite, and Yosemite Once Removed.
YA's electronic newsletter proved popular again this year, and our mailing
list grew to include over 15,000 email addresses. Our web site, www.yosemite.org,
continued to have excellent visitation figures.
MEMBERSHIP
YA welcomed 3,555
new members to its roster in 2003, marking an unprecedented year of growth.
We ended the year with just shy of 10,000 total members. Membership benefits
also continued to evolve: DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite generously renewed
their Park Partner lodging discount benefit, incorporating single-use discount
coupons for that purpose; nine other properties in and around Yosemite National
Park also offered YA members a lodging discount. After five years with the
same dues structure, we incorporated a modest dues increase to position the
association to enhance financial support of our programs and services. We
also updated the special thank-you gifts we offered for those who joined or
upgraded their memberships to the Supporting or higher levels.
YA enjoyed a busy year of members' and public events as we celebrated our 80th anniversary. We unveiled our new logo and announced an ambitious annual fundraising goal to nearly 500 members attending the Spring Forum in March. Under the banner of a mild spring day, attendees enjoyed a wide variety of auditorium programs and a score of naturalist-led interpretive walks. More than 100 members, volunteers, park partners, and dignitaries were on hand on August 4th to recognize our official 80th anniversary in a ceremony in front of the Yosemite Museum. On August 17th, many members and friends attended an anniversary celebration we held at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum, which featured Ranger Shelton Johnson's Buffalo Soldier living history presentation, and a YA retrospective by Steve Medley. 300 members attended our 28th Annual Members' Meeting in Tuolumne Meadows in September, enjoying a unique keynote address by Yosemite Once Removed photographer Claude Fiddler, and essayists Steve Roper, Nancy Fiddler, John Hart, Anne Macquarie, and Doug Robinson.
Seventy-five member volunteers contributed over 9,500 hours of service in Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows, providing information assistance to thousands of park visitors, and directly recruiting 665 new members in the process. Staffed entirely by volunteers, the Happy Isles Nature Center, Camp 6 Yurt information station, Museum Gallery, and Parsons Lodge were all kept open for visitors to enjoy during the summer. Volunteers assisted the NPS directly by covering shifts at the Valley Visitor Center information desk and the Public Information Office phone line; they also provided information outreach at Glacier Point and Olmsted Point. In its nineteenth year, this volunteer program - which has steadily expanded its scope of service - supported a record thirteen service locations.
Seventy-six hardy members helped restore Yosemite for future generations by volunteering on six Work Weeks. In its sixteenth year, volunteers in these work weeks (a cooperative effort of the National Park Service, Yosemite Institute, DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite, and YA) donated nearly 2,800 hours of manual labor for rare plant surveys, exotic species eradication, revegetation, removing and reducing backcountry fire rings, fence repair, oak seedling monitoring, and much more.
Members donated nearly $94,000 to YA in honor of our 80th anniversary to help offset rising operating costs, and to maintain and enhance our important services and programs. DNC hosted and underwrote an elegant outdoor dinner at the home of host Kevin Kelly, COO of DNC, catered by chefs at The Ahwahnee, to recognize donors and members who contributed $1,000 or more to our anniversary campaign. About fifteen qualifying individuals attended, enjoying an intimate evening with park community members as they shared a fine meal in a superlative setting.
We remain deeply
grateful for the vital support we received through our members' contributions
of time, talent, dues, and donations in 2003. We also thank DNC Parks &
Resorts at Yosemite, the Amador County Wine Grape Growers Association and
affiliated wineries, Merrill Lynch, and the Butterfly Creek Winery for their
contributions in support of the year's members' and anniversary events. Finally,
we acknowledge the incredibly generous $18,000 gift we received from Recreational
Equipment, Inc. (REI), the outdoor equipment cooperative based in Seattle,
made with the proceeds from their sale of REI Stewardship t-shirts.
The 2003 Yosemite
Outdoor Adventure catalog, featuring seventy courses in natural and cultural
history, drawing, painting and writing, photography and film, day-hiking,
and backpacking, was illustrated by cartoonist Phil Frank.
The array of offerings was one of our most varied yet. For example, photographer
Robert Szabo showed how Carleton Watkins made his stunning images in his demonstration
of wet plate collodion photography. NPS ranger Kate McCurdy returned for Bear
Patrol II, and her hardy group worked diligently to help collect field data
on bears and remove non-native fruit. Artist Lian Zhen instructed a class
on Chinese painting techniques, and DNC interpreter Julie Miller led her class
to the top of
Mammoth, Rugged and Johnson Peaks.
Despite a decline in enrollments in 2003 to 485 total participants, the Yosemite
Outdoor Adventure program
continued to fulfill the organization’s core mission of providing
quality, in-depth educational programs. One significant
negative factor was that during peak enrollment season (November of 2002 to
March of 2003) there was a particularly unstable political and economic climate,
and potential participants were reluctant to commit to travel in advance.
Two casualties of the low response were the Third Annual Yosemite Winter Literary
Conference and the Yosemite Children’s Literature Conference. Not surprisingly,
given the drop in participation, the program finished with revenues 26%
below budget and operated at a deficit.
At the request
of the National Park Service, YA again oversaw the winter operation of the
hut. Used by wilderness skiers and snowshoers, the facility on the banks of
Ostrander Lake received over 1,000 visitor nights of use. Primary hutkeepers
for the season were Howard Weamer, George Durkee, and Kelsey Ripple.
The Wilderness
Center, with offices in both Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows, continued
as a cooperative effort with the National Park Service. Besides serving as
a resource for wilderness travelers, the center offered wilderness permit
reservations (a partnership between YA and the NPS) and bear canister rentals
(with the further cooperation of DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite). YA
received a number of generous donations for the purchase of replacement bear
canisters during the year.
The Art Activity Center, co-sponsored by YA, DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite, and the NPS, operated for its twenty-second season. Visiting artists provided classes in drawing, sketching, painting, and other media from April through October.
STATEMENT
OF FINANCIAL POSITION
For year ending December 31, 2003
| ASSETS | |
| Cash and cash equivalents |
$647,730
|
| Accounts receivable |
67,836
|
| Prepaid expenses |
17,927
|
| Inventory |
686,010
|
| Property and equipment |
61,387
|
| TOTAL ASSETS |
$1,480,890
|
| LIABILITIES | |
| Trade accounts payable |
$27,970
|
| Deferred revenues |
32,597
|
| Loan payable |
4,629
|
| Royalties payable |
30,806
|
| Other accrued liabilities |
43,069
|
| TOTAL LIABILITIES |
$139,071
|
|
NET ASSETS |
|
| Unrestricted: | |
|
Undesignated |
$841,542
|
| Temporarily restricted |
200,277
|
| Contingency reserve |
300,000
|
| TOTAL NET ASSETS |
1,341,819
|
| TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS |
$1,480,890
|
| REVENUES, GAINS, AND OTHER SUPPORT: | |
| Contributions |
$136,009
|
| Auxiliary activities | |
| Publication sales |
1,729,708
|
| Outdoor Adventures |
86,307
|
| Memberships |
483,904
|
| Investment income |
1,564
|
| Other income |
6,539
|
| Wilderness programs |
210,031
|
| Restrictions satisfied by payments |
170,145
|
| TOTAL REVENUES, GAINS, AND OTHER SUPPORT |
$2,824,207
|
| EXPENSES | |
| Cost of Sales: | |
|
Publication costs |
$1,422,174
|
| Auxiliary activities: | |
|
Outdoor Adventures |
106,515
|
|
Wilderness programs |
190,765
|
| Supporting services: | |
|
Management and general |
328,442
|
|
Membership |
353,921
|
| Aid to National Park Service |
336,166
|
|
2,737,983
|
|
| INCREASE
IN UNRESTRICTED NET ASSETS |
$86,224
|
| TEMPORARILY RESTRICTED NET ASSETS | |
|
Contributions |
$131,418
|
|
Auxiliary activities |
29,632
|
| Designated Programs | |
| Net assets released from restrictions | |
|
Restrictions satisfied by payments |
(170,145)
|
| INCREASE
IN TEMPORARILY RESTRICTED NET ASSETS |
(2,095)
|
| INCREASE IN NET ASSETS |
84,129
|
| NET ASSETS, AT BEGINNING OF YEAR |
1,257,690
|
| NET ASSETS, AT END OF YEAR |
$1,341,819
|
HIGHLIGHTS OF 2003
January
New Park Superintendent
Mike Tollefson assumed his position as
head of the National Park Service administration in Yosemite on
January 5.
February
Camp 4, the famed climbers’ campground in Yosemite Valley, was listed
on the National Register of Historic Places on February 21. It was deemed
significant because the
camp played a pivotal role in the development of sport rock climbing at a
time when technique and skill were passed on by word-of-mouth -- before the
deluge of guidebooks and manuals.
Two giant sequoias that put down roots long before the United States became
a country fell in the Mariposa Grove. Soil or root failure caused the collapse
of at least one of the trees, which may have toppled the second sequoia as
it fell.
April
Yosemite park historian Jim Snyder was presented the Department of the Interior’s
Superior Service Award.
May
The Bush administration proposal identifying several hundred
National Park Service jobs on the West Coast for potential takeover in the
following year by private companies received a negative reception in Yosemite.
The administration said it would further study the “competitive sourcing”
proposal.
July
Representative
George Radanovich introduced a bill in Congress to authorize new campsites
and more parking in Yosemite Valley, in a move that would circumvent key elements
of park plans already in place. Directing a barb at the Sierra Club, the bill
required the removal of the historic LeConte Memorial
Lodge. Controversy and debate about the lodge continued all year.
August
The Yosemite Association, the first cooperating organization in the national
park system, celebrated its 80th anniversary on August 4.
Yosemite’s famous Jeffrey pine on Sentinel Dome, whose poetic
beauty and unique, wind-swept formation made it one of the most photographed
trees in the world, fell to the ground. The tree died during the drought of
1976-77.
U.S. Magistrate at Yosemite National Park since 1994, Hollis
Best died from cancer. He was 77.
Eighteen Yosemite bears were fitted with new radio collar devices that scientists
created to alert park rangers whenever the animals lumber into popular parking
areas or camping spots. Officials hope the devices will condition the bears
to keep away from areas frequented by humans.
September
A new survey of glaciers in the Sierra Nevada showed that the thick slabs
of ice that have frosted many of the state’s high peaks (including Lyell,
Maclure, and Dana glaciers in Yosemite) for the last thousand years are dramatically
shrinking and, in some cases, disappearing altogether.
November
In a nationwide survey, National Park Service employees roundly
complained about conditions in their agency. Nearly seven out of ten employees
who were asked said the Park Service is now on the “wrong track,”
and nearly eight in ten said morale had declined in recent years.
Work began on the removal of the Cascades Diversion Dam on the Merced River
next to the junction of Highway 140 and Big Oak Flat Road on the far west
end of Yosemite Valley. Part of an 85-year-old power generation system that
is no longer used, the dam would be gone in five months.
December
A rockfall hit at Curry Village in the early hours of December 26, injuring
four persons and damaging several buildings. Rangers move about 100 Yosemite
visitors to safer quarters.