Re: Falling tree kills woman in HDV

Unfortunately another person is killed by a falling tree in Yosemite Valley. The tunnel view shows maybe 50% of the pine trees are dead or dying from the bark beetles. Since this is a National Park and not a wilderness area the park service should be looking at a plan to improve this situation. Dangerous trees could be removed and new native seedlings planted. Trees were cut to return the tunnel view to its original sight and Black Oaks planted to replace the dying ones. Unlike fires I don't believe the Ponderosa Pines will reseed themselves without the heat to open the pine cones.

Incredibly unfortunate.

Please bear in mind that the park has been closing the campgrounds
including Half Dome Village for wind events since the beginning of December.
They have done it a number of times since then.
Additionally they have been cutting dead pines along the road and campgrounds.
You can see one right in the picture in the article.

When driving home we thought they had closed like they had before....
preemptively... not after such a sad incident has already occurred.

Deepest condolences to her loved ones

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I was in camp 4 last weekend and there was quite a bit of tree debris. Not sure if it was just broken branches, or if a tree(s) had come down.

I also noticed a HUGE pile of debris on the Upper Pine campground side of the road while driving down to the Trailhead Parking lot.

It looked like NPS had been busy cleaning up the results from the storms! I don't think the problems are the dead trees. It's that the soil is soooo wet, in some places it's just mud, that it can't keep the trees upright.

I usually poo-pah the 'over' reactions of NPS, but then something like this happens and I have to re-think. .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2017 08:19PM by qumqats.

My condolence to her family and friends. Unfortunately, even with healthy trees, with soil saturation and high winds, you never know which one might fall over or break part way up the tree.

Really sad to see a life lost like this, especially a 21 year old. My condolences are with her family and friends.

Totally concur that these are tricky times with over-saturated grounds and high winds, so I gotta remember to play it safe. The current conditions are probably overwhelming for NPS employees also - the weather as well as their overall environment.

This is really scary as I have stayed in those tents many times. I feel very sorry for this victim and I have to wonder if the NPS should be doing more to ensure the safety of guests staying in those cabins.

More on this tragedy.

https://goo.gl/PVvlek