Daily Report - Yosemite National Park
Thursday, June 30, 2011
WEATHER
Yosemite Valley
Today: Sunny, with a high near 78.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 49.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 83.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 89.
El Portal
Today: Sunny, with a high near 90.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 57.
Friday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 98.
Saturday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 103.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
WEATHER
Yosemite Valley
Today: Sunny, with a high near 78.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 49.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 83.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 89.
El Portal
Today: Sunny, with a high near 90.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 57.
Friday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 98.
Saturday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 103.
Wawona
Today: Sunny, with a high near 81.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 48.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 89.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 93.
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HAPPENING TODAY
Today: Sunny, with a high near 81.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 48.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 89.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 93.
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HAPPENING TODAY
Sal's Tonight
It's another Sal's week brought to you by Yosemite Employee Association. Volunteer Board members staff the bar, along with other YEA volunteers, serving a variety of beers and wines. The profits from these sales go right back to our community, so when you bring your own you take away from your own (community). Join us this Thursday and dance to music brought to you by DJ Little Black Boots. If you have seasonal employees in your division or area please let them know to join old and new friends. Remember to drink responsibly and avoid a stay at the "John Muir Hotel." Designated drivers drink for free (sodas!). (M. Dale - 6/28)
It's another Sal's week brought to you by Yosemite Employee Association. Volunteer Board members staff the bar, along with other YEA volunteers, serving a variety of beers and wines. The profits from these sales go right back to our community, so when you bring your own you take away from your own (community). Join us this Thursday and dance to music brought to you by DJ Little Black Boots. If you have seasonal employees in your division or area please let them know to join old and new friends. Remember to drink responsibly and avoid a stay at the "John Muir Hotel." Designated drivers drink for free (sodas!). (M. Dale - 6/28)
Yosemite Child Care Center Barbecue
Yosemite National Park Child Care Center would like to invite you to our next fundraising barbecue on today. Join us in front of the Indian Museum from 11:30-1:30 to enjoy a Hamburger, Veggieburger, or (new and improved) Hot dog lunch. Meals include chips, salad, and lemonade. The price is just $8 for adults, $4 for children. Baked goods and sodas will also be available for an additional charge. All proceeds benefit the children of the Yosemite National Park Child Care Center. (6/28)
Yosemite National Park Child Care Center would like to invite you to our next fundraising barbecue on today. Join us in front of the Indian Museum from 11:30-1:30 to enjoy a Hamburger, Veggieburger, or (new and improved) Hot dog lunch. Meals include chips, salad, and lemonade. The price is just $8 for adults, $4 for children. Baked goods and sodas will also be available for an additional charge. All proceeds benefit the children of the Yosemite National Park Child Care Center. (6/28)
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PARK AND PARK PARTNER NEWS
PARK AND PARK PARTNER NEWS
Tuolumne Wilderness Center Update
Starting Friday July 1st we will be extending our hours to 7 days/week from 8:30am to 4:30pm. As soon as we are able to live in Tuolumne we will go to our regular summer hours of 7:30am to 5pm. We still have no power, no phones, and no restrooms. Wilderness permits, bear canisters, and a limited selection of maps are available. The wilderness center will only issue permits for Tioga Road and Tuolumne Meadows area, not for the Valley, Wawona, or Hetch Hetchy. Only the Tuolumne Wilderness Center will be issuing permits for the trailheads east of Tenaya Lake (Sunrise Lakes to Mono/Parker Pass) due to the lack of communication with the other permit stations. (N. Chakrin - 6/30)
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Starting Friday July 1st we will be extending our hours to 7 days/week from 8:30am to 4:30pm. As soon as we are able to live in Tuolumne we will go to our regular summer hours of 7:30am to 5pm. We still have no power, no phones, and no restrooms. Wilderness permits, bear canisters, and a limited selection of maps are available. The wilderness center will only issue permits for Tioga Road and Tuolumne Meadows area, not for the Valley, Wawona, or Hetch Hetchy. Only the Tuolumne Wilderness Center will be issuing permits for the trailheads east of Tenaya Lake (Sunrise Lakes to Mono/Parker Pass) due to the lack of communication with the other permit stations. (N. Chakrin - 6/30)
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147th Anniversary of the Yosemite Grant
June 30, 1864: 147 years ago today, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act authorizing a grant to the State of California of the "Yo-Semite Valley," and of the land embracing the "Mariposa Big Tree Grove" for public use, resort, and recreation. To embrace and enhance the rich legacy of our collective heritage, we will be recognizing the 150th Anniversary of the Yosemite Grant in 2014 under the following mission statement: The Yosemite Grant 150th anniversary honors our past and inspires people to experience, connect with, and protect our cultural and natural heritage. Stay tuned for opportunities to get involved, soon: https://sites.google.com/site/yosemiteanniversaries/. (K. Hardy - 6/30)
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June 30, 1864: 147 years ago today, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act authorizing a grant to the State of California of the "Yo-Semite Valley," and of the land embracing the "Mariposa Big Tree Grove" for public use, resort, and recreation. To embrace and enhance the rich legacy of our collective heritage, we will be recognizing the 150th Anniversary of the Yosemite Grant in 2014 under the following mission statement: The Yosemite Grant 150th anniversary honors our past and inspires people to experience, connect with, and protect our cultural and natural heritage. Stay tuned for opportunities to get involved, soon: https://sites.google.com/site/yosemiteanniversaries/. (K. Hardy - 6/30)
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Yosemite Fire Update #5
The Bald fire was reported on June 24, 2011, by the Yosemite Helitack, and Stanislaus National Forest’s Pilot and Smith Peak fire look-outs. It is suspected this is a lightning caused fire holdover, from the June 5, 2011 thunderstorms.
The Bald fire was reported on June 24, 2011, by the Yosemite Helitack, and Stanislaus National Forest’s Pilot and Smith Peak fire look-outs. It is suspected this is a lightning caused fire holdover, from the June 5, 2011 thunderstorms.
Bald: (37 50.823x119 47.434, approximate el. 6,200’, Tuolumne Co.). The fire was declared contained at 2 PM, June 29. Firefighters will continue to mop-up and “cold-trail” the fire before full control is declared. Rain and snow fell onto the fire perimeter during the night and most of the day on June 29: the fire area has received over 2.5 inches of precipitation. The fire is in wilderness, but is within a zone where fires are put out due to threats to property, structures and other infrastructures. The fire is approximately 1.5 miles northwest of the community of Aspen Valley. Yosemite Firefighters were being assisted with “Hot Shot” crews from the Sequoia, Los Padres and Stanislaus National Forests and Sequoia National Park. Fire forces have been reduced and more resources will be released in the next few days. Many fires have occurred in this area over the years due to lightning; the largest being the 1996 Ackerson Fire. That fire burned over 60 thousand acres in the Park. Minimum Impact Suppression Tactics (MIST) continue to be utilized by firefighters to minimize impacts to wilderness: for example, utilizing natural fires breaks of rock areas rather than cut hand line. The Cottonwood/Ackerson Trailheads, access to Aspen Valley, remain closed to hikers and pack stock. Fire and Wilderness managers will determine today when to reopen the trail.
Cottonwood: (37.9043x119.8024, 5,000’ el., Tuolumne Co.) This fire was found on June 6, 2011, after a thunderstorm of June 5. The fire is in patrol status, and will be monitored on a regular basis.
Light Smoke from the Bald Fire may continue to be observed from the Tioga Rd., west of White Wolf, and along the Evergreen Rd., near Ackerson Meadow, and in locations along Highway 120 into the park from Buck Meadows and Groveland. This fire is remote and has not posed health or driving hazards from smoke.
Light Smoke from the Bald Fire may continue to be observed from the Tioga Rd., west of White Wolf, and along the Evergreen Rd., near Ackerson Meadow, and in locations along Highway 120 into the park from Buck Meadows and Groveland. This fire is remote and has not posed health or driving hazards from smoke.
Hodgdon Prescribed Fire: This collaborative prescribed fire project, with the Stanislaus National Forest, is scheduled for July 6 or after. Fire crews are in the area of Evergreen Rd and Highway 120, preparing the area for the 400 acre project.
For additional Information: If you would like to be included on the fire interest email list, please contact Gary Wuchner at the following numbers or email address. Yosemite Fire Information and Education Office: Gary_Wuchner@nps.gov - (209) 375-9574 or 372-0480. Yosemite Fire Management Website: http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/current_fire.htm.
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Prescribed Burn Scheduled in and Around Yosemite National Park; First Burn of Season is a Collaborative Effort with Stanislaus National Forest - news release
Scott Gediman 209-372-0248
Kari Cobb 209-372-0529
Yosemite National Park Fire Managers are planning a prescribed fire in the north western portion of the park near the Big Oak Flat Entrance Station on Highway 120 (Big Oak Flat Road) on Wednesday, July 6, 2011. The ignition of the burn is dependent on weather conditions. The total prescribed burn area will include 500 acres. The prescribed area is beginning to dry out from a heavy winter snowpack and fuel moistures and other fire factors within the burn unit are reaching optimal levels to successfully burn the unit. This will be the first prescribed burn of the 2011 fire season.
The Hodgdon Prescribed Burn will include 389 acres in Yosemite National Park and 111 acres in the Stanislaus National Forest. The fire will be managed as an interagency effort, with the agencies sharing personnel and equipment. It is estimated that the burn will take approximately three days to complete. Temperatures over the scheduled burn dates are predicted to be in the mid-70’s. Scott Gediman 209-372-0248
Kari Cobb 209-372-0529
Yosemite National Park Fire Managers are planning a prescribed fire in the north western portion of the park near the Big Oak Flat Entrance Station on Highway 120 (Big Oak Flat Road) on Wednesday, July 6, 2011. The ignition of the burn is dependent on weather conditions. The total prescribed burn area will include 500 acres. The prescribed area is beginning to dry out from a heavy winter snowpack and fuel moistures and other fire factors within the burn unit are reaching optimal levels to successfully burn the unit. This will be the first prescribed burn of the 2011 fire season.
Smoke from the burn may be visible throughout the park, but may be more evident in the northern portion of the park. The goal of this prescribed burn is to reduce fire fuels near the park boundaries, Hodgdon Meadow Campground, the Big Oak Flat Entrance Station, and the Hodgdon residential area. This will be the first prescribed fire in this specific location, however there is evidence of natural fire history by burn scars on mature trees in the area.
For more information on this specific prescribed burn, or the fire program, please visit: www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/current_fire.htm. (K. Cobb - 6/29)
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Yosemite National Park to Implement New Park and Ride Program for Park Visitors; YARTS to Provide New Service originating from El Portal - news release
Scott Gediman 209-372-0248
Kari Cobb 209-372-0529
Yosemite National Park will begin a new Park and Ride program beginning July 1, 2011. The inaugural program will bring visitors from El Portal to Yosemite Valley along Highway 140 and is designed to alleviate traffic congestion by reducing the number of private vehicles entering the park. The Park and Ride service will be available to visitors on weekends from July 1 through September 5, 2011. The service will also be offered the Friday and Monday of the 4 th of July and Labor Day weekends.
Remote parking for visitors wishing to utilize this service will be located along Foresta Road, in El Portal, near the Yosemite National Park Maintenance Complex. There will be signs along the roadway and park personnel onsite to provide assistance and guidance for visitors wishing to park their vehicles.
Visitors are highly encouraged to use this new service when visiting Yosemite Valley from El Portal. Once in Yosemite Valley, visitors can utilize the free park hybrid shuttle buses that provide transportation to most of the most popular destinations in Yosemite Valley. The shuttle buses, with stops every 10 minutes, operate daily from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
The Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS) has been providing bus service along the Highway 140 corridor from Merced to Yosemite Valley for park visitors and park employees since 2000. The YARTS service is designed to reduce private vehicles entering and exiting the park on a daily basis. YARTS also provides service over the Tioga Road into Mammoth Lakes during the summer season. All gear, including bicycles and hiking equipment, can be brought on any YARTS bus.
All fares to Yosemite include gate fees. Bus services between Yosemite Valley and El Portal costs $7 per adult, $5 per child under 12 years of age. Children under 12 ride free with the purchase of one adult ticket. Senior discounts and family package are also available. For more information on bus schedules and bus fares, please visit: www.YARTS.com. (K. Cobb - 6/29)
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Resourceful Volunteers
One Month into our summer volunteer season and we are going strong. So far, Resources Management and Science volunteers have removed over 15,000 cubic feet of small conifers from targeted areas in Yosemite Valley. This project was done in partnership with Fire Fuels Management. To keep these incense cedars and pine trees from encroaching on Yosemite's meadows volunteers have cut down these young conifers thereby reducing the hazardous fuel loads that have built up over the years.
Groups have also spent time repairing broken fences. These fences supply a barrier to pedestrians that might want to take a shortcut through this sensitive habitat. So far we have replaced 50 posts and 82 rails in various areas throughout the park. Through a partnership with the wildlife department, volunteers helped to re-label numerous bear boxes in the Upper Pines campground. This project will hopefully make it easier for our Bear Rangers to monitor bear box violators in the future.
Thank You to all NPS employees, volunteers, Yosemite Conservancy partners, and park visitor for stopping by our sites and thanking our hard working volunteers for their time. Your support is much appreciated. Thank You to our individual volunteers and volunteer groups that have given our season a bountiful start: Sierra Club, Bolinas Stinson School, Yosemite Conservancy, Kim Sonka, Erin McCabe, and many more. This is only the beginning of the season please check back into our resourceful volunteers column in the Daily Report for updates in the future. (M. Downer - 6/29)
************************************************** One Month into our summer volunteer season and we are going strong. So far, Resources Management and Science volunteers have removed over 15,000 cubic feet of small conifers from targeted areas in Yosemite Valley. This project was done in partnership with Fire Fuels Management. To keep these incense cedars and pine trees from encroaching on Yosemite's meadows volunteers have cut down these young conifers thereby reducing the hazardous fuel loads that have built up over the years.
Groups have also spent time repairing broken fences. These fences supply a barrier to pedestrians that might want to take a shortcut through this sensitive habitat. So far we have replaced 50 posts and 82 rails in various areas throughout the park. Through a partnership with the wildlife department, volunteers helped to re-label numerous bear boxes in the Upper Pines campground. This project will hopefully make it easier for our Bear Rangers to monitor bear box violators in the future.
Thank You to all NPS employees, volunteers, Yosemite Conservancy partners, and park visitor for stopping by our sites and thanking our hard working volunteers for their time. Your support is much appreciated. Thank You to our individual volunteers and volunteer groups that have given our season a bountiful start: Sierra Club, Bolinas Stinson School, Yosemite Conservancy, Kim Sonka, Erin McCabe, and many more. This is only the beginning of the season please check back into our resourceful volunteers column in the Daily Report for updates in the future. (M. Downer - 6/29)
EMPLOYEE NEWS
Employee Feedback Needed
Reminder to all employees to please review the Yosemite Strategic Vision 2020 that was introduced at the last all-employee meeting. The Executive Leadership Team will be reviewing comments and feedback on July 21st, so be sure to submit your comments by then. The strategic plan and contact list for each individual action plan are posted to the Sharepoint home page under "Park Announcements". Here is the link: http://sharepoint.yose.nps.gov/Lists/Announcements/DispForm.aspx?ID=28&Source=http%3A%2F%2Fsharepoint%2Eyose%2Enps%2Egov%2Fdefault%2Easpx. Thank you, we appreciate your feedback and participation in shaping Yosemite's future. (D. Neubacher - 6/29)
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CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
Valley Loop Trail Resurfacing
The Valley Loop Trail will be closed during work hours (8:00am-5:00pm) Mon thru Friday, from Church Bowl to Lower Yosemite Falls loop. Detour signs are in place. This is due to trail resurfacing project. Expected time frame is four weeks starting June 13. (R. Kish - 6/16)
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ACTING DESIGNATIONS
Mike Pieper will be Acting Construction Branch Chief, Project Management Division, from Wednesday, June 29 through Tuesday, July 5th while Mike Wichmann is out of the office. Pieper may be reached at 379-1263.
Rachel Lewis will be acting Wilderness Patrol Supervisor from Wednesday afternoon June 29 through Sunday July 17. Rachel can be reached at the Wilderness Patrol Office at 372-0360 or by cell phone at (559) 731-1789. General Wilderness questions can be answered by calling the Wilderness Office at (209) 372-0347.
Gretchen Stromberg will be Acting Branch Chief for the Design Branch of Project Management beginning Wednesday, June 29 through Friday, July 1. Gretchen can be reached at 379-1006 or you may leave a message with Sarah Henderson at 379-1202.
Julie Kovacs will be acting Operations Branch Chief from 6/23-6/30, Eric Gabriel from 7/1 - 7/5.
Tom Tobin will be Acting, Contracting Officer on June 30 & July 1. He can be reached at 379-1040.
John Barton will be Acting El Portal Utilities Supervisor from Thursday, June 30 through Tuesday, July 5th while George Harders is out of the office. Barton may be reached at 379-1828.
Deron Mills will be the Acting Chief of Fire and Aviation Management from June 30 through July 9th. He can be reached at 209-379-1902 or on his cell at 209-756-6129.
Tony Brochini will be Acting Chief of Facilities Management on Thursday, June 30. He may be reached at 379-1008.
Jonathan Bayless will be acting chief, I&E June 24 through July 4. He can be reached at (209) 372-0282.
Mike Yochim will be the Acting Division Chief for the Division of Planning 6/30, 7/1, and 7/5. You may phone Mike at his El Portal office at 379-1441. If unavailable you may leave a message with Doyle Harrison at 379-1110.
Dale St. Vincent has been selected as the acting Administrative Officer until the AO position is permanently filled.
Jim Roche will be acting branch chief of Physical Sciences and Landscape Ecology through September 30th.
Jay Shields will be Acting Mather District Ranger until further notice.
Brenna Lissoway (379-1283) will be the Acting Park Archivist while Paul Rogers is on a detail as the Acting Regional Archivist (PWR). If you have need to access the Archives, or have archive related questions, you can call 379-1282 or 379-1104.
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COMMUNITY NEWS
Sunscreen Safety
As field season and summer playtime move into full swing and folks spend more time in the sun, please be mindful about the strength of our sun. Environmental Working Group (ewg.org) does extensive research regarding benefits and hazards of using sunscreens. Their online reports are professional and well cited. If you are interested in reviewing information about UVA, UVB, Zinc Oxides, and free-radicals visit their site and learn how you can best protect yourself from the sun while still reveling in the beauty of the Sierra! (D. Jaffe - 6/30)
As field season and summer playtime move into full swing and folks spend more time in the sun, please be mindful about the strength of our sun. Environmental Working Group (ewg.org) does extensive research regarding benefits and hazards of using sunscreens. Their online reports are professional and well cited. If you are interested in reviewing information about UVA, UVB, Zinc Oxides, and free-radicals visit their site and learn how you can best protect yourself from the sun while still reveling in the beauty of the Sierra! (D. Jaffe - 6/30)
www.YosemiteThisYear.com
www.VisitMaderaCounty.com
www.VisitMaderaCounty.com
