Mammoth Town Council Weighs in on Yosemite National Park Entry Policies

Mammoth Town Council Weighs in on Yosemite National Park Entry Policies 

California is home to some of the most spectacular natural landscape in the world. Ironically, one of the top attractions, Yosemite National Park (specifically, Yosemite Valley), is in danger of being loved to death. The National Park Service solution involves limiting access, referencing restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 shut-down. As one of the Park entry-points, Mammoth’s Town Council was given the opportunity to weigh-in on just how to balance visitor use and environmental protection. 

Mammoth Town Manager Rob Patterson and Lawson Reif, the town’s outdoor recreation manager, outlined the goals of the NPS’ Visitor Management Plan: reduce overcrowding and traffic congestion, protect resources and provide equitable visitor access. One consideration missing from the final plan is the fact that fewer Yosemite visitors enter from the east; far more tourists flock to the west entrance, but both entrances have been included in the final plan.  

John Muir has to bear some responsibility for the conundrum faced by the NPS. In 1864, President Abraham Lincon signed the Yosemite Land Grant giving the Valley and Mariposa Grove to California. Muir had traveled from San Francisco to the Valley in 1868 and began writing about the beauty of the area. His goal was to limit timber logging and livestock grazing. He succeeded in having the park taken over by the federal government. However, Muir did not anticipate the impact on the area by 21st century tourism. 

Of the four options, ranging from doing nothing to a variety of permit requirements, the Town Council all zeroed in on Alternative D: 

• Visitors would need a timed-entry reservation to enter the Valley between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. Reservations would be valid for one day only. 

• Those with reservations would have access to the whole park, including Yosemite Valley. 

• Those without reservations could access all areas with the exception of Yosemite Valley. 

This alternative would achieve the visitation/crowding balance but would also require roadway changes and checkpoint booths, according to the agenda summary. Councilmember John Wentworth’s comment—“it makes the most sense”—was an apt summation of a complex presentation. 

Deb Murphy