Daily Report - Yosemite National Park
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Weather
Yosemite: TODAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. WINDY. HIGHS 52 TO 62 IN YOSEMITE VALLEY...
33 TO 43 IN THE HIGH COUNTRY. GUSTS UP TO 55 MPH OVER THE CREST IN THE
MORNING.
TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 24 TO 34 IN YOSEMITE VALLEY...15 TO 25 IN THE
HIGH COUNTRY.
WEDNESDAY...SUNNY. NOT AS COOL. HIGHS 59 TO 69 IN YOSEMITE VALLEY... 41 TO
51 IN THE HIGH COUNTRY.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 27 TO 37 IN YOSEMITE VALLEY... 20 TO
30 IN THE HIGH COUNTRY.
THURSDAY...SUNNY. HIGHS 63 TO 73 IN YOSEMITE VALLEY...44 TO 54 IN THE HIGH
COUNTRY.
El Portal: Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 67. West northwest wind
between 7 and 16 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 28. North wind between 7 and 10
mph.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 73. North northwest wind between 7 and
11 mph.
Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 35. North northwest wind
between 8 and 11 mph.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 78. Calm wind becoming southwest between
7 and 10 mph.
Happening Today/This Week (Check the Community News section for other
events)
Updated late Monday afternoon: Managers have stepped up burning today and
tomorrow with the good smoke dispersal conditions.
The hope is to get everything burned immediately above Wawona and the
Wawona Campground today and tomorrow, so that we can get that area into a
burn down mode
Ignition will be progressing up the Wawona Road towards Mosquito Creek
through this week.
Smoke is worst between Midnight and 9am
What's with the Smoke? Community Meeting Announcement
Tuesday, April 15th 7pm
Wawona Community Center
The Community Center is located by the Wawona School on Chilnualna Falls
Rd.
Come to a community meeting with Yosemite National Park Fire Staff to
discuss progress on the Wawona NW Prescribed Fire!
Topics of discussion will include:
Objectives of the project
Expected duration
Tips for avoiding smoke
Health risks
Opportunity for Q & A
After the discussion, there will be a showing of the 27 minute film “Best
Intentions,” about the 2006 fire season at Yosemite.
Sensitive groups such as the elderly, the young, or those with cardiac or
respiratory issues should take the appropriate measures during periods of
dense smoke. Some of these measures include:
- Plan activities away from dense smoke
- Close windows and doors when smoky
- Clean air filters and vents in home
- Ventilate home when there is little smoke
- Avoid physical activities in dense smoke
- Consult your physician if you think you have any complications from smoke
( M. Beasley - 4/15/08)
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Wawona Prescribed Fire: Firefighters from the National Park Service and
U.S. Forest Service made good progress over the weekend on the large
prescribed fire adjacent to the community of Wawona. The heaviest smoke
impacts will be for the next two or three nights (Mon-Wed) as crews bring
the fire down to the Wawona Road near the UC Merced Research Station and
then turn the corner, progressing up the Wawona Road toward Mosquito Creek.
Motorists should expect traffic delays, one-way traffic control and are
advised to proceed slowly through smoke with lights on. Smoke
concentrations in the Wawona Campground for the next two to three nights
will be very unhealthful and anyone hoping to camp there should reconsider.
This project protects the community of Wawona from a wildfire moving up the
South Fork of the Merced and is funded under the National Fire Plan.
Wawona is a Federally-listed community at high risk from wildfires. (M.
Beasley - 4/14/08)
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Croaking Toad Returns on Thursday, April 17 - After a three month hiatus,
the Croaking Toad is back. Spring has sprung and the Toad has returned
for the rest of the year. The next Croaking Toad will be on "The numbers
game: integrated transportation and user capacity research in Yosemite
National Park" on Thursday, April 17 from 8 to 9 am in the El Portal Large
Breakroom in the Administrative and Maintenance Complex.
Join Steve Lawson, Assistant Professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute,
and Bret Meldrum, RMS Branch Chief for the Visitor Use and Social Sciences,
for an overview of the integrated transportation studies that have taken
place in Yosemite since 1999. Results have yielded social standards of
quality for crowding, pedestrian and vehicular models, and strong
predictive correlations between vehicular arrivals at entrance stations to
conditions at key attraction sites in Yosemite Valley.
Everyone is welcome. (N. Nicholas - 4/14/08)
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Valley Shuttle: Due to the closure of Southside Drive, Shuttle Stop #12 (Le
Conte Memorial/Housekeeping Camp) will be closed and guests and patrons are
directed to Stop 13A (Curry Village). Effective 4/7 - 4/17. (G. Rosenfeld
- 4/8/08)
New Today
Big Oak Flat Road Slide Repair
*April 14th - 18th Placement of soil berm, placement of soil erosion
fabric, & cleanup.
Big Oak Flat Road Seal Project
*April 14th-25th there will be intermittent 1-lane traffic control while
crews complete some additional pothole repairs. (up to 15-minute
delays--will coordinate with the El Portal Road traffic control to minimize
the overall road delays)
*May 5th to May 23rd>>Crews are planning to work nights placing a seal coat
on the remaining Big Oak Flat Road segment between Foresta Road
Intersection and the Tioga Road Intersection (Crane Flat). The work is
scheduled over a 2-week period beginning the week of May 5th or the week of
May 12th>> depending upon the weather and temperatures.(M. Pieper -
4/15/08)
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Wanted - a room to rent, or house to share. A new employee (non-smoking
female) coming to the park on a term appointment is seeking a place to
stay. Would prefer to be within commuting distance from El Portal.
Contact at 216-731-1056, laura_elze@yahoo.com (T. Croissant - 4/15/08)
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Two new FREE Dance Classes will be offered beginning this week, through the
Mariposa Adult School!
The Wednesday night class in El Portal will continue on the same schedule
for another 6 weeks. 6 pm Level I, & 7 pm Level II. Location: El Portal
School. First class - 4/16.
The same series, with the same schedule will be offered at Mariposa High
School - in the Gym - for 6 weeks on Thursday nights. First class - 4/17.
This Introduction To Swing series, focuses on East Coast Swing, also known
as the Jitterbug. Lori Landrin lives in Oakhurst, and has been teaching in
Oakhurst, North Fork, & Mariposa, for over two years. This will be her
second series in El Portal.
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!! Though the school system is offering the class
for free, they would like to see a class of at lest 14 students.
Wear comfortable clothes - and smooth soled shoes (if you have them.) -no
flip flops or backless shoes, please. (socks are great too!) For more
information: mountaindancer@sti.net or call Lori at (559) 658-8541. (L.
Landrin - 4/15/08)
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Argentine Tango Dance Class!! Taught by visiting instructors from
Argentina:Marcelo Molina y Carolina Vazquez
Sunday May 4th, 3:30-5:30pm, El Portal School Multi-Purpose Room
$25/person, 2 hour class, including a Dance Performance by the instructors
Bring: dance shoes with slippery soles (slippery socks work too!)
*No Partner Needed*
Sponsored by YEA and Balanced Rock Foundation - Questions? Call Myra
379-2540 (M. McKenney - 4/15/08)
Park News
Yosemite News Release
April 10, 2008
For Immediate Release
Yosemite National Park to be Featured on New Travel Channel Show
“Yosemite- America’s Treasure” will debut on the Travel Channel this
Sunday, April 13 at 7:00 p.m. (ET/PT). The one- hour program, produced in
the summer and fall of 2007, features the beauty, cultural and natural
history, and landmark features of Yosemite National Park.
The show, produced by Bellvue Entertainment Inc. of Chicago, Illinois, was
shot in high-definition and gives viewers unique perspectives of icons in
the park such as Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, and El Capitan. Interviews with
several Yosemite park rangers were also a part of the production.
“They were a great crew to work with and we are all excited to see the
result. We last did a Travel Channel show over 10 years ago so we are
especially excited about this new, state of the art program”, said Scott
Gediman, Chief of Media Relations for Yosemite National Park.
The Travel Channel is seen in over 90 million homes across the United
States. In addition to Sunday’s debut, the show will be broadcast on
Thursday, April 17 at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT) and on Friday, April 18 at 4:00
p.m. (ET/PT). (-NPS-)
Announcements
It has come to our notice that announcements are being posted at the
Midpines Post Office on behalf of "the management" of Yosemite National
Park. These did not come from Yosemite's management team and should be
disregarded. (M. Tollefson - 4/10/08)
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The Mist Trail is open for the season. The John Muir Trail, from Clark
Point to the Panorama Trail, remains closed. (M. Fincher - 4/14/08)
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The Glacier Point Road is now closed to public vehicle traffic to allow for
plowing operations to begin on Monday, April 14. Administrative travel to
Badger Pass is allowed as needed. Please drive carefully. (M. Dowdle -
4/14/08)
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Campgroung Opening: Lower Pines Campground will open for the season on
Friday, April 11. (M. Carter - 4/11/08)
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GSA Auction: The General Services Administration will be conducting an
internet auction of Yosemite personal property, consisting of a Chevrolet
Caprice sedan, Homelite chainsaws, a Polaris snow mobile, and a Hawkeye
double snow mobile trailer. The auction opens on Thursday, 04/10/08, and
closes on Thursday 04/17/08. The sale is number 91QSCI08086, items
#326-329. These items are located in the yard adjacent to the warehouse in
El Portal for inspection, and are marked with yellow item number cards.
Park employees are allowed to participate in the sale, with the exception
of any employee with unfair (nonpublic) detailed knowledge or prior use of
an item offered for sale. Such employees are prohibited from bidding on
that item, and the prohibition includes their immediate family as well.
Employees must view the items and bid on their own time. For further
information regarding the sale items or to register to bid, visit the
website gsaauctions.gov. (K. Kolbeck - 4/11/08)
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Leave Share Participants
Currently, YOSE leave share participants are:
Shari Baudoux
Kevin Bowman
Kimberly Cunningham-Summerfield
You can find leave share participants Servicewide on InsideNPS at:
http://insidenps.gov/index.cfm?handler=leaveshare
If you are interested in contributing annual leave, please do so by
completing a Request to Donate Annual Leave to Leave Recipient (Within
Agency) Under the Leave Transfer Program, OPM Form 630-A. A fillable PDF
version of the OPM 630-A may be found at:
http://opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/opm630a.pdf (T. Hawkins - 1/31/07)
Community News
Summer Housing Needed - Two summer law clerks [paid positions] are looking
for rooms to rent in the local community. Tom and Scott will be working
for Protection in the Legal Office and are second year law students at
Hastings and San Joaquin. If you would be willing to rent a room or know
of a rental call Beth at the Legal Office. 372-0243. (B. Waldow - 4/11/08)
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April 13th-April19th, YNP and Yosemite Institute will be hosting this fine
group:
Presentation School, Sacramento, 6th grade
Pueblo Vista Alternative School, Napa, 5th grade
Sherman Oaks Community Charter, San Jose, 6th grade
Standley Middle School, San Diego, 7th grade
Venetia Valley K-8 School, San Rafael, 8th grade
Katherine D. Burke School, san Francisco, 7th grade
Brook Haven Creative Art Magnet, Santa Rosa, 8th grade
Richland School District, Shafter, 3th-6th grade
Black Pine Circle School, Berkeley, 8th grade
If you are a graduate of any of this school or have any other connection to
the school or neighborhood, and you have any interest in speaking
informally with students from one of these schools, please contact John
DiDiego at 379-9514 ext 12, or jdidiego@yni.org to arrange a time and
place. (C. Hastings - 4/14/08)
Acting Designation
Sueann Brown (379-1222) will be acting Branch Chief for History,
Architecture & Landscapes on Tuesday, April 15th. (D. Humphrey - 4/15/08)
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Dave Miller is acting Supervisor for El Portal Roads & Solid Waste until
July 5th. Dave can be reached at 379-1120 or leave a message with Beth
Benitag @ 379-1057. (B.Benitag - 4//14/08)
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Jonathan Bayless will be acting Chief of I&E April 14-17. (T. Medema -
4/14/08)
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Jeanette Simons will be Acting Branch Chief of Environmental Planning and
Compliance April 14th, 15th, and 16th. You may phone Jeannette at 379-1372
in her El Portal Office. You may also leave a message with Doyle Harrison
at 379-1202. (D.Harrison - 4/11/08)
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During my absence the week of April 14, the following people are acting
Branch Chief for Anthropology and Archeology:
4/14 - 4/15 Sonny Montague
4/16 - 4/18 Epi Suafoa (L. Kirn - 4/11/08)
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Katy Warner acting RMS Management Assistant April 10-18th . She can be
reasched at 379-1421 (C. Knipper - 4/10/08)
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While David Thorpe is out of the office, Nancy Bissmeyer will be the acting
Communications Branch Chief and Tolleman Gorham will be the Telecom
Supervisor. (N. Bissmeyer - 4/8/08)
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Lee Tarnay will be the Acting Branch Chief for Physical Science and GIS
from April 14-17. Lee can be reached at 379-1420. (J. Meyer - 4/8/08)
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