Park Service - good or bad?

Dear Sierra Club,

I was rereading the July-August Yodeler this evening and, focusing on the story about Giant Sequoia National Monument (p. 15), was getting geared up to write to Senators Feinstein and Boxer, Governor Schwarzenegger, and my local representative, when I turned back to the earlier part of the Yodeler and read about the "Yosemite debacle" (p. 14). According to the latter story, the National Park Service "can't seem to get it right on planning". Yet we are encouraged to tell our Governor, Senators, and Representative that the Giant Sequoias should be under the purview of the National Park Service "which has a proven track record". Proven track record of "[not getting] it right on planning"?

I don't think it's enough to say the Forest Service has a worse record (if it has) - there has to be a positive reason to favor the National Park Service, and I am sorry you have not provided one in the last Yodeler.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Traugott

Response from the Club's Yosemite Committee and Sequoia Task Force.

The Sierra Club's full recommendation is for the Giant Sequoia National Monument to be managed by Sequoia National Park, not merely generically by the Park Service. This was not made clear in the article.

In a nutshell, the reason for our criticism of Yosemite management but approval of Sequoia National Park management can be found in how the two national parks, Sequoia and Yosemite, are different.

Sequoia's visitation is a fraction of Yosemite's, and Sequoia does not have the history of commercialization that Yosemite does. Further, the resource being protected in Sequoia has been well cared for by the Park Service and is not threatened by development or commercial uses; the Park Service even moved concessions out of a sequoia grove in recent years.

Giant Sequoia National Monument is very similar to the Sequoia National Park ecologically, and would be well-served if it were managed to protect its sequoias and related forests similarly, with an emphasis on prescribed fire and brush removal rather than logging.

The problems facing Yosemite stem from the visitor numbers and how the Park has responded to them, as well as from the long history of infrastructure within the small space of Yosemite Valley. The Park Service has done a good job managing the Sequoia ecosystem - but a poor job of managing the hordes of visitors in Yosemite Valley.