A Chance To Be Heard

Yosemite, CA — Yosemite National Park wants to hear your comments on its plans to change the Mariposa Grove Giant Sequoias. To do that, they are offering two public meetings and a webinar. The internet webinar will be held April 9th from 2 – 4p.m. Click here for more information. The public meetings are April 12th and 24th at the park. Click here for location and times.

The Park has drafted an Environmental Impact Statement and wants visitor’s opinions. The preferred plan will get rid of a parking lot, tram ride, and gift shop. Park officials say the primary goal is to restore the giant sequoia habitat and improve the visitor experience.

 

Park Ranger Scott Gediman says, “We hope it will help the trees. The removal of the shuttle bus road will help because we’ll have a quieter area. We’ll have more trails and a boardwalk over the wetlands. We feel it will be a benefit to visitors because it will be a more natural experience and there won’t be a lot of the man-made distractions that are in place right now.”

 

Gediman says a new transportation hub will be built near the south entrance to the park. It will include a parking lot and a shuttle to the grove. You can give your comments until May 7th.

 

Click here for a copy of the plan and a complete description of the alternatives.