1600 acre expansion at Yosemite

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kd6swa
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1600 acre expansion at Yosemite

Post by kd6swa »

In today's Insight section of the San Francisco Chronicle is an article of a House and Senate Bill to expand Yosemite by 1600 acres.
http://www.woodallscm.com/2013/04/what- ... ion-afoot/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: 1600 acre expansion at Yosemite

Post by markskor »

see topic:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9176&p=68147&hilit= ... res#p68147" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: 1600 acre expansion at Yosemite

Post by RoguePhotonic »

I can't say I support it. It's not like they are pushing out into some beautiful area such as pushing more towards the Mammoth area and putting that beautiful country back in the national park.

Instead it looks more like walling in private property and the little bit about "The bill does not commit the federal government to purchase the private inholdings, but would allow such acquisitions when and if Congress appropriates money for that purpose."

In other words they are not going to pay them pennies on the dollar and run them out right now but plans are on the table for future implementation of that action.
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Re: 1600 acre expansion at Yosemite

Post by dave54 »

Yes, as Rogue said.

The DOI agencies have a history of doing exactly that to private inholdings -- saying "they retain their rights" then slowly strangling the private land with increasing restrictions on access, challenging any improvements or activities, etc. Finally the exhausted landowner is forced to sell his now worthless land for a fraction of its previous value.
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Re: 1600 acre expansion at Yosemite

Post by oldranger »

Gee I looked at it completely differently. Due to limitations such as water/power/sewage the ability of the owner to develop the land to maximize profit is severely limited and the most likely purchaser is the Feds. This can also give the private landowner almost exclusive use of the adjacent private lands. Look into the history of this and I bet it was initiated by the private land owner--Happens all the time.

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Re: 1600 acre expansion at Yosemite

Post by Shawn »

This reminds me of a similar issue with the "expansion" of the wilderness area affecting the north-west area of Mineral King. This past spring I wanted to visit a little lake in that area and could see from various maps a road that would take me 8 miles into a 12 mile venture. I phoned the MK supervising ranger to request permission to drive across the road, noting it crossed public land. He said in the past it would be okay, but the land was in the process of being converted to wilderness. He added that only land owners (and USFS) are authorized to drive the road. He made a point to say that I would not be permitted to drive the road even if a land owner were to provide permission in writing.

It seems odd to have a "wilderness" area that allows for vehicle travel. And there's my beef, either make it wilderness or not. It's the darnedest thing to be hiking up a perfectly good road and then to have a few vehicles go zipping by and kicking dust in your face.

Don't mean to get off topic with Yosi, but if the article provided more info as OR did, maybe we'd be fine with it. It also (may) explain the apparent funny business with the MK wilderness expansion. No doubt the land owners have big money, perhaps they're driving the changes.

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Re: 1600 acre expansion at Yosemite

Post by dave54 »

The Ishi Wlderness has a similar issue with a private inholding. The family that owns the land has full legal permission to use ATV's to access their land, while the general public does not. About once or twice per year a hiker complains about being passed on a trail by an ATV in a wilderness. The Forest Service politely informs the complainants the landowners can ATV on the trail, and no one else can (not even the FS). The land has been in the same family for generations, pre-dating the wilderness, even pre-dating the creation of the National Forest. The FS has a standing offer to purchase the land, but the family is not willing to sell.

There are several proposed wilderness areas sitting on the shelf awaiting the FS recommendation to Congress to designate, However the FS is not making the requests until private inholdings are acquired. The FS really does not want any more headaches resulting from private inside a Wilderness.
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