- Signatures: 1,115
- Goal: 10,000
- Deadline: Ongoing...
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Help Save Yosemite Valley's North Pines Campground from closure, and restore the other Yosemite Valley campgrounds closed by the 2000 Yosemite Valley Plan
Before the 1997 flood, there were more than 800 family friendly auto-based campsites in Yosemite Valley. The Park's 2000 Yosemite Valley Plan permanently eliminated Upper River Campground, Lower River Campground, the Yosemite Valley Group Campground and a large portion of Lower Pines Campground.
The Plan also targets North Pines Campground for removal, which we feel must not go forward.
Final count: 500 campsites will remain resulting in a loss of more than 40% of camping opportunities in Yosemite Valley. Of the 500 sites, only 330 will be auto-based sites creating even fewer opportunities for young families, the disabled, and the elderly.
As part of the emergency flood appropriation, Congress gave the National Park Service funding to repair these campgrounds in Yosemite Valley--not to eliminate them. We oppose this arbitrary action by the National Park Service. We believe the NPS breached any public process in condemning the river damaged campsites and that none took place in their condemnation.
We request that Lower River, Upper River, and a portion of Lower Pines Campgrounds be reinstated with family friendly auto-based sites, as was the case pre-flood; we further request that North Pines Campground remain as currently used. This request complies with the vision of the Park's original General Management Plan.
After you sign, please go to our website below, where if you are interested you can sign up to get the newsletter at the link that says "Mailing List".
www.yosemitevalleycampers.org/
Before the 1997 flood, there were more than 800 family friendly auto-based campsites in Yosemite Valley. The Park's 2000 Yosemite Valley Plan permanently eliminated Upper River Campground, Lower River Campground, the Yosemite Valley Group Campground and a large portion of Lower Pines Campground.
The Plan also targets North Pines Campground for removal, which we feel must not go forward.
Final count: 500 campsites will remain resulting in a loss of more than 40% of camping opportunities in Yosemite Valley. Of the 500 sites, only 330 will be auto-based sites creating even fewer opportunities for young families, the disabled, and the elderly.
As part of the emergency flood appropriation, Congress gave the National Park Service funding to repair these campgrounds in Yosemite Valley--not to eliminate them. We oppose this arbitrary action by the National Park Service. We believe the NPS breached any public process in condemning the river damaged campsites and that none took place in their condemnation.
We request that Lower River, Upper River, and a portion of Lower Pines Campgrounds be reinstated with family friendly auto-based sites, as was the case pre-flood; we further request that North Pines Campground remain as currently used. This request complies with the vision of the Park's original General Management Plan.
After you sign, please go to our website below, where if you are interested you can sign up to get the newsletter at the link that says "Mailing List".
www.yosemitevalleycampers.org/
| Number | Date | Name | State | Your comments: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,120 | 5:10 pm PDT, May 1 | Mark Holloway | Utah | It would make more sense to get rid of the motels. Nobody has a 'park experience' in a motel room. |
| 1,119 | 9:56 pm PDT, Apr 13 | forrest hickman | California | over the years, there have been less and less campsites. it is a disgrace that plans constantly change to take away wonderful experiences that others could have by having more availability. the park is for people appreciate and enjoy, not for a handful of politically motivated idiots to have their way. the park belongs to the people! |
| 1,118 | 7:06 pm PDT, Apr 8 | Shelley D. Schaffer | California | |
| 1,117 | 8:54 am PDT, Apr 7 | Dennis Cottle | California | You must use the funding to maintain and or retain the 800 campgrounds in Yosemite Valley...not to reduce the number to 500. This is mismanagement, immoral, dishonest and totally unacceptable. You have forgotten who you actually serve. Get your thinking right. |
| 1,116 | 5:08 pm PDT, Mar 19 | Karen Stassi | California | I have enjoyed camping in Yosemite for over 50 years since I was six years old. I am appalled at the near criminal efforts of the National Park Service to misuse their funding and negate the intentions of the US Congress in granting that funding by eliminating camp sites rather than restoring the Lower and Upper River Campgrounds and that part of Lower Pines damaged by an obvious "100 year" flood in 1997. I also deplore the way the restroom facilities in the remaining Lower Pines Campground and Upper Pines and North Pines Campgrounds have been allowed to deteriorate. There has been no substantial modernization or upgrading of the sanitary facilities in the last 20 years long before the freak flood of '97 encouraged rabid environmentalists with-in the National Park Service to implement their plan to push middle class campers out of the Yosemite Valley in favor of higher priced commercial overnight accommodations that are unaffordable to most families. Shame on the NPS. Save North Pines and restore Lower and Upper River Campgrounds as well as the lost sites in Lower Pines Campground. I shudder to think of the horrible impression given to foreign visitors to the most naturally beautiful Park in the World if they should find it necessary to use the restroom facilities in the lst loop of the Upper Pines Campground. It should have been enlarged and updated years ago. |
| 1,115 | 1:49 pm PDT, Mar 19 | Anonymous | California | It's sad to see what is considered public property but is being kept from everyones use. |
| 1,114 | 7:17 am PDT, Mar 19 | Doug Kuhl | California | Better still, also rebuild the damaged Lower Pines and Lower River Campgrounds. |
| 1,113 | 8:03 pm PDT, Mar 18 | Terra Condit | Illinois | |
| 1,112 | 7:43 pm PDT, Mar 18 | mary kuhl | California | What the NPS is doing is a disgrace. |
| 1,111 | 6:49 pm PDT, Mar 18 | Anonymous | California | |
| 1,110 | 6:30 pm PDT, Mar 18 | Anonymous | California | |
| 1,109 | 5:53 pm PDT, Mar 18 | Anonymous | California | We have been camping in the valley for over 50 years. We sincerely resent the efforts to force us out! This year we were only able to secure one campsite, everyone else has to stay at Curry or not come. Yosemite is a national park that belong to the people. Restore to the pre-1986 days! |
| 1,108 | 6:09 pm PDT, Mar 17 | Susan L. Holsopple | California | As my sister has already commented, our family has enjoyed camping in Yosemite since we were very small children and have also taken our children. I hope you won't take this campground away from being enjoyed by many families each year. |
| 1,107 | 4:20 pm PDT, Mar 16 | Wes Gilbreath | California | Please make Yosemite easier to camp at by reinstating the lost campsites! |
| 1,106 | 9:18 am PDT, Mar 16 | Julie Loughmiller | California | I have been camping in Yosemite since I was a child, and have continued to camp in Yosemite with my children and grandchildren, It would be unjust to remove North Pines, It is already almost impossible to secure camping reservations anymore, My Mom said when she used to bring us to Yosemite as kids, there were always available campsites, when my girls were little it was not a problem either, now you have to start the reservation process immediately when the sites go on sale, and within 10 minutes or less the whole valley is sold out. Before the flooding there was two extra campgrounds that have never been restored. If North Pines is removed then that would leave two campgrounds only, and with the cost of living and inflation most families can't afford to rent a cabin or stay in a lodge and prefer camping. I learned about the environment, wildlife, park rules, protecting the park for future generations and have passed that on to my children and grandchildren. My daughters were both junior rangers throughout the years. we appreciate the beauty of Yosemite and want it to be preserved for future generations, but removing camping and not allowing the average public to enjoy it would be wrong. |
| 1,105 | 1:30 pm PST, Mar 6 | Lisa Searcy | California | |
| 1,104 | 12:43 pm PST, Mar 6 | Anonymous | California | Save the campgrounds! |
| 1,103 | 6:18 pm PST, Mar 3 | Anonymous | Nevada | I have been enjoying family camping for years and would like to continue visiting Yosemite and share the beauty with my family. It is a shame not to be able to get reservations. |
| 1,102 | 7:29 pm PST, Feb 26 | Marcel Klaftenegger | Texas | We had planned to visit Yosemite this year and camp there. unfortunately I could not get a reservation anytime in July for our 5th wheel camper. It looks like we will have to bypass it :-( |
| 1,101 | 2:23 pm PST, Feb 26 | kristin Langlais | California | |
| 1,100 | 12:20 pm PST, Feb 22 | Anonymous | Utah | bring back all the damged sites!!!!!! |
| 1,099 | 12:13 pm PST, Feb 22 | Anonymous | California | It is nearly impossible to get a campsite at yosemite in the summer. |
| 1,098 | 12:18 pm PST, Feb 19 | Joe Rhoan | California | |
| 1,097 | 9:00 pm PST, Feb 16 | Nicole Perrot | California | ... for the wealthy and the elitist, yes... if there is any park left from the loggers. |
| 1,096 | 2:16 am PST, Feb 15 | Craig Fair | California | SAVE YOSEMITE FOR PUBLIC USE |
| 1,095 | 4:31 pm PST, Feb 10 | Christine Taylor | Florida | |
| 1,094 | 7:50 am PST, Feb 10 | Anonymous | Oregon | |
| 1,093 | 1:06 pm PST, Feb 9 | Anonymous | Arizona | Another federal program that is both short-sighted, and worrisome for hard-working Americans. Pretty soon, National Parks will be for the wealthy and the elitists in Washington. |
| 1,092 | 6:01 pm PST, Feb 7 | sandra hicks | North Carolina | |
| 1,091 | 6:55 pm PST, Feb 6 | Pandora Estrada | California | |
| 1,090 | 10:39 am PST, Feb 4 | Anonymous | California | |
| 1,089 | 5:30 am PST, Feb 3 | Matthew A. Mendoza | California | |
| 1,088 | 1:44 pm PST, Feb 1 | Maria L. Couch | California | |
| 1,087 | 1:14 pm PST, Feb 1 | Paula Voss | California | |
| 1,086 | 12:40 pm PST, Feb 1 | gina svicarovich | California | |
| 1,085 | 11:44 am PST, Jan 28 | Kathy Svicarovich | California | We have been camping in Yosemite since 1990 It's has now become the Lotto to be able to camp in Yosemite. Every year there are less and less areas to camp. When you go to the website there are a few spots available and they will be gone in a matter of minutes. If you try to go through the phone forget all you get is line busy. If you have a high speed internet connection and several people in your group try at the same time maybe you can get a spot. This is our yearly family get together, and it is proving to be more stressful to make reservations. Now they want to remove even more spots. We need to replace the washed out campsites! If you look people are stii in the area swimming and walking all over. The answer is Not to remove more of the sites. Maybe we should remove the Serria Club's building and make camping spots there. Wonder how they would feel!! STOP trying to take away camping at our National Park!!! |
| 1,084 | 8:09 pm PST, Jan 21 | B. Emory | California | |
| 1,083 | 4:07 pm PST, Jan 21 | Anonymous | California | |
| 1,082 | 1:38 pm PST, Jan 21 | Anonymous | California | It's time once again for the Yosemite Valley Summer camping Lotto. Where the few spots available will be gone in 10 minutes via the web, (Can anyone get through on the phone?) only if you have a high speed internet connection. My family and I have been camping in the valley for more than 40 years. But only once in the passed five years. (we have been staying in Yosemite Lodge, very expensive for a family and the kids do not like it, they want to camp!) We need to replace the washed out campsites! Not remove more of them. |
| 1,080 | 9:19 pm PST, Jan 17 | L. Benson | California | We must restore the same number of pre-flood campsites. Furthermore, new campgrounds must be built in or near the valley before any more campsites are closed. Those that camp IN the valley do not have to drive TO they valley, which reduces traffic. I've been camping in the valley since age 5 and I fear that we will no longer be able to share this treasure with our children. |
| 1,079 | 11:18 am PST, Jan 16 | Ken Couvillion | Texas | It is already almost impossible to get a campground spot in this, our nation's oldest National Park. Please consider adding sites rather than closing them. The public needs this and it is in the financial interests of the park. |
| 1,078 | 7:09 am PST, Jan 16 | Anonymous | California | Put the camp grounds back to 800 |
| 1,077 | 5:56 am PST, Jan 16 | Anonymous | California | |
| 1,076 | 5:19 pm PST, Jan 15 | auger, paul | California | leave nature as is, move out the corp. |
| 1,075 | 2:03 pm PST, Jan 15 | Anonymous | California | |
| 1,074 | 1:29 pm PST, Jan 15 | Anonymous | California | |
| 1,073 | 12:55 pm PST, Jan 15 | Bernie Bott | California | Give us back what you were paid to protect. |
| 1,072 | 12:01 pm PST, Jan 15 | Roy Renouf | California | The magesty of Yosemite should be made availliable to as many people as possible. |
| 1,071 | 11:19 am PST, Jan 15 | Greg Svicarovich | California | Save all the campsites. Restore upper & lower rivers campgrounds. Bring back the number of campsites to 800. |
| 1,070 | 8:43 am PST, Jan 15 | Dale Hammond | Utah | It is a shame that the best campgrounds in the valley were closed even when money was appropriated to reopen them. The park is not as nice without them! |
| 1,069 | 8:30 am PST, Jan 15 | Justin Couvillion | California | Yosemite is a special place that generations should be able to experience! |
| 1,068 | 10:54 pm PST, Jan 14 | Anonymous | California | |
| 1,067 | 10:54 am PST, Jan 7 | Anonymous | California | Yosemite is a National Park - for people - not the bears, or mosquitoes. Put the sites back and make the park available to the people. |
| 1,066 | 1:25 pm PST, Jan 5 | Anonymous | California | Upper Pines is my Favorite campground!!! This park is turning into an elitist camp...for the wealthy and foreigners! Totally rediculous! |
| 1,065 | 10:35 am PST, Jan 5 | Anonymous | California | |
| 1,064 | 11:41 am PST, Jan 3 | Michael Hoffmann | Missouri | We need to be adding sites to Yosemite Valley... not subtracting them. |
| 1,063 | 10:18 pm PST, Jan 1 | Gary Wiegand | California | I have camped in the Yosemite Valley campgrounds with my family since I was less than one year old in 1952. Camping in a tent in these campgrounds allows everyone to be able to enjoy the Yosemite experience, not just those who can afford to stay in the lodges. Do not eliminate any more sites and rebuild those that have been lost. |
| 1,062 | 5:02 am PST, Jan 1 | Simos Tarabatzis | ||
| 1,061 | 10:00 pm PST, Dec 23 | Nathan Sipe | Nevada | Yosemite is a national park and treasure. As such it belongs to every American. Taking away the already limited opportunities to enjoy this national treasure is not just wrong it is criminal. I understand that restoring a campground after a flood can take a little extra elbow grease and sweat. Isn't that what our taxes that go to these parks pay for? I do not want a bunch of "rangers" that sit behind a desk eating donuts all day, I want a ranger that takes care of the park with his or her own hands. Even if it means putting a campground back together every year. Campgrounds save national parks. If no one can enjoy it but a lucky few, no one will care and the park will die. Don't push out those that keep the park alive. |
| 1,060 | 12:15 pm PST, Dec 17 | ronald clabo | California | I have no idea why a couple of people that want Yosemite to them selves are able to convince the government that reducing campsites is a good idea. the government should be building more site out of the valley , but should retore all of the sites removed in the last 30 years. |
| 1,059 | 7:48 am PST, Dec 17 | Michelle Oliver | California | |
| 1,058 | 5:54 pm PST, Dec 7 | art goertzen | California | I have camped in Yosemite Valley since 1934 at the age of four. I camped there every year with my family and then with our family until 1972. At that time, because I saw that the NPS was intent on removing campsites from the valley, I joined the Yosemite Park & Curry Co. thinking we would have a common interest. For five years I ran their Grocery Division and interacted with the NPS. As a member of the Company, I attended many Master Plan meetings as an observer. Then as now, it became apparent that the NPS had their own agenda and the meetings only served to let people feel like they had been included in the planning... In retrospect, it was going in one ear and out the other of the NPS representitives. At least my kids and my grandkids have had the "Yosemite" experience of camping in the valley... I saw the effects of the flood of 1997 on the River campsites about two weeks after the fact. Being a builder I estimated a private contractor could clean up the debris and repave the roads for around 100k. Bout two weeks later I drove through and was appalled to see all the berms and tables bull dozed into piles next to the road where visitors could see for themselves how "devistating" the floor was... We still camp there during the off season for a couple of days at a time; bring in our own dry wood and never run a generator... I know things change over time and tent camping is on the decline while Rv camping is on the upswing but it is still one of the best experiences for families and creats memories that last forever... I've listed my political party as "other" because I can't stomach the flaming liberals and currently the GOP isn't much better... |
| 1,057 | 1:52 pm PST, Nov 28 | Kevin Cummins | California | You must retain the 800 campgrounds in Yosemite Valley and not reduce the number to 500. This is totally unacceptable. You have forgotten who you actually serve. Get your thinking right. |
| 1,056 | 11:39 am PST, Nov 28 | Anonymous | California | |
| 1,055 | 12:52 am PST, Nov 25 | Linda Sandoval | California | Little by little our freedoms are being stolen from us...including the freedom to use and enjoy our national park! |
| 1,054 | 5:21 pm PST, Nov 22 | Anonymous | Maine | |
| 1,053 | 12:10 pm PST, Nov 15 | Sharon Baker | California | The beauty of Yosemite should be for all to enjoy. While I understand wanting to eliminate overcrowding and preserve its natural beauty, reducing campsites by that many would make it almost impossible to reserve a campsite. It is hard enough to get in as it is. |
| 1,052 | 10:06 am PST, Nov 10 | Charles Garber | California | |
| 1,051 | 5:15 pm PST, Nov 5 | Anonymous | California |
Save Yosemite Valley Campgrounds
"Every rock in its walls seems to glow with life. Some lean back in majestic repose; others, absolutely sheer or nearly so for thousands of feet, advance beyond their companions in thoughtful attitudes."
John Muir (From his book "The Yosemite")
To truly appreciate Yosemite Valley, there is no better way than to camp. By eliminating two and a half entire campgrounds in recent years, Yosemite Park managers endear themselves to other, more profitable tourist markets.
The Yosemite National Park Service makes campers feel like intruders in a theme park, where the park's more desired tourist arrives on a tour bus from a hotel in San Francisco. They prefer visitors to reserve rooms in their soon to be remodeled "Lodge at Yosemite Falls", or their upscale Ahwahnee Hotel, where guests frequent the park's fashionable restaurants and other commercial services.
Camping in Yosemite Valley nurtures family relationships. The campfire has been equated to the proverbial psychologist's couch, for the repair and enrichment of family relationships. For generations Yosemite has been a place where families form symbiotic lifetime bonds. Many Yosemite campers have camped in Yosemite Valley for several generations and feel that this tradition should be continued for future generations of Americans.
Please put your signature on this petition and let the park managers know why you approve of the preservation of this low impact form of experiencing Yosemite Valley, and to ask them to bring back the campgrounds that they have removed (the lower half of Lower Pines Campground, Upper and Lower River Campgrounds) and to stop removing others; specifically the North Pines campground.
Note: This Save Yosemite Valley Campgrounds petition was submitted by Brian Ouzounian. ThePetitionSite.com is a free service provided to help concerned citizens rally support for issues they believe in. The opinions expressed by this petition do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of ThePetitionSite.com or Care2.com. There is no express or implied endorsement of this petition nor any newsletter offers (except those from Care2.com) by Care2.com, Inc, ThePetitionSite.com, or our sponsors. If you believe this system is being abused, please contact customer support.
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