Month: July 2018

Column: Names Changes and Stonewalling in Yosemite National Park

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By Ron Stauffer

YOSEMITE, Calif. — In January 2016, Yosemite National Park Superintendent Don Neubacher announced that a new organization had been hired to run the concessions inside the park. As part of the transition, a quirky change was also going to be made: five major landmarks in the park will have their names changed.

The Ahwahnee Hotel is now the Majestic Yosemite Hotel, Camp Curry is now Half Dome Village, the Wawona Hotel is now Big Trees Lodge, Badger Pass Ski Area is now Yosemite Ski and Snowboard Area, and Yosemite Lodge at the Falls is now Yosemite Valley Lodge.

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Yosemite National Park Draws Professionals and Volunteers

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By Ron Stauffer

YOSEMITE, Calif. — Judy Craig retired from teaching 18 years ago. But she’s spent a month each summer for the past eight years volunteering at Yosemite National Park.

Sporting khaki shorts, a dark blue shirt and name tag, she spends each day volunteering at one of the many information booths located throughout the park.

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After Three Years and a $40 Million Renovation, Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove Reopens

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By Ron Stauffer

YOSEMITE, Calif. — Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park has reopened to the public after a renovation project that lasted three years and cost $40 million.

Home to over 500 Giant Sequoias, Mariposa Grove is the biggest of Yosemite’s three groves where these trees, some of the largest in the world, grow. Foot traffic and wear and tear from vehicles over the years had contributed to the ecological damage of the grove which needed to be repaired.

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The Annual Bison Roundup at Tallgrass

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By Ron Stauffer

TULSA, Okla. — It’s a cold and foggy morning at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, where cowboys work for the second day in a row in their week-long annual bison roundup.

For the past three weeks, they’ve used four-wheelers and pickup trucks to round up the nearly 1,500 bison that call the nature preserve in northern Osage County home. The animals will be counted, weighed, and inoculated for brucellosis (also called “Bang’s disease”). Some will be culled for sale, and this year, ranch hands are on the lookout for any exhibiting pink eye.

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