High Sierra Topix

Future of Yosemite cabins weighed

Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010
By Tracie Cone
The Associated Press
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FRESNO — The superintendent of California's Yosemite National Park wants input on what to do with 233 historic cabins that are off limits to visitors because the towering cliffs rising above them are known to dump tons of granite without warning.

National Park Service managers are trying to figure out a plan for the historic buildings of Curry Village in Yosemite Valley -- some more than a century old -- before they succumb to the elements, vandals and nesting animals.

The cabins have been frozen in time behind a chain-link fence since October 2008, when the equivalent of 570 dump trucks of rock hit 17 cabins where youngsters on a field trip were staying. Nobody was seriously injured.

An Associated Press investigation found then that park officials had known about the potential danger for years. Park officials quickly declared one-third of the popular family campground beneath Glacier Point a "rock fall hazard zone" and fenced it off.

Since then, the neat rows of wooden and canvas cabins, including one that in 1899 was the home of Curry Village's founder, have been awaiting their fate.

"We want to determine what's worth moving because it has a historical component to it," said park spokesman Scott Gediman.

Park officials are asking the public for suggestions as they begin an environmental assessment that could lead to some buildings being moved and saved, and other [read more...]