WawonaNews.com - December 2014
House for sale: 2576-A Chilnualna Avenue
3 beds 2 baths 1,150 sqft (Click on the image for more info.)
YOSEMITE-WAWONA ELEMENTARY CHARTER SCHOOL Board of Directors Meeting
Monday, December 1, 2014, 6:30 PM
Wawona Elementary School
7925 Chilnualna Falls Road
Wawona, California
AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
MONTHLY ITEMS AND FINANCIAL REPORTS
3. CONSENT AGENDA
NOTE: The Board will be asked to approve all of the following items by a single vote, unless any member of the Board or of the public asks that an item be removed from the consent agenda and considered and discussed separately.
3.1. Approval of agenda
3.2. Approval of minutes of the regular meeting, November 19, 2014
3.2.1. Invoice from Savage & Co. for preparation of federal and state tax returns in the amount of $1875.00
4. Financial reports
4.1. Monthly approval of warrants (Action needed)
4.1.1. Invoice from First Comp, our old workers comp insurance for $355.00 for 9/1/2013-9/1/2014.
4.1.2. Purchase approval of a DNC appreciation gift for their support on the years’ fund raising activities.
4.2. Financial Report
5. HEARING OF PERSONS WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD
The public may address the Board on any matter pertaining to the school that is not on the agenda. Unless otherwise determined by the Board, each person is limited to five (5) minutes. There will be no Board discussion and no action will be taken unless listed on a subsequent agenda.
ACTION ITEMS
6.
INFORMATION ITEMS
7. BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS
8. STAFF REPORTS
9. NEXT MEETING DATE
10. CLOSED SESSION Personnel/Negotiations/Litigation
NOTE: The Board will consider and may act upon any of the following items in closed session. Any action taken will be reported publicly at the end of the closed session as required by law.
10.1.Employee Negotiations (Gov. Code 54957.6)
10.2.Personnel (Gov. Code 54957)
11. RECOVENE IN OPEN SESSION: ANNOUNCE CLOSED SESSION ACTIONS
12. ADJOURNMENT
Wawona Elementary School
7925 Chilnualna Falls Road
Wawona, California
AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
MONTHLY ITEMS AND FINANCIAL REPORTS
3. CONSENT AGENDA
NOTE: The Board will be asked to approve all of the following items by a single vote, unless any member of the Board or of the public asks that an item be removed from the consent agenda and considered and discussed separately.
3.1. Approval of agenda
3.2. Approval of minutes of the regular meeting, November 19, 2014
3.2.1. Invoice from Savage & Co. for preparation of federal and state tax returns in the amount of $1875.00
4. Financial reports
4.1. Monthly approval of warrants (Action needed)
4.1.1. Invoice from First Comp, our old workers comp insurance for $355.00 for 9/1/2013-9/1/2014.
4.1.2. Purchase approval of a DNC appreciation gift for their support on the years’ fund raising activities.
4.2. Financial Report
5. HEARING OF PERSONS WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD
The public may address the Board on any matter pertaining to the school that is not on the agenda. Unless otherwise determined by the Board, each person is limited to five (5) minutes. There will be no Board discussion and no action will be taken unless listed on a subsequent agenda.
ACTION ITEMS
6.
INFORMATION ITEMS
7. BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS
8. STAFF REPORTS
9. NEXT MEETING DATE
10. CLOSED SESSION Personnel/Negotiations/Litigation
NOTE: The Board will consider and may act upon any of the following items in closed session. Any action taken will be reported publicly at the end of the closed session as required by law.
10.1.Employee Negotiations (Gov. Code 54957.6)
10.2.Personnel (Gov. Code 54957)
11. RECOVENE IN OPEN SESSION: ANNOUNCE CLOSED SESSION ACTIONS
12. ADJOURNMENT
Bobcat on Wawona Trail
Dave Morrow Retiring
After 40 years of service in Yosemite, Dave Morrow is retiring . There will be a farewell for him at the Wawona community hall on Wednesday , November 26 at 10:00 am. Please come by for coffee and to sign Dave's arrowhead. (D. Dozier)
Burn Suspension Has Been Lifted and Pile
Burning Will Resume Park-wide
Following the recent rain and snow at higher elevations, Yosemite fire managers have lifted the suspension of burning within communities. While the recent cooler temperatures and precipitation have diminished the threat of wildfire, residents are urged to use caution while conducting hazard reduction burning. Before conducting any residential burning please call the Mariposa County Burn Day information line: (209) 966-1200.Additionally, park fire managers are planning to resume several park wide fuel reduction pile burning projects. The areas include:• Yosemite Valley near the residential area above the court house• Yellow Pine campground area• Crane Flat campground area• South Landing• Wawona Road south of the community• Dark Hole Fire area near the Lukens trail • Woodlot piles in El Portal and ForestaSmoke may be visible at times from various locations near the projects. All fire activities will be coordinated with Mariposa and Tuolumne Counties Air Pollution Control Districts in accordance with air resource objectives. (G. Wuchner)
Washington Cub Recovers From Fire Burns
WAWONA TOWN PLANNING ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Wawona Community Center
Friday, December5, 2014
1. Call to Order 9 a.m.
2. Introductions
3. Amend and Approve June 6 and September 5, 2014 meeting Minutes
4. Public comments on non-agenda items. Note; The public may speak on any item not on the printed agenda. No action may be taken by the Committee. The public will also be given the opportunity to comment before or during the committee’s consideration of items.
5. Discussion/Action Items
a. Status of the MOU between Mariposa County and the NPS. Make changes and a recommendation to the Planning Department
b. Discuss and make recommendations, if any, on forest density and hazard trees in Section 35
c. Status of NPS rescission of its approval of the 2007 Specific Plan Amendment that allows Organized Recreational Camps as a conditional use subject to its completing the required NEPA analysis
d. Status of including ATT cellular service on the ATT tower being constructed at Hennes Ridge
e. Discuss Yosemite’s entry fee increase, possible impacts on local economy and any recommendations to Mariposa County.
6. Information and Report Items
a. Supervisor, District V
b. Planning Commissioner, District V
c. Wawona District Ranger
7. Next meeting; discuss and possibly set meeting dates for 2015 and possible agenda recommendations
8. Adjournment
In compliance with the American Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the planning Department at 209-966-5151.
Wawona Elementary School Board of Directors Meeting
Board of Directors Meeting
November 19, 2014 6:30 pm
Wawona Elementary School
7925 Chilnualna Falls Road
Wawona, California
AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
MONTHLY ITEMS AND FINANCIAL REPORTS
3. CONSENT AGENDA
NOTE: The Board will be asked to approve all of the following items by a single vote, unless any member of the Board or of the public asks that an item be removed from the consent agenda and considered and discussed separately.
3.1. Approval of agenda
3.2. Approval of minutes of the regular meeting, October 27, 2014
3.3. Check to Mariposa County Clerk for Fictitious Business Name in the amount of $30.00
3.4. Payment of regular monthly bills.
4. Financial reports
4.1. Monthly approval of warrants (Action needed)
4.2. Financial Report
5. HEARING OF PERSONS WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD
The public may address the Board on any matter pertaining to the school that is not on the agenda. Unless otherwise determined by the Board, each person is limited to five (5) minutes. There will be no Board discussion and no action will be taken unless listed on a subsequent agenda.
ACTION ITEMS
6. Items requiring Board action.
6.1. Taxes filed.
6.2. Discuss filling the school secretary position and approve.
INFORMATION ITEMS
7. BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS
7.1. Golf Tournament
8. STAFF REPORTS
9. NEXT MEETING DATE
10. CLOSED SESSION Personnel/Negotiations/Litigation
NOTE: The Board will consider and may act upon any of the following items in closed session. Any action taken will be reported publicly at the end of the closed session as required by law.
10.1.Employee Negotiations (Gov. Code 54957.6)
10.2.Personnel (Gov. Code 54957)
11. RECOVENE IN OPEN SESSION: ANNOUNCE CLOSED SESSION ACTIONS
12. ADJOURNMENT
Library Displays Parks in Focus® Kids' Photos
Parks in Focus® is a program of the Udall Foundation that provides positive outdoor experiences for middle school youth to explore and learn about nature through photography, environmental education and creative expression.
In 2014, Parks in Focus® celebrated its fifth summer of Yosemite in Focus programs in partnership with Yosemite National Park and the Ansel Adams Gallery. Thanks to generous support from the Yosemite Conservancy, Parks in Focus® hosted two five-day camping trips for 21 youth from the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula and the Sequoia YMCA (East Palo Alto, Menlo Park & Redwood City, CA) to visit, explore and photograph Yosemite for the first time.
Participants met with park rangers to learn about Leave No Trace principles, bear safety and Yosemite’s geology; received photography instruction from staff at the Ansel Adams Gallery; stargazed in El Capitan Meadow; played in Mirror Lake; helped remove invasive bull thistle from the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias; photographed Half Dome at sunset; and hiked to the top of Sentinel Dome.
Inspired by the legacy of Ansel Adams, participants captured stunning images of gigantic sequoias, towering waterfalls, dozens of wildflowers and other wonders of Yosemite. They returned home to their friends and families with stories to tell and photos to share.
In 2014, Parks in Focus® celebrated its fifth summer of Yosemite in Focus programs in partnership with Yosemite National Park and the Ansel Adams Gallery. Thanks to generous support from the Yosemite Conservancy, Parks in Focus® hosted two five-day camping trips for 21 youth from the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula and the Sequoia YMCA (East Palo Alto, Menlo Park & Redwood City, CA) to visit, explore and photograph Yosemite for the first time.
Participants met with park rangers to learn about Leave No Trace principles, bear safety and Yosemite’s geology; received photography instruction from staff at the Ansel Adams Gallery; stargazed in El Capitan Meadow; played in Mirror Lake; helped remove invasive bull thistle from the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias; photographed Half Dome at sunset; and hiked to the top of Sentinel Dome.
Inspired by the legacy of Ansel Adams, participants captured stunning images of gigantic sequoias, towering waterfalls, dozens of wildflowers and other wonders of Yosemite. They returned home to their friends and families with stories to tell and photos to share.
For more information, visit http://pif.udall.gov or contact Bret Muter, program manager for Parks in Focus®, at [email protected] or 520.901.8569.
Work Day at the Yosemite-Wawona Elementary Charter School
We will be having a work day at the school on Thursday, Nov. 6 at 0930. Our priority is to get all the wood chips spread over the play structure. Secondary, is to fit the shelving on the west side of the building into the shed (it will need to be cut down) and get all the paint, etc from Emilio's closet into the shed.
MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK!
Please join us if you can.
Thank you!
Chad Andrews
Yosemite-Wawona Elementary Charter School
Board Secretary
MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK!
Please join us if you can.
Thank you!
Chad Andrews
Yosemite-Wawona Elementary Charter School
Board Secretary
Tagging Yosemite is theft, not art
‘Paintings’ deface National Parks
By the Editorial Board- Sacramento Bee
In the 10 million years since the Sierra Nevada heaved from the earth and the colossus that is now Yosemite National Park was created, the artifacts of many life forms have come and gone.
So it will be, no doubt, for the work of “CreepyTings,” the tagger whose graffiti appeared this summer along Yosemite’s Mist Trail.
Done in acrylic on a formerly pristine mountain, the stupid white head with the snake in its mouth is just one in a series of marks left, authorities believe, by a 21-year-old New York woman who apparently spent her summer vandalizing Western landmarks and posting pictures of her handiwork on Instagram and Tumblr.
The images, signed with her moniker, created a furor last week after they showed up on Reddit, the techie website. Appalled, Los Angeles blogger Casey Schreiner posted an assortment of screen grabs on his site, Modern Hiker.
And what an assortment: a woman’s head scrawled onto Telescope Peak in Death Valley. A blue-haired profile, like something from the back of a teenager’s notebook, overlooking the sapphire waters of Oregon’s Crater Lake.
A line drawing the size of a backpack on a Zion National Park outcropping. Photos of the woman taking a black magic marker to the stunning rock formations in Canyonlands National Park and crawling heedlessly over protected Native American pictographs in Joshua Tree National Monument.
In the long view, the vandalism, which has prompted a National Park Service investigation, might be viewed as just an extreme version of the graffiti that has shown up worldwide in breathtaking places for as long as those places have been accessible to humans.
To experience beauty is to yearn to possess it. Some see the Louvre’s Victoire de Samothrace and want to take its picture; some have to tamp down the urge to carve their initials onto its marble base.
And it is true that, as John Muir once wrote, “Nature is always lovely, invincible, glad, whatever is done and suffered by her creatures.” Yosemite, over the years, has outlasted all manner of human trespass, including a car dealership that once sold Cadillacs in Curry Village and 21st century shutterbugs buzzing the park with drone cameras. Any landscape that can survive the Rim fire can handle this.
Nonetheless, the Park Service should throw the book at CreepyTings when they find and arrest her. The great landscapes of the West are national treasures. They were preserved to inspire generations to come.
Drawing on them isn’t art. It’s theft. And it’s the worst sort of theft, because graffiti is an invasive species. One mark encourages the next, until the urge to claim turf ruins a whole vista.
If the stark grandeur of the West offers one gift for our ephemeral life form, it’s the gift of experiencing, for a moment, the presence of something bigger than humans.
Too bad CreepyTings didn’t feel big enough to look up from that rock while she was defacing a place that has been there for eons. The view from the Mist Trail offers a whole new perspective. One might even call it art.
In the 10 million years since the Sierra Nevada heaved from the earth and the colossus that is now Yosemite National Park was created, the artifacts of many life forms have come and gone.
So it will be, no doubt, for the work of “CreepyTings,” the tagger whose graffiti appeared this summer along Yosemite’s Mist Trail.
Done in acrylic on a formerly pristine mountain, the stupid white head with the snake in its mouth is just one in a series of marks left, authorities believe, by a 21-year-old New York woman who apparently spent her summer vandalizing Western landmarks and posting pictures of her handiwork on Instagram and Tumblr.
The images, signed with her moniker, created a furor last week after they showed up on Reddit, the techie website. Appalled, Los Angeles blogger Casey Schreiner posted an assortment of screen grabs on his site, Modern Hiker.
And what an assortment: a woman’s head scrawled onto Telescope Peak in Death Valley. A blue-haired profile, like something from the back of a teenager’s notebook, overlooking the sapphire waters of Oregon’s Crater Lake.
A line drawing the size of a backpack on a Zion National Park outcropping. Photos of the woman taking a black magic marker to the stunning rock formations in Canyonlands National Park and crawling heedlessly over protected Native American pictographs in Joshua Tree National Monument.
In the long view, the vandalism, which has prompted a National Park Service investigation, might be viewed as just an extreme version of the graffiti that has shown up worldwide in breathtaking places for as long as those places have been accessible to humans.
To experience beauty is to yearn to possess it. Some see the Louvre’s Victoire de Samothrace and want to take its picture; some have to tamp down the urge to carve their initials onto its marble base.
And it is true that, as John Muir once wrote, “Nature is always lovely, invincible, glad, whatever is done and suffered by her creatures.” Yosemite, over the years, has outlasted all manner of human trespass, including a car dealership that once sold Cadillacs in Curry Village and 21st century shutterbugs buzzing the park with drone cameras. Any landscape that can survive the Rim fire can handle this.
Nonetheless, the Park Service should throw the book at CreepyTings when they find and arrest her. The great landscapes of the West are national treasures. They were preserved to inspire generations to come.
Drawing on them isn’t art. It’s theft. And it’s the worst sort of theft, because graffiti is an invasive species. One mark encourages the next, until the urge to claim turf ruins a whole vista.
If the stark grandeur of the West offers one gift for our ephemeral life form, it’s the gift of experiencing, for a moment, the presence of something bigger than humans.
Too bad CreepyTings didn’t feel big enough to look up from that rock while she was defacing a place that has been there for eons. The view from the Mist Trail offers a whole new perspective. One might even call it art.
Winter is finally here!
Badger Pass on this first morning of November. Let's hope this is the beginning of a "normal" year. And that the fire season is officially over.
YOSEMITE-WAWONA ELEMENTARY CHARTER SCHOOL
Board of Directors Meeting
Monday, October 27, 2014 6:30 pm
Wawona Elementary School
7925 Chilnualna Falls Road
Wawona, California
AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
MONTHLY ITEMS AND FINANCIAL REPORTS
3. CONSENT AGENDA
NOTE: The Board will be asked to approve all of the following items by a single vote, unless any member of the Board or of the public asks that an item be removed from the consent agenda and considered and discussed separately.
3.1. Approval of agenda
3.2. Approval of minutes of the regular meeting, October 6, 2014
3.3. Approval of monthly payroll of ****
3.4. Approval of donations *****
4. Financial reports
4.1. Monthly approval of warrants (Action needed)
4.1.1. CRMA Workers Comp Invoice for $572.00
4.2. Financial Report
4.2.1. Update on State and Federal Funding
5. HEARING OF PERSONS WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD
The public may address the Board on any matter pertaining to the school that is not on the agenda. Unless otherwise determined by the Board, each person is limited to five (5) minutes. There will be no Board discussion and no action will be taken unless listed on a subsequent agenda.
ACTION ITEMS
6.
INFORMATION ITEMS
7. BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS
8. STAFF REPORTS
9. NEXT MEETING DATE
10. CLOSED SESSION Personnel/Negotiations/Litigation
NOTE: The Board will consider and may act upon any of the following items in closed session. Any action taken will be reported publicly at the end of the closed session as required by law.
10.1.Employee Negotiations (Gov. Code 54957.6)
10.2.Personnel (Gov. Code 54957)
11. RECOVENE IN OPEN SESSION: ANNOUNCE CLOSED SESSION ACTIONS
12. ADJOURNMENT
Monday, October 27, 2014 6:30 pm
Wawona Elementary School
7925 Chilnualna Falls Road
Wawona, California
AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
MONTHLY ITEMS AND FINANCIAL REPORTS
3. CONSENT AGENDA
NOTE: The Board will be asked to approve all of the following items by a single vote, unless any member of the Board or of the public asks that an item be removed from the consent agenda and considered and discussed separately.
3.1. Approval of agenda
3.2. Approval of minutes of the regular meeting, October 6, 2014
3.3. Approval of monthly payroll of ****
3.4. Approval of donations *****
4. Financial reports
4.1. Monthly approval of warrants (Action needed)
4.1.1. CRMA Workers Comp Invoice for $572.00
4.2. Financial Report
4.2.1. Update on State and Federal Funding
5. HEARING OF PERSONS WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD
The public may address the Board on any matter pertaining to the school that is not on the agenda. Unless otherwise determined by the Board, each person is limited to five (5) minutes. There will be no Board discussion and no action will be taken unless listed on a subsequent agenda.
ACTION ITEMS
6.
INFORMATION ITEMS
7. BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS
8. STAFF REPORTS
9. NEXT MEETING DATE
10. CLOSED SESSION Personnel/Negotiations/Litigation
NOTE: The Board will consider and may act upon any of the following items in closed session. Any action taken will be reported publicly at the end of the closed session as required by law.
10.1.Employee Negotiations (Gov. Code 54957.6)
10.2.Personnel (Gov. Code 54957)
11. RECOVENE IN OPEN SESSION: ANNOUNCE CLOSED SESSION ACTIONS
12. ADJOURNMENT
|
Argument Against Measure K – Increase In Mariposa County Transient Occupancy Tax
Don’t be fooled! The Board of Supervisors believes an increase is needed to fund essential programs, while they keep on spending discretionary funds for non-essential programs and services. They try to justify the TOT increase by comparing Mariposa's rate to that of San Francisco, Los Angeles and other metropolitan tourism markets having multiple entertainment venues and other infrastructure for visitors. But San Francisco and the other out-of-our region markets are not our competition. The issue is where tourists will stay while visiting Yosemite, making our competition the other gateway communities. A rate of 11.25% would be the highest of Mariposa’s neighboring counties (Tuolumne 10%, Madera 9% and Merced 10%), where competition for Yosemite visitor stays is fiercest. Most stays are booked on the internet and total cost, including tax, matters in ranking and the choices tourists make. Don’t be fooled! The main cause of the County’s financial problems is the unfunded liabilities for retirement benefits. And on the very same day the Board of Supervisors considered increasing the TOT rate, it also accepted a report recommending an across-the-board pay raise for current County employees. The government might be able to give itself a raise by raising taxes, but the rest of us need to live within a budget. And don’t be fooled that only tourists will feel the pain, because vacations have budgets too. Nearly two thirds of what tourists spend in Mariposa County is for goods and services, excluding accommodations. The $1.4 million tax increase would reduce what tourists are able to spend in local restaurants and shops, putting many more local jobs and businesses at risk. Don’t be fooled! The County’s TOT revenue has grown over the past decade by nearly 50% from $7.8 million to $11.6 million. And it will continue to grow even more, but increasing the rate is the wrong way to do it. The right way is to support the tourism industry’s efforts to expand into what is now the “off” season, so that the local private sector (businesses and employees alike) also benefit. Reject this tax increase for what it is: a job-killing burden on any local business that depends on tourist spending. TOT has made it too easy for County government to avoid making the difficult decisions needed to control spending, and finding alternative ways to grow Mariposa’s economy. Please vote NO on Measure K Gary and Rickey Francisco, Owners Yosemite JuniperCrest Vacation Rental Roger Biery, Sierra Communications Donna Davis, General Manager The Redwoods in Yosemite Vacation Home Rentals Doug Shaw, Caroline McGrath, Owners Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort Kevin Shelton, Vice president Operations & Marketing Yosemite Resorts Ron and Lorelei Stapp, Owners Miners Roadhouse 140, The River Restaurant, Cedar House Restaurant, Parkside Pizza and Canyon Grill |
Error creeps onto election materials for Mariposa County voters
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014 - 2 p.m. - A minor error appears on sample ballots and election pamphlets for the upcoming general election on Tuesday, Nov. 4. The mistake reads, "Please vote YES on Measure F." "That statement was not part of the original argument submitted by Measure K proponent Kevin Cann. It is a print error," county Registrar of Voters Keith Williams said. "The county Elections Office regrets any confusion this may cause voters." The error is a small one compared to a mistake reported on vote-by-mail ballots in Berkeley this week. That mistake says the election takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 5--a day after voters go to the polls. |
Yukon Bears Not So Friendly
Park Entrance Fees Increase Proposed
YOSEMITE - Yosemite National Park is
proposing to increase entrance fees into the park. The single vehicle entrance
fee would change from $20 to $30 for a seven day pass.
The park's annual pass would increase from $40 to $60. The current rate of $10 per individual or motorcycle would increase to $15 for an individual and $25 per motorcycle. Interagency Passes, which are honored at all federally managed land units, are not affected by the proposed fee increase and will remain at $80 for the regular pass, $10 for the Senior Pass and free for the Access and Military passes.
The current park entrance fees have been in place since 1997, when a seven day pass was increased from $5 to $20 per vehicle. According to the U.S. Bureau of labor and Statistics, $20 in 1997 is equivalent to $29.64 in 2014. This fee change will allow Yosemite to maintain consistent revenue while adjusting accordingly for inflation, say park officials.
The additional revenue from the fee increase will be used to enhance visitor services, including repair and maintenance of park facilities, restoration and rehabilitation of visitor service buildings, additional park programs and transportation services, and increase resource protection.
Yosemite National Park is also evaluating current campground rates to determine if camping fees are adequate to sustain campground operations. The current campground rates have been in place since 2006 and range between $5 per night to $20 per night for family sites and $40 per night for group sites.
The park is proposing to raise camping fees, ranging from $6 per night to $24 per night for family sites and $48 per night for group sites. The park will utilize comparable campground rates and public feedback to determine if an adjustment to campground fees is warranted.
A 30-day public engagement period on the proposed fee increase is open Monday, Oct. 20, through Thursday, Nov. 20. Feedback will be accepted via email at: [email protected] and via U.S. Mail at: Superintendent Attention Proposed Fee Increase P.O. Box 577 Yosemite, CA 95389.
The public is also invited to an open house in the Yosemite Valley Auditorium, located behind the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center, on Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., which will include public engagement.
The new fees could be implemented in early 2015. However, the implementation schedule may vary based on the results of civic engagement. The park will develop an implementation schedule that supports local communities and interested stakeholders.
The park is a strong economic engine for the region and local communities. Previous fee increases have had no negative effect on visitation levels. This fee increase is part of a larger National Park Service initiative to standardize fees in similar national parks across the country.
The park's annual pass would increase from $40 to $60. The current rate of $10 per individual or motorcycle would increase to $15 for an individual and $25 per motorcycle. Interagency Passes, which are honored at all federally managed land units, are not affected by the proposed fee increase and will remain at $80 for the regular pass, $10 for the Senior Pass and free for the Access and Military passes.
The current park entrance fees have been in place since 1997, when a seven day pass was increased from $5 to $20 per vehicle. According to the U.S. Bureau of labor and Statistics, $20 in 1997 is equivalent to $29.64 in 2014. This fee change will allow Yosemite to maintain consistent revenue while adjusting accordingly for inflation, say park officials.
The additional revenue from the fee increase will be used to enhance visitor services, including repair and maintenance of park facilities, restoration and rehabilitation of visitor service buildings, additional park programs and transportation services, and increase resource protection.
Yosemite National Park is also evaluating current campground rates to determine if camping fees are adequate to sustain campground operations. The current campground rates have been in place since 2006 and range between $5 per night to $20 per night for family sites and $40 per night for group sites.
The park is proposing to raise camping fees, ranging from $6 per night to $24 per night for family sites and $48 per night for group sites. The park will utilize comparable campground rates and public feedback to determine if an adjustment to campground fees is warranted.
A 30-day public engagement period on the proposed fee increase is open Monday, Oct. 20, through Thursday, Nov. 20. Feedback will be accepted via email at: [email protected] and via U.S. Mail at: Superintendent Attention Proposed Fee Increase P.O. Box 577 Yosemite, CA 95389.
The public is also invited to an open house in the Yosemite Valley Auditorium, located behind the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center, on Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., which will include public engagement.
The new fees could be implemented in early 2015. However, the implementation schedule may vary based on the results of civic engagement. The park will develop an implementation schedule that supports local communities and interested stakeholders.
The park is a strong economic engine for the region and local communities. Previous fee increases have had no negative effect on visitation levels. This fee increase is part of a larger National Park Service initiative to standardize fees in similar national parks across the country.
