Daily Report - Yosemite National Park Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Daily Report - Yosemite National Park
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Weather
Yosemite Valley
Today: Sunny and hot, with a high near 98. Calm wind becoming west southwest between 10 and 13 mph.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 54. West southwest wind at 11 mph becoming east.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 94. Calm wind becoming west southwest between 10 and 13 mph.
El Portal
Today: Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Calm wind becoming west southwest between 7 and 10 mph.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 57. West southwest wind at 10 mph becoming east northeast.
Wednesday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 96. East wind at 10 mph becoming southwest.
Wawona
Today: Sunny and hot, with a high near 96. Calm wind becoming west southwest between 7 and 10 mph.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 47. West southwest wind between 6 and 9 mph becoming calm. Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 95. Calm wind becoming southwest between 7 and 10 mph.
Tuolumne Area
Today: Sunny, with a high near 76. Calm wind becoming west southwest between 10 and 13 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 40. Southwest wind 14 to 17 mph decreasing to between 5 and 8 mph. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 75. Light wind becoming west southwest between 11 and 14 mph. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph.
Happening Today: (see Community News below for other events happening today)
Energy Audits for Tuolumne corridor, Crane Flat lookout, helibase office, Badger pass Res 5001 and Glacier Point areas will be in process on July 19 and 20. Please be advise that a team of Park Service employees and an energy contractor with the audit group will be in those areas asking questions about these energy usage of said buildings. Contact: Diane Pookie Mansker 379-1056. (K. Bablitch - 7/20/10)
******************************************************
Hazard Tree Work Continues
Contractors continue tree hazard cleanup along the Big Oak Flat Road and Tioga Road in the Crane Flat area. Intermittent one-lane traffic control is anticipated with brief delays. (B. Mattos - 7/19/10)
Construction Update:
Update - Hwy. 120 East of Tioga Pass – Caltrans is coordinating with NPS staff and Tioga Pass Entrance Station operations.
Work is underway between Tioga Pass and 5.5 miles east of the entrance station (Beginning July 7, 2010).
The paving has been completed and no work will be done today through Tuesday. Caltrans plans to complete all the shoulder work on Wednesday and the striping on Thursday, July 22, completing the project.
Guardrail work will resume with minimal delays once the paving is complete the week of 7/26/10. (M. Ortiz - 7/19/10)
******************************************************
Soda Springs Bridge Intermittent Closure: The Soda Springs Bridge (near the Parson's lodge) will be closed periodically from July 12 - August 5 for repairs. Sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause. (C. Hime - 7/12/10)
******************************************************
El Portal Complex Photovoltaic System (to be completed approximately 5 months from when work begins July 22)
Paragon Industrial Applications (PIA) [contractor]is in the final stages of design on the El Portal Complex Photovoltaic (PV) System and will start moving material and equipment into the El Portal Complex area on July 22, 2010. Trenching for the new PV systems and work on the carports will begin in August. To minimize potential traffic and parking problems, PIA has agreed to work weekends and a couple days during the week (most likely Thursday and Friday). Park Management encourages El Portal Complex employees to carpool, use the bus, ride your bike or walk to work during construction days as there will be a decrease in parking during construction. (M. Ortiz - 7/12/10)
******************************************************
Wawona Road Rehabilitation (June 1 - November 2010): Locations may vary throughout the day, but these are the primary locations scheduled.
** CORRECTION : Work is scheduled to begin on Sunday evenings at 9:00pm instead of 11:00pm.
** REMINDER : Although wait times are scheduled, expect overall slow travel times through the construction zone (due to following a pilot car, driving over unpaved areas, and waiting in lines of traffic) to increase beyond what is scheduled below
**Please use caution when driving along the Wawona Road - there are numerous unpaved surfaces.
- For all Yosemite road construction information and updates, visit the park's website: http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/roadwork.htm
- For daily traffic control updates, call the park information line at (209) 372-0200 (then press 1, and 1 again). (M. Ortiz - 7/19/10)
******************************************************
Integrated Utility Master Plan [IUMP] (to be completed by the end of 2010)
Mozingo Construction (contractor) is working this week to remove abandoned utilities in the meadow between the Yosemite Valley Elementary School (between Yosemite Village and Lower Yosemite Fall) and Northside Drive. (M. Ortiz - 7/12/10)
******************************************************
Wawona Tunnel (ongoing)
Candelaria Construction (contractor) is continuing work on the fire alarm and ventilation systems in the Wawona Tunnel. (M. Ortiz - 7/12/10)
******************************************************
Tecoya Housing (to be completed by October 1, 2010)
Allison Sierra (contractor) will be working in the Lower Tecoya area to replace old and failing water, sewer, and power lines. Currently they are working near the laundry room, E Dorm, F Dorm, and the area between Residence 108 - 113. (M. Ortiz - 7/12/10)
Park and Partner News
YARTS will be holding workshops to get your ideas for future service. On July 22nd there will be an Employee Workshop (brown bag lunch) from noon to 1 pm in the El Portal Warehouse large breakroom . There will also be a Public Workshop on July 22nd in Yosemite Valley from 9:30 am to 10:30 am in the East Auditorium. For those of you who would find it more convenient, there will also be workshops on July 21st from 4 to 6 pm in the Merced County building and July 23rd from 9 am to 11 am in the Mariposa Library. Questions that YARTS will seek answers to are:
How can YARTS better meet the needs of employees who work at Yosemite National Park?
How can YARTS better meet the needs of visitors to the Yosemite Regions?
How can YARTS better meet the needs of work and school commuters within the region?
Should the YARTS schedule be revised and in what way?
Should YARTS be expanded to serve more communities?
How can YARTS do a better job of marketing its services to local residents and tourists?
What would make YARTS work better for you?
If you would like to provide input, but are unable to attend a workshop, visit www.yarts.com and click on the contact us link. (W. Malone - 7/19/10)
******************************************************
Yosemite News Release
Yosemite National Park to be Featured in New iPhone Application
Yosemite National Park announces the first mobile application is available for visitors to use on their iPhone. The application will feature the hike to Lower Yosemite Fall, offering multiple locations in which visitors can stop and learn about the surrounding environment. The iPhone / iTouch application features a Global Positioning System (GPS) map which highlights the visitors' location as they walk to Lower Yosemite Fall. The application highlights 22 points of interest with stories of wildlife, the environment, John Muir, floods, fires, and forests. In addition, the application will allow visitors to easily locate the nearest restroom, visitor center, museum, and shuttle bus stops.
The application is available for purchase from the Apple Store. A portion of the proceeds from the application will go to the Yosemite Conservancy to further protect and preserve Yosemite National Park and enhance the visitor experience. To learn more about the Yosemite Conservancy, visit www.yosemiteconservancy.org .
Yosemite National Park worked in conjunction with Big Escapes to create the Yosemite Falls iPhone application. To learn more about Big Escapes, please visit www.BigEscapes.com . (K. Cobb - 7/19/10)
****************************************************
Yosemite News Release
All Campgrounds Open for the Season in Yosemite National Park
Additional Campsites Open to Public After Beings Closed for Thirteen Years
All campgrounds in Yosemite National Park are now open for the summer season. Several campgrounds along the Tioga Road and the Bridalveil Creek Campground on the Glacier Point Road have been closed since the winter of 2009 due to seasonal road closures, a heavy snowpack, and water saturation.
Multiple campgrounds along the Tioga Road, such as Tamarack and Porcupine Flat, are available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. Yosemite Creek, a first-come, first-served campground open for the season, will now offer 35 more campsites for visitors to choose from. In January 1997, Yosemite experienced a major flood, which severely impacted the entire park. One of these impacts was the destruction of a bridge connecting two camping sections of the Yosemite Creek Campground, resulting in the back section being closed for 13 years. Yosemite National Park has now rebuilt the bridge connecting these two sections and the entire campground is now available to park visitors.
All campsites on the reservation system are full through the rest of the summer season. Visitors wishing to camp in Yosemite National Park are urged to arrive early in the day to secure a campsite at one of the many first-come, first-served campgrounds. Additionally, there is more space available during the weekdays as campsites generally fill on the weekends. (K. Cobb - 7/19/10)
Acting Designations
Lorene will be acting Administrative Officer for the week of July 19. Lorene can be reach at 379-1873. (P. Lendvay-Humphrey - 7/20/10)
****************************************************
Cindy Whitten, Acting HRO will be out of the Park the week of July 19. Trudy Hawkins (209) 379-1802 will be Acting HRO. (C. Whitten - 7/19/10)
****************************************************
Shane Sims will be Acting Safety Officer while Roger Farmer on assignment in the Gulf July 12-July 24. Shane can be reached at 379-1209. (C. Ronay - 7/16/10)
****************************************************
Kieth Stowell will be the acting Buildings and Grounds Facilities Manager July 15- 23. He can be reached at 379-1280, or have a message left with Tara Hawksley at 379-1054. (A. Sharp - 7/15/10)
****************************************************
Until further notice, Brenna Lissoway (379-1283) will be the Acting Park Archivist while Paul Rogers is on a detail as the Acting Regional Archivist (PWR). If you have need to access the Archives, or have archive related questions, you can also try calling at 379-1282 or 379-1104. (J. Bayless - 6/3/10)
****************************************************
Until further notice, Lorene Schafer (379-1873) will be the Acting Chief for Contracting and Procurement . If you have contracting related questions and don't already have a point of contact, please call Helli Tucker at 379-1368. Please continue to route purchase request (PR) packages to Lorene for Acquisition Approval in IDEAS.
****************************************************
Until further notice, Ed Dunlavey will be the acting Operations Branch Chief and Deputy Chief Ranger.
****************************************************
Until further notice, Cindy Whitten will be the acting Human Resources Officer - 209/379-1878.
Employee News
Volunteers Rock! The Yosemite Bear Management Team has a sloth of amazing volunteers serving with them this summer. They have a total of 15 volunteers who donate their time in Yosemite 40 hours/week from May through September. Bear Team volunteers work day and night to protect the wildlife in the park and also spend much of their time educating visitors on wildlife issues and proper food storage. This year, they also have a volunteer serving up at Little Yosemite Valley. Volunteer groups have been busy this week too! AAA volunteers and Boy scout Troop 998 shoveled ash in Lower Pines and Hodgdon Meadow Campgrounds so that visitors may continue to have their nightly campfires. Thank you to all of these talented volunteers for donating their time to Yosemite!
(L. Prell - 7/19/10)
Community News
UNOFFICIAL YNP “BAR” ASSOCIATION GATHERING
All attorneys, law school graduates, paralegals, anyone else interested in the practice of law and administration of justice at the U.S. District Court in Yosemite, and anyone who would like to say “Goodbye” to Assistant Federal Defender Reginald Aligada is invited to Reggie’s going-away party at 9005 Oak Lane, Yosemite Valley, at 5:00 PM Thursday, July 22, 2010. Refreshments and hors
d’oeuvre will be provided.
For more information, please contact Jamie Hubbard at (209) 372-8917. (J. Hubbard - 7/20/10)
****************************************************
Carpool Opportunity: IF anyone is willing to carpool somewhere between Chukchansi Casino and El Portal at least one day Monday through Friday and works a schedule between 0700 & 1630 please contact Brenna at 559-676-7739, x 1804, or brenna_eagle@nps.gov. 1-2 seats available! (B. Eagle - 7/20/10)
****************************************************
Discovering Yosemite Through the Artistry and Humor of Jo Mora - 1904 and Beyond. Presentation by Peter Hiller, Jo Mora Trust Collection Curator, at the Yosemite Art and Education Center (located south of the Village Store). Tuesday, July 20, at 5 p.m. View original art work by Jo Mora, who drew a humorous map of the valley that continues to engage park visitors to this day. Learn about the history of Yosemite Valley as seen through the eyes of a very talented artist. (J. Friedrich - 7/16/10)
313 reads | 
Tags: