Yosemite awaits state decision before reopening. Sierra counties sent governor a letter
Yosemite National Park is waiting for more state input before reopening to day-use visitors — what county leaders hope will happen in tandem with California allowing nearby communities to reopen lodging to tourists, along with relaxing non-essential travel restrictions.
“Yosemite feels like they are capable of opening by mid-to-late next week and we’d like to parallel that,” said Kevin Cann, chairman of the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors and a former Yosemite deputy superintendent. “Our businesses are dying.”
Yosemite will reopen Friday only for those with existing permits to hike Half Dome or backpack into its High Sierra wilderness. No new permits are being issued at this time.
Yosemite spokespeople said Wednesday that they don’t yet have a park reopening date for the general public, but have been working with local, state and federal partners to figure that out.
County leaders in Mariposa, Madera, Mono and Tuolumne counties sent a joint letter this week to Gov. Gavin Newsom. After Yosemite’s “soft opening” on Friday, county leaders proposed “a larger opening, using a plan developed by the Park and approved by the Department of the Interior, would occur on or about June 11.”
Yosemite lodging and tour reservations are canceled at least through June 10, according to Yosemite’s concessionaire, Yosemite Hospitality, a subsidiary of Aramark.
Yosemite reopening plan awaits approval
Last month, Yosemite officials shared a detailed proposed reopening plan with community members that includes initially reopening with about half the normal number of visitors, and a new required day-use reservation system.
Park officials thought at that time that Yosemite might reopen in early June, depending on guidance from the state.
“Yosemite is exclusively federal jurisdiction,” Cann said. “Really, they can do whatever they want to do, despite what the governor says. What they have pledged to do is stay in concert with us.”
Cann said that’s in part because the park depends heavily on its gateway communities to provide enough lodging and food for Yosemite tourists. Yosemite had more than 4.5 million visitors last year.
“If we have 5,000 people a day coming to Yosemite and most can’t overnight there, and we don’t have hotels open, it will just be a disaster,” Cann said.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks to the south will start reopening services Thursday.
Kate Folmar, deputy secretary for external affairs at the California Health and Human Services Agency, shared a statement Wednesday.
“Based on the science and data, the state will continue to give counties guidance on how to reopen the economy in ways that reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 while we remain in this pandemic,” Folmar said. “Those conversations are ongoing and productive.”
The letter to Newsom from county leaders says leaders feel confident they have the resources to address the spread of COVID-19. They said COVID-19 case numbers have remained stable, area hospitals are prepared for a potential patient surge, surveillance strategies have been established, and the region’s testing capacity continues to expand, including in Yosemite.
Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said Wednesday that Yosemite officials have been working on a phased reopening plan for the park with input from surrounding county health departments, sheriff offices and elected officials.
Gediman said that’s to “ensure that both Yosemite National Park and the gateway communities are ready to welcome visitors back to the park and the region.”
“We feel our plan is both flexible in its scope and offers a wide variety of recreational opportunities for park visitors. … Our plans are moving forward for approval,” Gediman said, “and we’re looking forward to welcoming visitors back to Yosemite National Park as soon as we can.”
Some have expressed concerns with that plan, including local tourism leaders, who addressed them in a news release Monday.
Mountain counties’ concerns
The letter to Newsom was sent by the Yosemite Gateway Area Coordination Team and signed by board chairs for supervisors in Mariposa, Mono and Tuolumne counties, along with Madera County Chief Administrative Officer Jay Varney, formerly Madera County’s sheriff. The same group sent a similar letter to the governor last month.
“We are asking you to relax the stay-at-home order to allow recreating in low-risk outdoor recreation areas,” this week’s letter reads, “release guidance for the use of outdoor recreation areas and campgrounds, and allow for the reopening of the lodging industry and campgrounds to support the use of outdoor recreation areas.”
Cann said visitors are coming to their mountain communities “whether we want them to or not, and it would sure be better to manage them in a controlled and safe state.”
The letter he helped write says “dispersed camping has already caused multiple wildfires near our communities, and untold amounts of trash and human waste left near lakes and streams are polluting the water sources for millions of Californians.”
The loss of revenue because of the coronavirus pandemic is another factor motivating local leaders to push for changes.
“Mariposa County gets three times more revenue in a year from the hotel taxes than we do from property taxes,” Cann said. “Most communities live on property taxes. That’s not the case here. It’s a totally tourist dependent region. Mono is very much the same, and the others are the same to lesser degrees.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 7:22 PM.
