|
|
|
|
|
| |
|||
Impact of restoration project might not have been thoroughly studied, he says.
By Mike Lewis
The Fresno Bee - October 2, 1998
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal district court judge hinted Thursday that he might
temporarily halt the proposed reconstruction of flood-damaged Yosemite Lodge,
but he delayed a decision while he reviews additional information about the
contested restoration project.
Judge Charles R. Breyer, who visited the park this week to tour the proposed
site for a new road and housing on the Yosemite Valley floor, told National
Park Service attorneys the project would have an impact and, as such, could
need advance environmental studies.
Additionally, he noted that the park service, when it approved the project,
did not appear to consider the guidance of its own management standards, which
require an examination of the overall effect of any construction.
"It's not clear that the park service is taking account the cumulative impact
of all of these little pieces," Breyer said during the two-hour federal court
hearing on the Sierra Club's request for an injunction to halt a plan to rebuild
portions of the lodge damaged in last year's flooding.
Breyer is expected to make a ruling within two weeks. If the injunction is
granted, it likely will be the first stage in a year-long fight between the
park service and the Sierra Club.
The club's lawsuit contends that Yosemite planners bypassed the National Environmental
Policy Act when they studied and approved the so-called Lodge Plan without
public comment or impact studies.
Yosemite Valley suffered extensive damage in the 1997 Merced River floods.
In some cases, such as valley campsites, park administrators have elected
to not rebuild what the river took out. In other cases, it has attempted to
replace damaged buildings by constructing new ones in safer places.
The core of the park service's defense is that the new buildings' environmental
impact will be no greater than the old buildings'. Park service attorney Martin
J. Lalonde declined to comment on the case.
If Breyer denies the injunction, the park service will begin construction.
The Lodge Plan calls for 248 motel rooms, 96 cottage rooms, 60 cabins with
baths, a new road and parking areas in the Merced River floodplain near the
lodge. The plan would not increase the number of rooms on the Valley floor.
But that is irrelevant, argued Joseph J. Brecher, an attorney representing
the Sierra Club's Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund. If there is going to be
construction in an area as delicate as Yosemite Valley, then certain standards
must be followed under the act, he said.
Signed into law in 1969, the act requires that government agencies consider
the impact of their proposed actions, such as construction. If there is an
impact, an environmental study is required.
"They didn't study any of it," Brecher said after the hearing "That road is
abysmal."
The injunction hearing had been scheduled for Sept. 25. But before arguments
could be heard, Breyer surprised attorneys by announcing he wanted them to
meet him in the park so he could study the area for himself
Tuesday, lawyers and experts from both sides met Breyer in the park to make
their cases informally with a backdrop of Yosemite Falls and sheer granite
walls.
Breyer, for one, left the park impressed. The tour "was extremely useful,"
he said at the start of Thursday's hearing
"Yosemite is the most remarkable place I've seen in my life. [It's a]
treasure of unparalleled value."
|
|
|
|