Editor,
Thank you for your recent articles and interest in Yosemite National Park. I am pleased that you included an issue that is very dear to me concerning equestrian access, and for contacting me and Tom Barnett for more information.
Your article in the July 23 issue of the Gazette was fantastic, and I have received lots of positive comments and support from the Mariposa Mountain Riders and local equestrians who are happy to see these issues brought up.
The issues that horse enthusiasts are currently experiencing are nothing new in Yosemite, and I’d like to provide some history that explains why we are being denied access to our park.
It started on Nov.2, 1987 when the Merced River was designated “Wild and Scenic.” Before that, Yosemite Valley had the Curry Stables, where visitors could get out of their cars and ride rental horses and mules.
This activity cannot be duplicated by any other means, and gave tourists a chance to see Yosemite “between the ears.” The Curry Stables is now closed. That is because the park service created the Merced River Plan.
This plan is responsible for the chaos we are now seeing in Yosemite Valley, even though they said that we will see marked improvements in the transportation system, including more efficient parking and traffic flow.
The plan also said that the Curry Stables would be active and private horseback riding and boarding will continue. None of this has happened.
Many organizations and citizens have met with the park officials, but their concerns have fallen on deaf ears. So far, we have had no voice, and we are not being listened to.
Since 1980 and especially after the 1997 flood, the park service incrementally removed parking places, creating some of their own traffic problems. There were estimates of 3,000 to 6,000 fewer parking spaces.
They should be using the pre-1997 flood numbers as a baseline to accurately gauge what is added and what is being taken away. Limiting access to fix a problem is not the answer.
When the Merced River Plan was created a very large number of citizens opposed it. They thought that the park service had taken the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act too far.
This act has three designations, “wild, scenic and recreational.” The portion of the Merced River that runs through Yosemite Valley is designated “recreational.”
However, the park service is treating it like it is “wild” by creating a river corridor and turning everything within the corridor back into wilderness. Yosemite Valley is not and never has been a wilderness unless you go back to glacial times.
Yosemite Valley was a developed area devoted to recreation for over 100 years after being designated public property, and 50 years after becoming a national park.
The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was intended to apply to the Merced River outside the Park to the west to prevent the construction of dams.
The bottom line for those of us who would like to horseback ride in Yosemite Valley is the fact that all equestrian parking has been removed. They have even turned the parking lot at the Curry Stables, that can accommodate horse trailers, into passenger cars only parking.
Wendy Brown
Mariposa
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