In just over a month, Yosemite will play host to some of the finest botanists and conservationists in the United States!

On the weekend of October 28-30 in Wawona, the Yosemite Association is presenting The Yosemite Botanical Symposium, featuring Peter Raven, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Among the topics of his sessions are “Sustainability and Our Common Future,” “The Origins of California’s Unique Biodiversity,” and “Where We’re Headed, What We Can Do.”

Other noted botanists and scientists making presentations include Stephen Botti, Jan van Wagtendonk, Bob Fry, Peggy Moore, and Brent Johnson. Their talks will cover everything from ethnobotany to prescribed fire to Yosemite rare plants.

It's guaranteed to be a memorable weekend!

The regular fee for the Yosemite Botanical Symposium is $230, but with their 15% discount, YA members can enroll for only $195.50!

Our guest speaker at our 30th annual Members' Meeting held September 10 was John Warfield Simpson, a professor at Ohio State and author of the recently-published Dam! Water, Power, Politics, and Preservation in Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite National Park.

In its review of the book, Publishers Weekly noted that: "Simpson's research is exemplary, and he deftly explores this case study of the nexus of politics, business and the environment. And he's lyrical when recounting his trips to Yosemite and describing the transformative beauty of the wilderness area."

For those present at the meeting in Tuolumne Meadows, we offered the book for sale at a 20% discount. Because we want to give everyone a chance to own and enjoy this absorbing title, we're extending the 20% discount to the readers of this newsletter.

Dam! normally retails for $28.50, but we're making it available to our readers for a limited time at only $24.23!

Get your copy now!

Snow comes to Yosemite. The Tioga Road closes and the high country becomes, once again, a true wilderness.

Each winter, two rangers stay behind to patrol and note the variety and habits of critters who amble, run and fly about. Last season it was Tracey Wiese and Bruce Carter who performed this fascinating duty.

You'd expect the winter rangers to see such species as marmots, woodrats, nutcrackers, and chickadees, but a great blue heron in January?

For more about the winter wildlife of Tuolumne Meadows, read the account of Tracey and Bruce that was published in the Sierra Nature Notes section of the YA web site.

Combining the dramatic and meticulous work of printmaker Tom Killion—accented by quotes from John Muir—and the journal writings of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder, The High Sierra of California is a tribute to the bold, jagged peaks that have inspired generations of naturalists, artists, and writers.

Until now only available in a $50 hard cover edition, the remarkable volume is now available in a paperback version priced at only $24.95.

Using traditional Japanese and European woodcut techniques, Killion has created stunning visual images of the Sierra that focus on the backcountry above nine thousand feet, accessible only on foot.

Accompanying these riveting images are the journals of Gary Snyder, chronicling more than forty years of foot travels through the High Sierra backcountry.

Here's your chance to own your own copy of this unparalleled work of art and literature at an affordable price. The book normally retails for $24.95, but Yosemite Association members are afforded a 15% discount and can buy it now for only $21.21!