Yosemite Restoration Project Halted

[Kadie]

Yosemite Restoration Project Halted
Federal Court Blocks First Phase Of $441 Million Plan

POSTED: 4:22 pm PDT April 22, 2004
UPDATED: 5:08 pm PDT April 22, 2004

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK -- A major restoration project in Yosemite has been put on hold after a surprise ruling by a federal appeals court stopped workers in their tracks.


Park officials were hoping to show off work to restore housing, lodging and cabins that were destroyed flooding on the Merced River, as the park welcomed Interior Secretary Gale Norton for Earth Day celebrations Thursday.

But the court ruling blocked the first phase of seven projects after environmentalists filed a lawsuit to halt the plan.

Included in the $441 million plan is a project to replace employee housing, lodging and campsites destroyed when the Merced River crested its banks in 1997, said Greg Adair, founder and co-director of Friends of Yosemite Valley.

more...

http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/3032764/detail.html

[Homer12]

1. Rebuilding in a Floodplain

Can't get more intelligent than that.

[genius]

2. The main problem was with the River Campgrounds

They could open them but they have chosen not to. They have mostly had a bunch of logs sitting where people used to have tents. Apparently plans to do some kind of logging are involved in their operation and it is not really about restoration.

[LWolf]

3. Development, not restoration.

And plans to show it off as part of an "earthday" celebration. How Bush can you get?

Thank you, appeals court.

My last visit to Yosemite was in October of 2002. I love autumn in the valley. For the first time (during my visits, anyway!) Yosemite falls was bone dry, and the Merced was a bunch of pools sitting on sandbanks along the dry riverbed. Drought was hitting hard.

It was still beautiful. Not overcrowded, crisp temperatures, blue skies, and open trails.