Yosemite National Park: "Public Access Versus Preservation"

Olmstead emphasized the " conservation and support" of the resource "as exactly as possible." These actions lastly make Yosemite the United States' first protected park.

The need to preserve natural state areas was first recognized by early conservationists such as John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt towards the end of the 1800s. These leaders sought to set diversion lands that were "splendid and unique." Their ideals were defined by the Organic Act of 1916. This written created the depicted object viridity Service. Moreover, with regard to the nation's pose, the Organic Act delineate the Service's mission: i.e., to "conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife in that and to provide for the enjoyment of same in such manner and by such means as will come forth them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." Given their diversity though, coitus has never been able to precisely define the means by which the national parks should be enjoyed, while preserving their natural resources. In many a(prenominal) parks, this policy vacuum has created complex dilemmas.

The conflict among preservation and public use has overshadowed much of Yosemite's history. In 1956, recounting approved a 10-year, $725 million improvement program termed " electric charge 66." The project built new roads and parking lots. Moreover, it succeeded in luring an increasing number of automobiles to the park. At the time, most

Blackburn, Dan. "Of Bears And BMWs: Upscaling Yosemite." California Journal 23 (June 1992): 315-317.

Even though many of the early conservationists might have thought that they had preserved the nation's parks forever, in reality they had only just initiated the process. Yosemite remains a prime example of a national park at a lower place siege. The park happens to be at the center of an entire ecosystem imperil by urban sprawl. Over than 30 million Californian's locomote within a day's drive of its boundaries. Moreover, during the last several decades, stroke has increased sharply. In the past ten years alone, annual visits have risen by to a greater extent than 37 percent. In 1991, the total number of visitors amounted to roughly 3.5 million persons.

Indeed, degradation of the Yosemite vale's surround has practically become an established custom. According to the Yosemite National Park General Management Plan (GMP), "the Valley is congested with more than a thousand buildings--stores, homes, garages, apartments, lodging facilities, and restaurants--that are reflections of our society; the Valley floor is bisected by approximately thirty miles of roadway which right away accommodate a million cars, trucks, and buses a year."

The most operative effort to strike a compromise between preservation and public access in Yosemite Valley probably consisted of the Yosemite National Park General Management Plan. The GMP represented a realistic conservation mandate from Congress. It emphasized that the National Park Service's primeval responsibility was "to perpetuate the natural splendor of Yosemite and its exceedingly superfluous Valley." In fact, the GMP actually deemed resource protection of higher priority than resource availability: the public's enjoyment, education, and recreation ranked second with watch over to the park's preservation. The Plan's organizing principle involved eliminating all nonessential facilities and reclaiming the valley. In fact, its ultimate
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