Yosemite's CAMP 4 to be BULLDOZED!

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flatlander_1

climber
San Francisco, California
Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 24, 2015 - 07:46am PT
That was the headline in 1997!

While The Sierra Club, American Alpine Club, Access Fund and others stood by, Tom Frost stepped in and took the lead. He personally financed the lawsuit that saved Camp 4 from development. He rallied your peers and your mentors to do the unthinkable: take on the National Park Service in court. And WIN!

Help us tell this story properly on Indiegogo by donating today!!

[Click to View YouTube Video]

Please SHARE!

Flip Flop

climber
Earth Planet, Universe
Nov 24, 2015 - 07:59am PT
Nice
WBraun

climber
Nov 24, 2015 - 08:03am PT
CAMP 4 to be BULLDOZED!

About time.

They're putting in the Trump Plaza in Camp 4 and the golf course across the street in the meadow.

America will be grand once again ......

not applicable

Trad climber
Nov 24, 2015 - 08:25am PT
Talk about click bait...
C4/1971

Trad climber
Depends on the day...
Nov 24, 2015 - 08:31am PT
along with 1500 orange plastic chairs in Leidig Meadow.



Don't laugh...MCA did that in 1973.
flatlander_1

climber
San Francisco, California
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 24, 2015 - 11:59am PT
Hi Supertopo,

not applicable - Talk about click bait...

Yes... guilty!

But we need to get your attention because this film is extremely important and we are doing our best to make this a 100% community funded project. We only have two weeks left!

Jebus H Bomz - Everybody wants a handout.

Yes... Guilty again!

Films are expensive to make and we have received zero $ from any brand. 4 years and 100% funded by two Flatlanders. All profits, if any, will go to a non profit of Tom Frost's choosing.

Fritz - That photograph says it all! Exactly what our film is not about. Choosing not commercialize our film is our goal. This is a "documentary film" not a commercial.

Fact - Camp 4 would not exist today without Tom's fight. He gifted that to you and your community.

I can't tell you what to do but only inspire by example. I encourage you to watch the video above.

This film is for you as well. We hope you join us!

Best,

Tom Seawell
Director
http://www.flatlanderfilms.com

To Learn / Contribute : http://igg.me/at/frostdoc/x/10880133
Please SHARE!


mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Nov 24, 2015 - 01:00pm PT
Are you all just sitting on your piles (of money as well as 'roids)?

I got my donation in as soon as I saw the thread. Good for me, you say.

But I'm challenging all my Facebook friends to match or to better my own measly donation of five bucks, which is all this indigent former indigene of Camp 4 (only a few actual seasons, really, but memorable) can afford near the end of the month.

So all you retired and retreaded and retarded moneybags are challenged to part with some of that lucre you have stashed away in a dozen accounts in several different countries to support a worthy proj.

So there!

And Merry Christmas!!!!!!

MFM

Fritz: How appropriate! Mariposa is the butterfly county, ya know!

Donovan/There Is a Mountain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkLp9d7HKuA

First there is a drive-in
Then there is no drive-in
Then there is.

Then there is a walk-in
Then there is no walk-in
Then there is.

Oh, Juanita!
flatlander_1

climber
San Francisco, California
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 24, 2015 - 09:18pm PT
mouse from merced Awesome! Thank you...
flatlander_1

climber
San Francisco, California
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 24, 2015 - 09:39pm PT

To help us tell this story: http://igg.me/at/frostdoc/x/10880133
Dr.Sprock

Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
Nov 24, 2015 - 11:53pm PT
they should bulldoze that place, or at least scrape off the first ten feet of top soil and bring in exposed agregate, there is enuff stale urine in the ground there to warrant a super fund rating, and i do not mean normal urine, i mean urine that has been infused by old english 800, pbr, and other toxic liquids, then filtered by stale kidneys due to sleeping with their backs on hard granite,all climbers there should be forced into self catheterization,then have their enlarged baldders made into chalk bags,
deuce4

climber
Hobart, Australia
Nov 25, 2015 - 01:00am PT
There was a time, before Tom got involved, where the Access Fund had essentially signed off on the development that would have seen 4-plex hotel units from Swan Slab to the Columbia Boulder. The park had done a 30-day comment period Environmental Assessment, and it was a done deal.

Greg Adair had provided me with some maps of the secret plans, and i created a brochure called "Hotels or Campsites", which i distributed widely in the park (steathily at night, on cars mostly). I was also a board member of the AAC and began campaigning the AAC to oppose the development--this was met with resistance as the AAC had never opposed the actions of the Park Service in its history, which dated back to times when the AAC and the NPS were both fledgling organisations.

Tom was climbing some El Cap routes with his son. When i first approached Tom about getting more involved (i was seeking his help to sway fellow AAC board members), he was also initially resistant--the parks momentum to develop Camp 4 was quite strong. I recall pestering the park superintendent multiple times, he asked me, "aren't you a bit young to be an activist?" He knew i was working with some Earth First friends to stage a portaledge protest in the trees of Swan Slab, which were all slated for felling, and it was a bit confrontational.

I was extremely overjoyed when Tom decided to join the effort, and was willing to fund a lawsuit. The issue I had was that the EA was quickly done without the knowledge of many people and was canvassed as routine rebuilding after the big flood; i believed that the park should have done a full blown EIS due to the impact of natural values such as the trees and the extensive plumbing/electrical etc that would be needed for the new development. Thanks to Tom funding Dick Duane's effort, that is exactly how we eventually won. At one point we met with high up representatives from the Department of the Interior in San Francisco (Yvon Chouinard and Melinda were at that meeting). Around that time Tom called me the "chief architect" of the project. I was also able to pass a motion at an AAC meeting condeming the park's plan and that's when things got more in the public eye and folks like Alison Osius and Lynn Hill got involved.

There's some more of the original documents on the bigwalls.net webpage.
scooter

climber
fist clamp
Nov 25, 2015 - 06:31am PT
It sure seems like a movie should be made about Deuce. He is the real motivation behind saving Camp 4!
flatlander_1

climber
San Francisco, California
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 25, 2015 - 10:01am PT
Scooter - It sure seems like a movie should be made about Deuce. He is the real motivation behind saving Camp 4!

Tom Frost has said many times on camera that it was a huge "team effort".

Deuce's take on it is new to me and great stuff ! Need to interview him for sure! Thank you Deuce!

What most don't know is that Frost spent a huge amount his own money to save it and other organizations took credit for it. Fun and informative discussion for sure.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

Tom Seawell,
Flatlander Films
http://www.flatlanderfilms.com
John M

climber
Nov 25, 2015 - 10:06am PT
The issue I had was that the EA was quickly done without the knowledge of many people and was canvassed as routine rebuilding after the big flood;

this is so true.. I'm glad you stood up Duece. A big Thank you!
deuce4

climber
Hobart, Australia
Nov 25, 2015 - 12:47pm PT
My letter to Flatlander this morning...


Sure, i would be happy to chat anytime.

I have always been happy that Tom has been recognised for his work in saving Camp 4, but it does look like you are creating a solid documentary, and some of the people you are interviewing might not be aware of the early background.

But I still wouldn't want to diminish the centrality of Tom in the story. I haven't been in touch with Tom for many years, but he and Joyce were good friends to me in the period which was difficult for me--mid 1998 and after--for other reasons.

Ask Tom if he remembers calling me the "chief architect" of the process.

I was involved immediately after the floods in January 1997 and was heavily involved until about mid 1998, when it was clear the process was on its way and i did not mind stepping back. There were a few other players involved in those early months, too, but they were of the same mind as you have captured well in the Chouinard interview in your teaser. I think it was summer or fall of 1997 when Tom's involvement began in earnest.

I recall having a lot of ideas that when initially put forth were considered too difficult or not potentially effective, but in the end were accepted and became keys to our success, which is why i think Tom came up with the "chief architect" compliment.

But certainly your main premise is correct, as in the George Harrison song, it was going to take some money, a whole lot of money, to bring the legal strategy to fruition, and it was Tom's money, but to me it was more his positivity and benevolent outlook that was Tom's most influential aspect of the saving camp 4 story.

Cheers

----------

John Middendorf
http://johnmiddendorf.net
http://bigwalls.net
http://porta-quad.com
deuce4

climber
Hobart, Australia
Nov 25, 2015 - 12:51pm PT
Also the referenced link:

http://www.bigwalls.net/climb/camp4yosemite/index.html

This site is almost exact as published live in mid-1998 or so. Since it was in the middle of the legal process, i omitted some of the earlier stuff (before Tom's involvement) which had a bit more radical approach.

--thought i would just post this stuff here for the record, seems like a good place for it.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Nov 25, 2015 - 01:29pm PT
I have registered at your website, Deuce, and am awaiting admin approval so that I can post there, too, along with Mucci y El Mungeclimber and others.
Looks like a lot of good discussion and beta there.

I look forward to meeting you, someday in the future. Our paths never crossed at The North Face because I left their employ in 1980. I was responsible for starting up and running the TNF Factory Outlet on Berkeley's Fifth Street in 1975, located at Gilman, across from the building owned by Raffi Bedayn. The Good Good old days.

Happy Thankgiving and thank you for your efforts on behalf of good old C4.
deuce4

climber
Hobart, Australia
Nov 25, 2015 - 01:39pm PT
Finally found some scans of the original "Yosemite Crisis--Pave Paradise?" brochure! (created and distributed Spring 1997)


drljefe

climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
Nov 25, 2015 - 04:42pm PT
Super cool Deucey. Solid.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Nov 26, 2015 - 01:04am PT
A little Pep Talk from Coach Mouse,
who loves his "little crucible" of a valley.

Climbers rallied, played the game by their rules and won.
I think before that, most NPS administrators had no idea of the level of passion, commitment,
and intellect which runs through much of the climbing community.

That said, and the "victory" won, remember that in the world of big commercialism there are Boards of Directors whose main job is to guide their corps to the largest possible figures in their bottom lines. Often, sadly for wilderness and users of wilderness, the path they choose to follow runs straight (or deviously) through that wilderness.

History, present and future use by those who choose to visit these areas on those areas' own terms (roadlessness, freedom from civilized amenities, and often remoteness), and concerns of conservation-minded groups all are doomed to suffer under the relentless tides of pressure applied by tireless boards of directors, seeking only to screw the last two cents from their concessions and grants/perks from the government bodies in charge (BLM, NPS, USFS, etc.).

That means that a permanent state of antagonism is working at all times to undermine the protection of those lands and waters in question. Expansion or attempts at expansion of the concessionaires' net worth and profits will always be first and foremost on the minds of these directors, who are replaceable if they do not meet the expectations of shareholders. Any failure of theirs will be met by shareholders with attempts to redress these failures, time after time.

It's NEVER victory, therefore, when "saves" by concerned activist groups are seen as wins, and not simply forestalling of what will come about inevitably if the activists do not take their eyes off of the various doors and back doors available to these resourceful brigades of lawyers who work for the various corporate boards. Skulduggery is always afoot, whether or not we campers and climbers have somehow been given reprieves or concessions by the legal process.

Just look at how long the GMP from '92 was sitting there ineffectually, due to the efforts at obfuscation by D.N.C. I can compare this in my mind to the parable of the ten virgins found in the Bible, in MATTHEW 25:1-13, if I may be so bold (and I certainly am).

Read the passage, if you will, but the last two verses tell us:
"Therefore keep watch,
because you do not know the day or the hour wherein the Son of man comes“ (vs.11-13).

Watch them like a peregrine in it's nest on Zodiac watches his domain for interlopers.

Hell, even when the corporations are caught with the goods, found with their pants down around their ankles and their parts exposed, they just grin and keep hiring lawyers and using highly creative and well-paid advertising departments to put a happy face on the situation. I'm thinking of BP as the supreme example in recent memory.

In the world of politics, too, this sort of thing happens from one election to the next, ad infinitum. These "evildoers," to borrow Meretricius Bushimus Junioris' term, never stop promoting their agendas, implementing their policies, and promoting their wars. Their minions are skilled at keeping low profiles, much like predatory snakes.

The idea of a Yosemite Lake, behind a Moraine Low Dam, offers unparalleled opportunities for profit. This ghastly idea is completely within the realm of possibility as seen by some ambitious, zealous directors on the board of Aramark, the new Yosemite concessionaire. Our problem as opponents to the permanent antagonists is that we haven't the organized resources nor the line of credit needed to keep up the surveillance on these snake dens, to respond to the minor mis-directions and smokescreens initiated by these reptiles.

People like Tom Frost will be passing the torch soon to the newer generations. Let us not be afraid. Let us keep our counsel and plan for the next battle/skirmish/skein of lying propaganda. In the words of Jim Bridwell, "Fail to plan, plan to fail." And failure in the case of the area around Swan Slab and Camp 4 is unthinkable.

[And, having counted to fifty, I dare to post this reply/comment. No holding back, either.]
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