Yosemite overhaul may hit troubles NATIONAL PARKS Goal is to upgrade facilities and protect environment

Photographer Lance Trott of San Jose records the Yosemite Valley winter. The National Park Service plans to restore habitat, increase campsites and parking places and cut some recreational activities. Photographer Lance Trott of San Jose records the Yosemite Valley winter. The National Park Service plans to restore habitat, increase campsites and parking places and cut some recreational activities. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Yosemite overhaul may hit troubles 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

National Park Service officials released blueprints for the future of Yosemite on Tuesday, after more than a decade of courtroom brawling over river and infrastructure improvements that opponents dismissed as attempts to build a theme park in what should be a wilderness.

The long-awaited Merced and Tuolumne river plans outline an array of projects to improve the river ecosystem, add campsites, upgrade roadways and parking, and balance the desire to enhance the visitor experience with the need to protect the environment.

The Merced River plan outlines six alternatives for protecting the river ecosystem in Yosemite Valley from the tires and feet of motoring, rubbernecking tourists.

The preferred alternative, which would cost $235 million over the next 15 years, proposes restoring more than 200 acres of meadow and riparian habitat, fixing social trails, eliminating roadway bottlenecks, moving all development away from the river, and increasing the number of campsites and parking spots. It would also eliminate several popular commercial activities in the valley, including bicycle, horse and raft rentals and ice skating.

20-year overhaul

The Tuolumne River plan would spend $65 million over the next 20 years to improve river habitat and infrastructure, mostly around Tuolumne Meadows. It would replace roadside parking with designated parking lots, fix trails, improve camp facilities and eliminate day-use horse rentals around the Tuolumne Meadows campground. The Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp would be reduced from 32 to 20 beds.

The two plans, which are required by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, "retain the essence of Yosemite," said Kathleen Morse, the chief of planning for Yosemite National Park. "It ensures that the experience enjoyed by generations of families will continue over time."

The Merced River, which wends 81 miles through the park, is the focus of everyone's attention. The restoration first became an issue in 1997 when the Merced River flooded, ripping up roads, washing out bridges, knocking down trees, swamping campgrounds and washing away tent cabins. Although devastating, the disaster was seen by many as a unique opportunity to take a comprehensive look at the valley's environment and infrastructure and make changes based on scientific analysis.

The Park Service completed its first plan for the Merced in 2000, prompting a lawsuit by the environmental groups Friends of Yosemite Valley and Mariposans for Environmentally Responsible Growth. The groups said the plan would commercialize the park and turn it into a playground for wealthy folk in recreational vehicles and tour buses.

False start

The plan was tied up in court until 2009, when the park, smarting from a series of court rulings that blocked the restoration plan, started over.

The park spent more than $1 million on studies of the river, meadow and bank conditions, carrying capacity, facilities, and transportation. The new 2,500-page draft plan and environmental report was prepared after more than 40 public workshops, presentations and science forums. Morse said the public overwhelmingly urged the park to maintain the family-oriented experience, retain private vehicle access and provide more camping in Yosemite Valley.

Besides the river restoration work, the preferred alternative for the Merced would move 34 campsites at Housekeeping Camp and about 21 other spaces 100 feet away from the river and mandate that all new development be set back 150 feet from the river, Morse said.

In exchange, she said, Camp 4, the historic grounds where rock climbers congregate, would be doubled in size, and dozens more campsites would be built around the valley. When completed, there would be 640 campsites compared with 466 now, a 37 percent increase, Morse said.

Infrastructure improvements would be a big part of the plan, she said. The Sugar Pine Bridge, behind the Ahwahnee Hotel, would be removed, and a pedestrian underpass would be built next to Yosemite Lodge so that people visiting Yosemite Falls would no longer have to cross the roadway.

Traffic management

The main road through Yosemite would be rerouted in sections to avoid pedestrian crossings and remove summertime bottlenecks. A 10,000-square-foot building used by the park concessionaire, DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite Inc., would be removed, and the mishmash of employee cabins, tents, huts and trailers would be replaced.

Parking would be increased in the valley by about 5 percent, including 300 new parking spaces behind Yosemite Lodge and 200 spaces in nearby El Portal, where shuttle buses could take people into the valley, she said.

Greg Adair, the executive director of Friends of Yosemite Valley, said he has not had time to fully digest the new plan, but he is not overly optimistic given the park's track record.

"They have done a poor job over time of preserving nature in Yosemite," Adair said. "One of the questions for us is whether they have connected the dots between environmental protection and what their capacity and infrastructure studies have shown."