Fence to built around El Cap Meadow, Merced River Plan

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climber

Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 13, 2012 - 12:30pm PT

That got your attention eh!

Went to the Merced River Plan meeting in El Portal last night and it was very informative.

If you havent commented yet you really need to and it is very easy, you can do it online at the NPS website. DEADLINE is 4/20

Found out a few things:

El Cap meadow will have a fence around it with some boardwalks going out like other meadows in the Valley.

A 250 parking lot MAY be built on the east side of El Cap crossover.

Roundabouts to be installed at 4 way by Village and maybe at the Camp 6, 4 way.

2 tunnels or overpasses to be built at Camp 6 and Lower Falls(finally!)

There are 5 "Alternatives" in the plan and the final "Preferred Alternative" will be a mixture of all of them taken from comments.

More Possibilities:
Day use permits during peak season
Extra fees to park in the Valley during peak season
All roadside parking might be removed, just parking lots available
New parking lot and or housing to be built at the Trailer Court in El Portal.
Campground in Wawona to be reduced or removed.
Housekeeping Camp to be removed
Stables and Ice Rink to be removed
Camping in the Valley most likely to be expanded "Alt 1 calls for a reduction"

Read the Plan http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/mrp.htm

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Apr 13, 2012 - 12:32pm PT

Oh, yeah, more pavement and fences. Sweet!

Mark Hudon

Trad climber

Hood River, OR

Apr 13, 2012 - 12:47pm PT

Not much of that sounds any good.

Melissa

Gym climber

berkeley, ca

Apr 13, 2012 - 12:51pm PT

The roundabouts and tunnels sound good. I always figured they were making the traffic needlessly bad on purpose to make a case for restricted access and forced bussing. It would be nice to see some easy fixes reduce the 2+ hr. summertime Valley floor round trip.

WBraun

climber

Apr 13, 2012 - 12:55pm PT

There should be a fence around everything. Yep that's right !!!!

Americans are stupid and need to be fenced in.

Americans can't think anymore because their thinking got sent to China.

Only in China now are you to think.

Pavement is good !!!!

You won't get a sprained ankle or dirt on shoes and no one will get sued.

Pavement will be shipped from China.

Chinese will pave and build everything for you since Americans can only sit at home now and watch Celebrity dancing on the TV.

God Bless America ......

Levy

Big Wall climber

So Cal

Apr 13, 2012 - 01:28pm PT

This one really caught my eye:

"All roadside parking might be removed, just parking lots available"

What is that about? That will really mess up going to places like Elephant Rock & the Rostrum & forget about the Widow's Tears area.

This new plan is terrible. Vote against it & vote often!

ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Trad climber

San Francisco, Ca

Apr 13, 2012 - 01:37pm PT

Litigation will surely ensue.

I'm fine with boardwalks in the meadow but a fence seems a bit much. Tunnels and roundabouts sound good.

If I were god of Yosemite I'd build a huge parking structure somewhere, make everyone park there and have a good shuttle system that allowed you to get on/off wherever one chooses. The traffic in the valley is out of control.

justthemaid

climber

Jim Henson's Basement

Apr 13, 2012 - 01:41pm PT

Yikes. A perimeter fence... REALLY????

Round-abouts.. GUD

Everything else... BAD

Actually.. I amend my vote for demo on that ugly-ass ice-skating rink. E and I picked up a whopping 75 pounds of trash from the perimeter of that thing last Facelift. Meh.

JEleazarian

Trad climber

Fresno CA

Apr 13, 2012 - 01:44pm PT

Largely agree, although we need to look beyond the surface to see why traffic in the Valley is out of control. I personally think the elimination of about 75% of the camping spots in the Valley over the last 50 years or so, the elimination of three gas stations there, and the elimination of hundreds of camping spots outside the Valley may have had something to do with it, too.

I don't see very easy answers, but I sure hate the thought of plans developed through litigation, particularly this litigation, because no one represents the ordinary citizen who has a full-time job, children in school, and very limited times for family vacations. All most of these plans do is take their money and largely keep them out.

John

Chaz

Trad climber

greater Boss Angeles area

Apr 13, 2012 - 01:51pm PT

Are these the same people who claimed they couldn't justify the expense of a god damned trash can in El Cap Meadow?

msiddens

Trad climber

Apr 13, 2012 - 02:17pm PT

good lord, what are they doing with our park. What a load of S**T

hairyapeman

Trad climber

Fres-yes

Apr 13, 2012 - 02:30pm PT

What about parking structure in Wowona, El portal, Crane flat. Then have shuttles come and take people every 30 min. Then offer bike rentals inside the park.....ya i know, it will never go. The old farts love there RV's.

jstan

climber

Apr 13, 2012 - 02:42pm PT

At Facelift several years ago I was picking up trash in El Cap Meadow. The diversity I encountered pretty well indicates the nature of the problem.

First, I met people who started energetically also picking up trash and asking if I would put it in my garbage bag. Then I saw a group of people sitting out in the middle of a large area where the grass was totally beaten down. There was trash there so I began picking it up. Then I saw it. A frisbee lying on the ground. I asked if it belonged to anyone. Not a word. Then as I started to drop it into my bag someone said, "It's mine." I said, "Oh. I am sorry" and dropped it on the ground.

Both groups of people, I expect, included taxpayers. Managing Yosemite is a very tough job.

k-man

Gym climber

SCruz

Apr 13, 2012 - 02:42pm PT

Remove more campgrounds (Wawona), Housekeeping. More fees for peak use.

Tunnels are good??

Roundabouts do work, once the dubass meericans figure them out.

Fence the meadow? Like, what???

Q: is park visitation increasing or decreasing?

Idea: forbid all RVs east of El Cap. None on 120 to the Meadows... (there's already a no commercial trucking law).

new world order-

climber

Apr 13, 2012 - 03:00pm PT

good lord, what are they doing with our park. What a load of S**T

All the better to police you, my dear.
Eventually, all wild lands will be off limits, but to the select few.
Why? Because we are the terrorists, and so must be controlled.

What better way to save the enviro than to move us all into mega cities
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7rCAYkoMT0

So goes the new world order and Agenda 21.
Pardon me, the cynic.

http://www.infowars.com

Toker Villain

Big Wall climber

Toquerville, Utah

Apr 13, 2012 - 08:27pm PT

No turnouts?

Hell, they should have signs telling the tourons to use them and not block traffic just because some mangy ungulate is taking a dump roadside.

'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber

like Ontario, Canada, eh?

Apr 13, 2012 - 08:40pm PT

The reason there is so much traffic is because THERE IS NO PLACE TO CAMP!

How many campsites were destroyed during the flood of January 1997 that have never been replaced? Look at the graph above! You can see the drop in visitation after the flood.

If there is no place for you to camp in the park, then you have to drive in and drive out to see the place. You are already in your vehicle, there aren't enough places to park to take the shuttle, so you end up driving around. It's self-perpetuating.

If there were more campsites, you could set up your basecamp, park there, and ride the shuttles around. This would be much better than driving around, and driving into and out of the Valley every day.

Does this knott make sense?

The El Cap shuttle should also be extended in duration to better cover wall season. It quits too soon in October, for instance.