Peter T. Hoss has penned an editorial for the Monterey Herald about the idiotic Draft Merced River Plan. In it, he lays out issues with the plan which I wholeheartedly agree with.
From the editorial:
An ad hoc group of retired people from all aspects of Yosemite life, small in number but vast in experience, has protested the current Draft Merced River Plan and the accompanying environmental impact report, which led to my testimony before a congressional subcommittee on July 9.
This plan, which would dramatically reduce recreational use of parts of Yosemite National Park, is not a political issue. Followers of all political persuasions cherish visiting Yosemite.
The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, applied to the Merced River, was never intended by its draftsman, now-retired Congressman Tony Coelho, to apply to the 81 miles of the river within Yosemite. That portion made the final draft because of an administrative oversight when the House and Senate versions of the legislation were combined.
Coelho, a Democrat from Merced, wrote National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis so stating and opposing the current draft plan, but Jarvis disregarded his input.
So far, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, applied to Yosemite, has produced only litigation and a multimillion-dollar comprehensive draft plan neither required nor authorized by Congress.
You can read the entire editorial HERE.
If you want to read the entire Merced River Draft Plan (it’s 2,500 pages of stupid) you can download it from the National Park Service website HERE.