A high level delegation of conservation officials from Nepal visited Yosemite National Park over the last weekend in September. The group included Ganesh Raj Joshi, Secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (equivalent to our Secretary of Interior) and Megh Bahadur Pandey, Director General for the Department of National Parks & Wildlife Conservation. The group also included other conservation officials from Nepal and representatives of the World Wildlife Fund based in Washington, DC. Most of the members of the group had never visited Yosemite previously and wanted to learn about park management and tour the park.
Superintendent Don Neubacher and several members of the park staff met with the delegation at park headquarters and the group subsequently toured Cooks Meadow in Yosemite Valley. The next day, the delegation was joined by Deanna Dulen, the superintendent of Devils Postpile National Monument, and her husband, who is from Nepal. The group explored more of the park and enjoyed several hikes.
The national parks and protected areas of Nepal and Yosemite National Park share several of the same management issues, including large numbers of visitors and interactions with wildlife.
After visiting Yosemite, the group traveled to Washington, DC.