The National Parks Conservation Association, Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, and National Wildlife Federation have submitted a letter urging Mariposa County in California to reject a housing development that they say would lead to increased traffic and harm Yosemite National Park’s natural resources, among other issues. The new 110-unit residential development would sit adjacent to West Yosemite and on the border of Yosemite National Park.
“Yosemite National Park is facing a crisis driven by over visitation, excessive vehicle traffic and overdevelopment of lodging outside of the park’s boundaries. This has resulted in a range of impacts including hours-long traffic jams at entrance stations and throughout the park, harm to Yosemite’s natural and cultural resources, wildlife and facilities, as well as public safety concerns and deteriorating experiences for park staff and visitors,” wrote the groups. “We are concerned that [the development] would exacerbate these impacts while also causing harm to local communities and tribes who own properties next to the proposed development site.”
The letter also points out that the day-use reservation system that was helping to control traffic issues at the park was recently eliminated at Yosemite Superintendent Ray McPadden’s direction, making this a particularly bad time to add even more traffic to the park.
Despite the development being touted as a way to address the affordable housing shortage in the region, the groups are skeptical of the claim. “[W]e are worried that the so-called ‘Camp Yosemite’ development is a trojan horse scheme to develop a large new short-term rental or other transient lodging development just on the border of Yosemite,” they wrote.
The letter also cites increased wildfire risk, road access issues, lack of wastewater infrastructure, increased traffic, risks to wildlife, and noise and light pollution should the development be allowed to move forward.
In addition to sitting adjacent to Yosemite, the proposed development would also directly abut nearly 900 acres of land recently transferred to the Southern Sierra Miwok Nation. “We strongly support the tribe’s stewardship of their ancestral lands and are seriously concerned that this proposed development could interfere with the tribe’s use and enjoyment of their land,” states the letter. “Moreover, we are worried that the proposed development could disturb or damage important cultural or archaeological resources that reveal centuries of indigenous inhabitation in the region.”
The groups are urging Mariposa County to ensure that a full California Environmental Quality Act Environmental Impact Report is conducted to analyze the various environmental and public health and safety impacts of the project before allowing it to move forward.
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