Talk:History of the Yosemite area

/Archive 1

Removed from article

The below text needs to be cited before it can be put back in the article. --mav (Urgent FACs/FARs/PRs) 16:19, 24 April 2010 (UTC)

Mono Paiutes were the only group that kept returning to the Valley on a regular basis. They lived in established native villages in the Valley into the early 20th century. As older tribe members died, younger ones tended to favor non-traditional housing provided by the National Park Service. A few Paiute and Miwok families still live in the Valley and are employed by the Park Service. A reconstructed "Indian Village of Ahwahnee" is now located behind the Yosemite Museum, which is next to the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center. The museum has exhibits that interpret the cultural history of Yosemite's indigenous residents from 1850 to the present. In addition, the museum has regularly scheduled demonstrations of basket-weaving, beadwork, and traditional games by Native American presenters.

Stanford University mechanical engineering student Arthur Clarence Pillsbury arrived in Yosemite for the first time by bicycle in 1895. The young man fell in love with Yosemite and in 1897 bought a studio there. He visited Yosemite many times and photographed Muir, Galen Clark, George Fiske, and Teddy Roosevelt. These photos were published as postcards by the Pillsbury Picture Company. Pillsbury had begun producing postcards with his photos as soon as this innovative form of communication was authorized by Congress in 1898. His many nature films, eventually shown in theaters as well as in schools, clubs and for his lecture tours awakened the public to the need for conservation in the wake of Muir's death in 1914.

Many visitors fail to realize the wild aspect of the park, and tend to treat it like a zoo — feeding animals, petting them, taking mementos home; this is a dramatic safety issue for the visitors and is also illegal. Squirrels that feed all summer become obese, making them prey for Mountain Lions, which are a safety issue unto themselves. Food left in cars are easy pickings for the local Black Bear populations. Petting Mule Deer risks serious injury (the only person killed in Yosemite by an animal was killed by a deer). The Park Service, in conjunction with businesses and groups in the park, are trying to encourage people to experience and learn about Yosemite.

Trails and high use areas are redesigned to reduce impact. A free shuttle bus system has been developed to help relieve summer traffic congestion in the valley. Proposals to exclude cars in the summer that are not registered at a hotel or campsite within the valley have been investigated (this has already been implemented at other parks, such as Zion National Park in Utah). Many agencies in the Park offer educational activities and trips. Ironically, only about 14 square miles (36 km²) of the 1,200 mi² of the park are visited by a majority of the people.

In March 1986 the California Department of Fish and Game, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Forest Service reintroduced Bighorn Sheep just east of the park in Lee Vining Canyon. The herd reached a peak of nearly 100 individuals in 1994, but almost 60% of the herd died in the winter of 1994–1995. About 55 bighorns from the herd were counted in the 1996 census.

Details that need to be verified

I have carried out a couple of edits but have extrapolated some details to make them. From the context I have assumed logging is no longer allowed in the area. If this is false the sentence I introduced to that effect should be removed. I also noticed while moving the sentence "yet there were still 1,300 buildings in Yosemite Valley and 17 acres (6.9 ha) of the valley floor were covered by parking lots in the late 1990s" that the source this comment is attributed to is from 1994 so I don't see how it can make comments about the late 1990s. Lambanog (talk) 02:12, 10 September 2010 (UTC)