Re: Ackerson Meadow Addition to Yosemite

Yosemite National Park in California adding 400 acres of meadow, forest

Fortunately someone we all know has located the boundary markers that now need to be relocated.

As a side note, I haven't seen any updates on the proposed expansion near Yosemite West.

Thank you Robin and Nancy Wainwright !!

Agreed. And thanks to all the folks who contributed to the purchase.

Regarding Ackerson Meadow...awesome.

Regarding Yosemite West...my guess is it didn't happen, when I drove by there on July 1 there was construction occurring by the relevant intersection with the Wawona Road.

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ttilley
Regarding Ackerson Meadow...awesome.

Regarding Yosemite West...my guess is it didn't happen, when I drove by there on July 1 there was construction occurring by the relevant intersection with the Wawona Road.

I have seen nothing more on Yosemite West in a very long time. The construction you are seeing is for Nature Bridge's new educational campus. I have heard rumors that there are money issues and that is why construction has slowed down. The one at Crane Flats will be removed when it is finished.

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Leave No Trace

Would be nicer if Yosemite got back the area lost to all the mining towards the east, that consists of Lewis, Parker, Koip, Banner, Ritter, etc. Not sure if the Inyo, Hoover, Ansel Adams areas towards the north were ever part of Yosemite (e.g. Warren/Scowden) , but they should be.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2016 12:21PM by Ohnivy-Drak.

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Ohnivy-Drak
Would be nicer if Yosemite got back the area lost to all the mining towards the east, that consists of Lewis, Parker, Koip, Banner, Ritter, etc. Not sure if the Inyo, Hoover, Ansel Adams areas towards the north were ever part of Yosemite (e.g. Warren/Scowden) , but they should be.

The rectangular black outline is the original boundaries of Yosemite National Park. It included Banner and Ritter but not much more north of Tioga Road. Most of the lost land was in the west and the southeast.

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Leave No Trace

Thx. Looking at some of the old maps, it seems that originally Mt. Dana was outside the park?

http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/maps/yosemite_national_park_1891.jpg

http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/maps/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/2016 12:00PM by Ohnivy-Drak.

Four Hundred Acres of Critical Habitat to be Protected

Yosemite National Park added Ackerson Meadow, 400 acres of critical wetlands and meadow habitat on the park's western boundary through a donation. The landmark addition was donated to the park through a cooperative effort between The Trust for Public Land, Yosemite Conservancy, and the National Park Service.

The Trust for Public Land purchased Ackerson Meadow from private owners for $2.3 million earlier this year and donated it today to the National Park Service to be part of Yosemite National Park. Funds to buy the property came from several major contributors to The Trust for Public Land, including a bequest of $1.53 million and $520,000 by the nonprofit Yosemite Conservancy, with additional support from National Park Trust and American Rivers.

“The generous donation of Ackerson Meadow will preserve critical meadow habitat that is home to a number of state and federally listed protected species,” said Yosemite National Park Superintendent Don Neubacher. “It’s a stunning open meadow surrounded by forest habitat, which supports a wide variety of flora and fauna species and offers new meadow experiences for park visitors. This meadow is a remarkable gift to the American people, coming at a historic time as we celebrate the Centennial of the National Park Service.”

“Donating the largest addition since 1949 to one of the world’s most famous parks is a great way to celebrate the 100th birthday of our National Park Service – and honor John Muir’s original vision for the park. We are delighted, and proud to make this gift to Yosemite, and the people of America” said Will Rogers, President of The Trust for Public Land.

Yosemite’s meadows are vitally important habitats and Ackerson Meadow provides critical habitat for hundreds of plant and animal species. At just 3 percent of Yosemite National Park’s area, meadows may be home to one-third of all of the plant species found in the park. Most of San Francisco’s water is filtered by Yosemite’s meadows, including Ackerson Meadow.

“The original Yosemite boundary plans of 1890 included Ackerson Meadow, so it is exciting to finally have this important place protected,” said Yosemite Conservancy President Frank Dean. “The purchase supports the long term health of the meadow and its wild inhabitants, and creates opportunities for visitors to experience a beautiful Sierra meadow.” In recent decades, Yosemite Conservancy has funded restoration and protection of ten meadows, such as Stoneman, Cook’s and Sentinel meadows in Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows in the high country.

Interesting...

1 square on z Topo map is 640 Acres...

So I suspect part of Stanislaus will be absorbed into Yosemite?
(I am assuming the black portion of Z Topo is private and is what was sold)

bzw... z cows were a grazing just outside the gate of Ackerson Meadow
last Wednesday... so nobody told the cows...

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I think this is the new addition:



The road that enters and leaves the addition from the west is the Evergreen Road. The southeast 1/4 or so of this map is Yosemite; the rest is Stanislaus, except for the grey area surrounding BM 4527, which is private.

Presumably at some point it would make sense to transfer the surrounding Stanislaus NF land to Yosemite, but this would literally require an act of Congress...

Literally?

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Yes, literally, apparently...

It sounds like the Ackerson Meadow parcel may end up in limbo (e.g. held by the current owners, who will probably manage it like the park service would) or will be designated as a new national monument to get around Congressional inaction.

FWIW, I think the Yosemite West addition is in a similar state of limbo.

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chick-on
1 square on z Topo map is 640 Acres...

More specifically: one red square (A Public Land Survey System section, usually with a red number printed in the center) is generally 640 acres or one square mile, but this can vary depending on the quality of the underlying survey. One black square (UTM grid) is 1 square kilometer (or "klick" ).