Skift Take
Balancing activities that draw visitors and protecting natural resources has always been a challenge for the thinly-stretched park service. The outcome of this Yosemite struggle will likely be reflected in similar battles being waged across the U.S.
With the onset of spring, visitors are returning to see the waterfalls, granite cliffs and snow-capped peaks of Yosemite National Park. But a 14-year-old lawsuit could soon force sweeping changes and eliminate popular activities in one of America's most beloved national parks.
In the name of restoring the park's natural setting, a new proposal by the National Park Service would ban bicycle and horse rentals in Yosemite Valley and remove the ice rink at Curry Village. Swimming pools at the Yosemite Lodge and Ahwahnee Hotel would be torn out. Rafting rentals on the Merced River would end. The longest stone bridge in Yosemite Valley would be demolished. Even the Yosemite Art Activity Center, where families learn water colors, would go.
The changes -- which will be discussed by park officials at a public meeting Thursday in San Francisco -- are part of a new set of principles for the park known as the Merced River Plan (summary below). The 2,500-page document, released in January, comes after years of lawsuits over what should be allowed in Yosemite Valley and the Merced River that flows through it.
In many ways, the document is a symbol of the near-impossible mission of the National Park Service: providing public recreation while preserving spectacular landscapes.
"Some people want much less retail, much less lodging, fewer restaurants," said Kathleen Morse, Yo
