yosemite

The Merced River Plan and the Future of Yosemite National Park

Rebecca Plevin — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:18:31 +0000

On Valley Edition: Strawberries & Education; Gardens & Baseball; Age-Old Fresno/Bakersfield Rivalry

Juanita Stevenson, Rebecca Plevin and Ezra Romero — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:03:17 +0000

This week on Valley Edition we take the listener to one of the many strawberry stands that dot the San Joaquin Valley’s rural roads. But how often do these vine-ripened strawberries reach school menus?

Sequestered Spring Means Fewer Rangers, Services At National Parks

Kirk Siegler — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 20:20:00 +0000

Spring has come early to the Yosemite Valley, and the melting snow makes for a spectacular rush of water off the granite face of Yosemite Falls, the tallest in North America.

Early March is when park officials would normally be gearing up for the busy tourist season. Instead, they're figuring out how to cut $1.5 million from their budget. Without a budget deal, the sequestration has forced the Park Service to cut a total of $134 million from sites around the country.

"Do we close a visitor center for the entire season, or do we just cut back hours?" says Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman.

Yosemite Releases Draft Merced River Plan

Rebecca Plevin — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 02:06:58 +0000

It has taken more than a decade, but Yosemite National Park finally released today its draft plans to protect and restore the Merced River corridor for the next 20 years.

The plans, which include six different alternatives, are intended to preserve the river, and provide visitors with opportunities to enjoy the river, according to Kathleen Morse, chief of planning at Yosemite National Park.

“It’s a dual purpose plan: One to protect the resources, and two, to provide access to them,” Morse said.

Missing Yosemite Park Employee Found Alive Near Wawona

Joe Moore — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 22:43:53 +0000

Yosemite National Park officials announced today that missing 23-year-old park employee Jessica Garcia has been found alive.

Search and rescue crews located the missing employee on Tuesday in a rugged area around two miles from the South Fork Drainage of the Merced River.

Garcia was reported missing after she failed to show up to work on Sunday. She was last seen near Wawona on Saturday.

From the official press release:

Third Yosemite Hantavirus Death Reported

Joe Moore — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 01:46:44 +0000

A West Virginia resident is the third person to die of hantavirus in the last month after visiting Yosemite National Park. The outbreak of the rare disease, which is contracted through contact with the urine or feces of infected deer mice has prompted a worldwide health advisory for individuals who visited the park earlier this summer. A total of eight cases have been reported so far. All of the cases but one involve people who stayed at the "Signature Tent Cabins" at Yosemite's Curry Village. The other case involves a person who visited camps in the High Sierra.

CDC: As Many as 10,000 Yosemite Visitors At Risk of Hantavirus

Joe Moore — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 22:12:47 +0000

The hantavirus outbreak in Yosemite National Park that has sickened six and killed two could grow much larger, according to the Centers For Disease Control.

Yosemite Hantavirus Cases Grow, Now Six Infected

Joe Moore — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 03:58:30 +0000

The outbreak of hantavirus among people who visited Yosemite National Park continues to grow, as two additional people have been diagnosed with the disease, according to the California Department of Public Health. That brings the total number of Yosemite related cases this year to six. Most of the individuals who became infected stayed at tent cabins in Curry Village earlier this summer.

New Yosemite Hantavirus Infections, Death Reported

Joe Moore — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 23:08:22 +0000

Officials at Yosemite National Park have announced that a second person has died after contracting hantavirus during a park visit, and another is likely sick from the disease. Earlier this month, two other people were diagnosed with the rare pulmonary disease and one died from the illness.

Hantavirus Sickens 2, Kills 1 in Yosemite

Joe Moore — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 23:10:39 +0000

One California resident is dead and another is ill today after contracting a rare disease spread by deer mice while vacationing at Yosemite National Park. Officials with the State Department of Public Health announced today that they believe the individuals contracted the disease while staying at Yosemite's Curry Village.

Hantavirus is rare in the state, but the disease is often deadly. Since 1993 there have been 60 cases of the disease in California, and about one third of those cases have been fatal.