Unpaving Paradise to Rebuild Yosemite Many parking lots will be moved to outside the valley in new plan. By Mark Grossi The Fresno Bee - November 15, 2000 Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt announced a plan Tuesday to unpave parts of paradise and put up parking lots outside Yosemite Valley. In the process, the federal government will build some rustic cabins, restore 176 acres and move 554 employees out of the valley in a balancing act to accommodate nature and 3.7 million annual visitors. One more thing: This Yosemite Valley Plan will cost $441 million, not $343 million, as officials first thought. "In my judgment, the problem isn't too many people visiting Yosemite," said Babbitt in announcing the final plan, which took 29 years of argument, analysis and compromise to complete. "The problem is too many damn cars. We need to invite visitors away from their automobiles." As many as 1,000 of the valley's 1,662 parking places would disappear, replaced by a 550-car parking area in the valley and three parking sites outside the valley with spaces adding up to 2,040. Park officials hope to have some out-of-valley parking started in 2002. Babbitt and others were celebrating the completion of the $441 million plan in front of about 350 people near Yosemite Lodge with Half Dome as a backdrop, dusted with snow and crystal clear on a crisp autumn morning. Officials also were unveiling changes in the plan after hearing 10,200 comments this year on the preliminary proposal. The biggest change was the increase in cost. National Park Service officials explained that not all the projects in the 10- to 15-year plan were included in the first proposal. They added that they underestimated the actual cost of the projects because Yosemite is far from major cities, making it an expensive place for contractors. Yosemite Superintendent David Mihalic defended the cost, saying a large chunk of the money will go for moving employees out of the valley. "More than $180 million is for housing outside the valley," Mihalic said. "It's a difficult pill for employees to swallow, but it has to be done." Environmental opponents, who stood quietly holding signs saying "Stop the greed" and "John Muir would be crying," said they saw virtually no change between the final plan and the earlier one -- except for the escalating cost. "They've really added construction," said Greg Adair, representing of Friends of Yosemite Valley. "We can see this plan inflating already." They circulated a statement from environmental icon David Brower, who died this month at 88. Brower had opposed the park service's plan. "I don't see much restoration in the plan that isn't undone by destruction elsewhere," he wrote in July. Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, whose district includes Yosemite Valley, criticized the plan Tuesday, promising to conduct hearings at National Parks and Public Lands Subcommittee in Congress. "This plan will result in unfair, limited public access to the park by the people who pay for its upkeep: the American taxpayer," he said. But many other environmental and conservation groups did not agree with Radanovich or the environmental opponents. The Wilderness Society and the American Alpine Club stepped up Tuesday and supported federal officials. "We stand squarely in your corner," said Linda McMillan, vice president of the Alpine Club, which three years ago sued the park over plans to rebuild Yosemite Lodge. "We have come a very long way in a relatively short time in our relationship with the National Park Service." The Alpine Club, for instance, agrees with the park service's push for more rustic accommodations in the park. No new motel units will be built, officials said. Instead, five cottages and 11 cabins will be built, more accurately reflecting an outdoor setting than motel rooms. Jay Watson of the Wilderness Society applauded the park service's effort: "Was the park service up to this task? That question has been answered with a resounding 'yes.' " But Babbitt acknowledged the real work has not begun. He said Yosemite's "cantankerous, irrational, quarrelsome" devotees have helped in shaping the plan, and he does not expect them to go away. "We have a long way to go," he said. "I know we can count on your fierce, uncompromising efforts in oversight of this plan as it is implemented."