Yosemite

Banning plastic water bottles in Bay Area parks is overdue

By: SF Examiner Editorial 04/01/13 9:52 PM

Supporting a ban on the sale of plastic water bottles on federal parkland in San Francisco, surrounding counties and Yosemite National Park seems like a no-brainer for a city that regards itself as the epicenter of environmental consciousness. Read More

'California Forever' looks at parks’ past and future

By: Lauren Gallagher 09/08/12 11:52 AM

California without Yosemite is a terrifying thought. But the famed park that welcomes more than 4 million visitors each year could have been developed and felled in the 19th century, were it not for a government land grant issued in 1864. “Yosemite was the birth of the park idea,” says David Vassar, writer, director and co-producer of “California Forever.” The two-part documentary about the history and future of the state’s parks airs on KQED Wednesday night. Read More

Save reservoir, vote no on Proposition F

By: Steve Falk 09/05/12 9:59 PM

This week, the San Francisco Superior Court confirmed the ballot summary language used to describe Proposition F. While there was much debate over the measure’s wording, its underlying purpose remains abundantly clear. If passed, Prop. F will require The City to prepare a costly plan that, if enacted, would drain the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and jeopardize The City’s water rights, resulting in huge water rate increases to construct a new delivery system. Read More

Yosemite scalping: Hackers snatch top dollar for prime campsites

By: Staff report 04/18/11 8:51 PM

WHAT: Yosemite has only 900 reserved campsites available at one time. They cost $20 a night. But scalpers on Craigslist sell them for prime summer dates at $100 and up. They’re also selling permits to climb Half Dome, which are issued for free. Read More

SFPUC launches seismic upgrade to Hetch Hetchy water supply

By: Bay City News 03/30/11 9:21 PM

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission this morning launched a $320 million upgrade to safeguard the region's water supply in the event of a major earthquake.The project is part of the SFPUC's $4.6 billion Water System Improvement Program to seismically upgrade the entire Hetch Hetchy water system, which includes 81 separate construction projects along the water delivery system that stretches from Yosemite National Park to San Francisco. Read More

City approves $30M contract with National Park Service

By: Joshua Sabatini 10/19/10 12:00 AM

The Public Utilities Commission $30 million contract with the National Park Service to manage the watershed within Yosemite National Park was approved Tuesday in an 11-0 vote by the Board of Supervisors. The contract ends June 30, 2015. Eighty percent of the drinking water PUC provides comes from the Hetch Hetchy watershed and it is not filtered because of the high water quality. Read More

Promoting incompetence

By: Ken Garcia 02/26/10 2:00 AM

The recent news release announcing the appointment of Don Neubacher as the new Yosemite Park director left a lot to be desired, including little things like the facts. Read More