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Yosemite Climbers Sue National Park

A coalition of rockclimbers and mountaineering organizations filed a lawsuit

today in federal District Court to stop the National Park Service from

constructing employee and visitor lodging in a campsite and adjoining

woodlands known throughout the mountaineering world as Camp 4. Listed as

plaintiffs are many of the greatest names of Yosemite's renown climbing

history, including Tom Frost, Yvon Chouinard, Royal Robbins, David Brower,

Warren Harding, Lynn Hill, Galen Rowell, and many others (biographical

information listed below).

 

Citing the National Environmental Policy Act, the plaintiffs allege that the

National Park Service and the Department of the Interior failed to comply with

federal law in planning to develop an expansive housing complex for 340

employees and guest facilities for an additional 192 visitors at the very edge

of the Camp 4 campground, and in an adjacent undisturbed woodland. Camp 4 has

been the meeting area and cultural center for both American and international

rockclimbers planning their ascents in the Valley since before WWII. Camp 4 is

also known to the camping public as the only campsite in the Valley where

reservations are not required and the fee is a mere $3 nightly. The plaintiffs

contend that the construction plans ignored the cultural and historic value of

Camp 4 by siting a three-story dormitory multiplex, and a parking area the

size of one and one half football fields on the edge of Camp 4. Plaintiffs

contend the plans similarly ignore the environmental and public enjoyment value of the

adjacent forest and boulders, where twelve lodging "fourplexes"- each the size

of a mid-sized home - would be constructed in the currently undeveloped

woodland.

 

The suit grows from strong public objection by climbers and environmentalists

to the new construction plans for the Yosemite Lodge in Yosemite Valley,

unveiled in April 1997. Early protest to the planned expansion argued that it

violates the Park's General Management Plan (which calls for the progressive

reduction of manmade facilities in the Park) and that the cost of lodging

under the proposal would increase by replacement of inexpensive rustic cabins

with motel-style units. Plaintiffs in the current legal action further

contend that alternatives to the proposal (including removal of the facolities

from the Valley) were not considered, and that the plan would improperly spend

public flood-relief money to construct the new commercial complex.

 

Plaintiffs have emphasized their support for the National Park Service mission

of preservation, and question the influence of the Park's private concessioner

in the planning process. Yosemite's concession contract is managed by the

Delaware North Corporation, a privately held Fortune 400 company. Plaintiffs

include the American Alpine Club, The Friends of Yosemite Valley, The Access

Fund, and many individuals, including:

- WARREN HARDING, who was the first man to climb El Capitan;

- ROYAL ROBBINS, YVON CHOUINARD, and TOM FROST, who began

climbing in the 1950s and established the key first ascents on El Capitan. Chouinard

and Frost engineered climbing equipment which became the world's standard,

later founding the pro-environmental company Patagonia. Royal Robbins has

been credited with establishing the ethics and standards of rockclimbing that

dominate the sport today.

- GALEN ROWELL is the former photographer laureate of Yosemite Valley, and an

internationaly recognized nature photographer, author and publisher.

- LYNN HILL is considered by many to be the premier American woman

rockclimber. She is a recipient of the Underhill Award for her achievements

in the sport.

- DAVID BROWER is the former president of the Sierra Club, and recognized as

one of this nation's leading preservationists. He established many first

ascents as a climber in Yosemite in the 1930s. He has been nominated three

times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

 


Full Text of the Actual Lawsuit

Letter to RD from Dick Duane regarding the proposed Yosemite Lawsuit