By Patrick Koepele, Executive Director, Yosemite Rivers Alliance
Two things happened this fall, and I want to thank you for both.
First, more than 27,000 of you signed your name to a simple statement: Yosemite is not for sale. When we launched the petition in September, we hoped for 5,000 signatures. You blew past that goal and kept going.
Second, California voters rejected Proposition 45 last week by about 12 points. The measure would have fast-tracked major projects, including dams and pipelines, and shrunk the public's chance to weigh in on them. Its backers raised more than $42 million. Many of you talked with neighbors, shared what was at stake, and showed up to vote.
It worked.
One message, said twice
These wins look different, but they say the same thing. People want a voice in what happens to the places they love and the water they drink.
That is what the petition is about. A Las Vegas investment firm owns 83 acres just outside Yosemite's western boundary and wants a shorter road to its property, straight through the park. Park land can't simply be sold, so the company and the National Park Service have discussed a trade: a piece of Yosemite for land somewhere else in California.
The Interior Department says no final decision has been made. That means there is still time. It also means we can't ease up.
Why it matters downstream
The Tuolumne and Merced rivers begin inside Yosemite as Sierra snowmelt. From there they flow to the taps of more than 3 million people, to 480,000 acres of Central Valley farmland, and to the salmon fighting their way home.
The park's boundary is the first line of protection for all of it. If that boundary can be redrawn for one developer's convenience, it can be redrawn again.
You understood that right away. So did 61 California legislators from both parties, who urged the Interior Department to reject the deal.
Celebrate, then keep going
So please, take a moment to celebrate. In more than four decades of protecting these rivers, we have learned that wins like these are rare. You earned them.
But neither one is finished. The interests behind Prop. 45 still want what they wanted, and they will be back with new versions.
On Yosemite, the Interior Department says it has made no final decision. Reporting suggests the Park Service could likely move ahead without another vote of Congress. Former park leaders say that would break the law, and the question may end up in court. Either way, decisions like this tend to get made when the public looks away.
We won't look away. We will deliver every signature to Congress and the Interior Department. We will keep watching this deal, and you will hear from us the moment anything changes.
Here is how you can help today. We are fewer than 2,500 signatures from 30,000. Share the petition with three people who love Yosemite as much as you do: yosemiterivers.org/defend-the-wild.
And if you're able, a gift of any size keeps us at the table for the long haul: yosemiterivers.org/runwild
I'd like to see many more seasons like this one. Together, we will keep Yosemite wild.
