Visitation Rights

Yosemite officials balance park's popularity with environmental protection.

by Mark Grossi
Fresno Bee - January 28, 2004

Steve and Julie Webster watch two coyotes playfully beg for food from a lone driver parked next to a snowy meadow.

At a road's edge in Yosemite Valley, a coyote howls, prompting visitors in a car to brake to get a closer look. A court has ruled that park planners must come up with a "carrying capacity" for visitors to the Merced River, part of which runs through the heart of Yosemite Valley. (Eric Paul Zamora / The Fresno Bee)

The coyotes suddenly find a piece of clothing and stage their own tug of war in the crystalline meadow. It's January in Yosemite Valley. Unlike busy summertime, only an occasional passing car interrupts this show.

"This is the first time we've ever been here in inter," says Steve, shivering as he looks at ice-framed Yosemite Falls. "This is the way this place should be. I think this is the right number of people to have in Yosemite."

Julie counters: "It's so peaceful, but to restrict people from coming here in other months would be a shame."

The Websters, both 59, from San Diego, briefly debate a familiar Yosemite question: How many people can visit this national park without ruining the experience for one another?

The National Park Service, environmentalists, visitors and businesses around Yosemite have discussed aspects of this question for decades without much resolution.

A federal appeals court told the Park Service the time has come to answer. Last fall, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Yosemite officials must figure out how many people can use the Merced River, part of which runs through the heart of Yosemite Valley.

Park planners must come up with a "carrying capacity" for visitors at the Merced. The capacity may involve the 7-square-mile valley as well, since the river is the central feature in this glacial valley.

Researchers say they can help the Park Service by establishing people's preferences while determining how much protection nature needs. The approach has worked at Acadia National Park in Maine and Arches National Park in Utah.

"It's part science, part art," says Robert Manning, a University of Vermont professor who specializes in studying visitorship at national parks, including Yosemite. "What kind of experience should Yosemite be providing?"

In the next few months, environmentalists and park officials are expected to meet in U.S. District Court in Fresno to discuss the issues with Judge Anthony W. Ishii.

In 2002, Ishii ruled largely in favor of the Park Service's river protection plan in a lawsuit filed by Friends of Yosemite Valley and Mariposans for Environmentally Responsible Growth. But the environmental groups felt strongly there is no way to protect the river unless officials know how many people are using it.

They appealed Ishii's ruling, and the appeals court partially sided with the environmentalists, saying Yosemite could not fulfill protection laws without knowing carrying capacity for the river. The issue was sent back to Ishii in Fresno.

Does this mean some day there will be a ranger on Yosemite Valley roads, counting people and closing the valley when the carrying capacity is reached?

Not likely.

For one thing, visits already dropped from a peak of almost 4.2 million in 1996 to fewer than 3.5 million last year. It has been years since big summertime crowds forced temporary gate closures in the mid-1990s.

The slump followed a massive 1997 flood, but other factors played a part too. Officials quadrupled the entrance fee from $5 to $20 the same year, and tourism has slumped in many places over the past few years.

But park visits could easily begin to climb again, Manning says. Yosemite probably needs a better answer than a single number as a limit.

"The idea of discovering one number is an outdated notion," he says. "Now, we define an appropriate set of conditions, looking at many factors. The limits are judged on what people are doing and how they are impacting the environment."

The approach is called Visitor Experience and Resource Protection, and it establishes limits at particular trails and other attractions to protect them from overuse.

Manning has done preliminary work for such an approach in Yosemite. Though no official announcement has been made, he may become involved in a detailed project to answer the carrying-capacity question.

In Manning's Yosemite work a few years ago, he asked many visitors what they would expect, prefer and, ultimately, tolerate when they visited the park.

For instance, visitors probably would tolerate more crowded conditions at Yosemite Falls in the valley than they would on the John Muir Trail in the park's rugged backcountry.

For each attraction in a given area, the park could set limits on visitors, based on visitor opinion and the need for protecting nature.

No matter what limits are set, somebody is bound to argue about them. Lawsuits and political battles have greeted every significant turn of park planning for many decades.

"It's Yosemite," says former Yosemite ranger Peter Newman, now a Colorado State University professor who studies visitorship and recreation issues at outdoor destinations. "It's in the spotlight."

A prime example is the park's decision to remove riverside campgrounds where a flood swept through the valley in 1997.

Campers and a local congressman want the campsites back, but Yosemite managers plan to restore the area to natural conditions and allow day visitors into certain areas to view it.

The congressman, George Radanovich, a Mariposa Republican, has introduced legislation to restore the campsites and remove LeConte Memorial Lodge from the valley. Radanovich wants the lodge out because it is connected to the Sierra Club, which opposes the congressman's plan to restore campsites.

Park visitor Geri Squires, 63, and her husband, Jim, 67, of Roseville say the complex issues and the crowds affect their Yosemite experience. They say they have recently visited Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Glacier national parks, each of which they prefer to Yosemite.

Geri and Jim were in Yosemite last week because they enjoy the tranquillity in winter. Last year, the park had 121,489 visitors in January, compared to 611,500 in August.

"We love nature, but we don't love crowds," Geri says.

"I like Yellowstone and Glacier," Jim says. "They both seem more wide open."

But they also worry that the parks should be open enough to allow all kinds of visitors -- tourists from foreign countries, area residents, low-income people.

Such diversity is important to Yosemite, says researcher Newman, who earned a doctorate working with Manning at the University of Vermont.

"When I was a ranger in Yosemite, I saw an RV called 'the Invader,' " he says. "Some people like to visit in an RV and drive wherever they go. Some people don't think you should come to Yosemite unless you hike.

"A whole spectrum of people visit Yosemite, and they need to be included. That's why it's important to constantly monitor the visitorship and carefully weigh the appropriate management."