Yosemite’s Preventive Search and Rescue (PSAR) program focuses on sharing important safety messages to prevent accidents and injuries in the park.

In 2018, your support enabled the PSAR program to use research results and Search and Rescue statistics to implement outreach targeted to specific high-risk places and situations. PSAR staff, interns and volunteers, including 15 Yosemite Conservancy Work Week volunteers, worked together to educate visitors about staying safe through thousands of one-on-one interactions. Funding also supported the PSAR team’s efforts to create and update communications materials, including webpages, social media post and videos, and to make safety messages on trailside signs more accessible to non-English speakers.

Your contribution supported a pivotal program dedicated to ensuring that visitors can safely enjoy the wonders of Yosemite.

Completed in partnership with Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Hospitality, and Friends of Yosemite Search and Rescue.

Lisa J. Hendy

Emergency Services Program Manager, Yosemite National Park

Project Notes

We will reduce the most striking consequence of serious injuries and fatalities: the insurmountable grief of the affected person and their families. The suffering is felt by many, including all of their loved ones throughout the country. Visitors who witness the event are often impacted. Additionally, preventing visitor injury incidents will reduce temporary trail closures, traffic delays, and wilderness disturbance caused by rescue efforts.