Daily Report - Yosemite National Park Thursday, January 26, 2012

Daily Report - Yosemite National Park
Thursday, January 26, 2012

WEATHER

Yosemite Valley
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 53.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 49.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 54.

El Portal
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 67.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 36.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 64.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 67.

Wawona
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 60.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 26.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 57.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 59.

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HAPPENING TODAY
Sal's Taco Night- Tonight
Yosemite Employee Association is pleased to bring you Sal's Taco Night - tonight, January 26. Come on out to share a burrito and a drink with friends. Designated drivers get a free soda of choice. We look forward to seeing you there! (M. Goldberg - 1/26)
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Croaking Toad Series
January's Croaking Toad Series will be on Thursday, January 26, 2012 from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. The topic this month will be the" Restoration of the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias Selected Natural Resources Assessments" presented by Sue Beatty, Restoration Ecologist, Bill Kuhn, Landscape Ecologist, Sarah Stock, Wildlife Biologist and Monica Buhler, Biologist. (M. Thornley - 1/26)
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Badger Pass Ski Area to Open Thursday, January 26
The 77th winter season at Badger Pass Ski Area begins Thursday, January 26 after recent snow storms dropped more than 24 inches of snow. Yosemite's Badger Pass Ski Area has been operating as California's original ski area for family fun since 1935. With 10 slope runs and five convenient lifts, families can enjoy stress-free skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. To help celebrate the season, DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite is offering several packages and season pass offers designed to help visitors hit the slopes for less.

Skiers and riders can purchase passes for the 2011-12 season at $129 for adults and $79 for children through the end of the season. To thank current season pass holders for awaiting the opening of the season, Badger is offering 35 percent off any 2012-13 season pass purchases. "Two for Tuesday" - Skiers and snowboarders can also enjoy midweek Yosemite skiing with Badger's new "Two for Tuesdays" deal, which offers two adult lift tickets for the price of one at $42. In addition to these exciting packages, Delaware North operates two shuttle services to and from Badger Pass Ski Area. The first operates within Yosemite National Park and shuttles guests from the park's lodges to Badger Pass. The second provides snowboarders and skiers staying in Oakhurst with transportation services on select dates to the ski area. For a complete schedule, please visit www.YosemitePark.com . Snow tubing will not be available until Badger receives more snow. For 24-hour ski conditions, call 209-372-1000. (L. Cesaro - 1/25)
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Live Music at the Carabiner
The Pimps of Joytime are coming back to Yosemite for their annual Carabiner performance this week. They will play a live show on Thursday 26th from 9pm until Midnight. There will be a cover charge at the door of $5 cash. Please remember that all Yosemite community members are welcome at this and all events! Valid ID is required, no backpacks or outside alcohol please. Hope to see you there! Check out

www.pimpsofjoytime.com for more details on the band. (E. Brosk)
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Go With the Flow: A 150-Mile Adventure on the Merced River
Katie Wallace, a science educator at the Yosemite campus of NatureBridge, is eager to share her exceptional adventure of sixty miles of paddling and 90 miles of walking along the Merced River. The Upper Merced River Watershed Council invites the community to experience her travels through a presentation of photos, stories, and musings on the rewards and challenges of following the wildly scenic Merced River from beginning to end. For more information on NatureBridge and the Upper Merced River Watershed Council, visit www.naturebridge.org and www.merced-river.org .

Title: Go With the Flow
When: Thursday, January 26, 6:30 pm
Where: Midpines Community Hall at 6364A Highway 140, Midpines, CA (A. Steed)

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PARK AND PARTNER NEWS

Congratulations to Alan Kunz
Alan Kunz has been selected as the administrative support assistant for the Office of the Superintendent. Alan has been on detail in this position since February 2011 and we are very excited to keep him in the office permanently! Alan is a Chicago native (Go Bears!) who has lived and worked in Yosemite since 1997. He most recently worked in the park's Travel Office as an accounting technician, but has also held positions in the Project Management and Planning divisions over the years. He's very active in the community, coaching his sons' youth soccer team and is also a volunteer structural firefighter in the valley. Alan lives in Yosemite Valley with his wife, Janis, and two twin sons, Alex and Nathan. We're all happy to have him on board! (K. Kosick - 1/26)
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Yosemite Archives Closure
The Yosemite Archives will be closed to researchers on Tuesday 2/21 to permit staff to attend the annual Interpretation Division training/field trip. (B. Lissoway - 1/26)
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Yosemite National Park Releases Environmental Assessment for Hiking to Half Dome - news release
Half Dome Trail Stewardship Plan Draft Environmental Assessment Available for Public Review
Scott Gediman 209-372-0248
Kari Cobb 209-372-0529

Yosemite National Park announces the availability of the Half Dome Trail Stewardship Plan Draft Environmental Assessment for public review. Public comments on the plan will be accepted from today, Tuesday, January 24, 2012 through Thursday, March 15, 2012. The Half Dome Trail Stewardship Plan was developed to address crowded conditions, visitor experience, and safety on the Half Dome Trail and encompasses the two mile section from the John Muir Trail to the summit of Half Dome.

The Preferred Alternative is to keep the cables in place with their current configuration and implement daily use limits of 300 people per day. This alternative provides the best combination of accessibility to the summit, free-flowing travel conditions on the cables, which improves safety, and low encounter rates on the trail, similar to use levels found on other high-use trails in Yosemite’s wilderness and other wilderness areas. The park implemented an Interim Half Dome Cables Permit System for the 2010 and 2011 hiking seasons. An Interim Half Dome Cables Permit System will also be implemented during the 2012 hiking season.

In 1964, Congress passed the Wilderness Act, creating the National Wilderness Preservation System. As such, approximately 95% of Yosemite National Park , including Half Dome and the Half Dome Trail, is designated Wilderness. Consequently, all of the action alternatives were developed to improve the wilderness character of the trail.

The Environmental Assessment (EA) presents environmental analysis of five alternatives, including the Preferred Alternative. Alternative A, the No Action Alternative, would retain the cable system and continue managing the Half Dome Trail as it was through 2009, with no permits required. This action violates National Park Service (NPS) policy and will not be considered. Under Alternative B, the park would retain the cable system and implement day-use limits through a permit system allowing 400 hikers per day. Under Alternative C, the Preferred Alternative, the park would retain the cable system and implement day-use limits through a permit system allowing 300 hikers per day. Under Alternative D, the park would retain the cable system and implement day-use limits through a permit system allowing 140 hikers per day. Under Alternative E, the park would remove the cable system from Half Dome.

The park considers all public comments in making a decision, which will be documented in the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), if appropriate. If approved, the plan will be implemented for the 2013 hiking season. Hiking permits for Half Dome will be allocated through an online reservation system and/or a lottery.

The public review and comment period begins with release of the EA. The document is available for electronic review at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/halfdome . Please submit written comments electronically through the website, or join us at the park’s monthly Open House at the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center Auditorium on Wednesday, February 29, 2012, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., to discuss the plan with park staff. Hard copies or CDs of the EA may be requested by emailing yose_planning@nps.gov . You may also mail your comments to P.O. Box 577 Yosemite, California 95389, c/o Superintendent, ATTN: Half Dome Plan; or send a facsimile to (209) 379-1294. (K. Cobb - 1/25)
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Critical Incident Stress Debriefing - Sonny Lawhon

There will be two debriefings at the El Portal Community Hall on Thursday, January 26. The debriefing for the first responders will be at 0900. The debriefing for the community will be at 1100.

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing - Ryan Hiller

There will be a debriefing on Friday, January 27 at 1000 in the Valley SAR-cache training room for those in the community affected by Ryan Hiller's death. (F. Grin - 1/25)

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Gathering to Remember Ryan Hiller
On Friday, January 27 at 3:00 pm there will be a gathering to honor and remember former NPS Ranger Ryan Hiller. We will meet in front of the Valley Visitor Center where there will be flag ceremony and group photograph taken for the Hiller family. Immediately following, refreshments will be offered in the East Auditorium for folks to gather and share stories about Ryan. Uniform for the day will be winter Class A, if available. We are compiling a photo and remembrance book for the Hiller family. If you would like to contribute please email: Jeff_Webb@nps.gov . The Superintendent has authorized that employees on duty may attend this gathering on work time. In lieu of flowers the Hiller family has asked that donations be sent to Friends of YOSAR. (J. Byerly - 1/24)

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EMPLOYEE NEWS

Upcoming Servicewide Radon Testing for NPS Residential Units
The quality of indoor air in NPS owned housing units will be tested to determine the average annual radon level. The NPS commitment under this plan includes radon testing at approximately 3,500 existing housing units across the Service.

The placement of a radon testing kits within NPS residential units should not be interpreted as a cause for alarm. Testing will enable screening for problem areas or locations and serve as the basis for follow up actions, including additional testing and mitigation measures if necessary. If radon is discovered and remediation is necessary, radon remediation techniques are available and highly effective.

The radon test kits for Yosemite NPS housing are expected to arrive sometime in February. The Housing Office will notify residents when the park is contacted by the WASO Environmental Management contractor to coordinate this effort.

Park staff will be responsible for placement of the test kits, as well as collection and delivery to designated laboratory facilities following the three day sampling period. The Housing Office will relay any questions or concerns regarding radon that are raised by residents to the regional office.

With your cooperation and participation, we can ensure a safer and healthier environment for our families living in NPS housing.

For additional information regarding Radon, click on the EPA Citizen Guide to Radon link: http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html or visit the Housing SharePoint site @ http://sharepoint.yose.nps.gov/admn/housing/default.aspx . (C. Baker - 1/25)

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CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

Fire Management to Resume Debris Pile Burning in El Portal and Foresta
Yosemite fire management may resume hand pile burning in El Portal and Foresta with help from the forecasted rain. Localized flames and smoke will be visible but impacts should be negligible and short lived. In an ongoing effort, park, state and private fire crews have created forest debris hand piles in and around the communities of Foresta and El Portal. These piles are being made to reduce biomass and create a 'defensible space' fuel break around Yosemite's vulnerable Wildland Urban Interface communities. Additionally, thinning, piling and burning can restore fire dependant ecosystems and set the stage for the progressive management of future natural or prescribed fires. Please contact Kelly Singer @ 372-0413 or Taro Pusina @ 375-9576 with any questions. (T. Pusina - 1/20)
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Village Store Closed
The Village Store will be closed for remodeling beginning Tuesday, January 17th and will reopen on Thursday, February 16th @ Noon. (1/18)
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UPDATE - Foresta Road Closure thru 2/29/12 - Slide Repair Between Rancheria and Old El Portal
The current road closure along Foresta Road will continue thru the end of February 2012. Due to the unseasonably dry weather crews made good progress on the upper (cut) slope stabilization and it is nearly complete, however the steep slopes required much of the work to occur with hand labor, so they were not able to make as much progress as planned. The remaining work includes the final seeding and mulching along the upper slope, then installation of a retaining wall along the lower (fill) slope, and then the final curb and pavement repairs. (M. Pieper - 1/6)

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ACTING DESIGNATIONS

Laura Jones is acting Branch Chief for Vegetation and Restoration on January 26 2012. She can be reached at 209-379-2175.

Colter Chisum will be the Acting Facilities Management Division Chief from Wednesday, January 25 to Friday, January 27. Colter can be reached at 379-1068.

Erin "Echo" Davenport (379-1067) will be Acting Branch Chief of Environmental Planning and Compliance from Monday, January 23 to Friday, January 27.

Jack Hoeflich will be acting Valley District Ranger until further notice.

Andy Fristensky will be Acting Deputy Chief of Interpretive Operations until further notice. He may be reached at 372-0599.

Jeffrey Trust will be Acting Yosemite Valley Field Interpretation Supervisor until further notice. He may be reached at 372-0307.

Ron Watson will be the Acting Supervisory Information Technology Specialist until further notice. He may be reached at 379-1074.

Brenna Lissoway (379-1283) is on a detail as the Park Archivist. If you have need to access the Archives, or have archive related questions, you can call 379-1282 or 379-1104.

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COMMUNITY NEWS

6th Street Cinema
Located upstairs in the historic Old Masonic Lodge on 6th Street, in downtown Mariposa. Film Entrance is $7 per film for non-members; non-member students pay $5. Monthly membership is $12 allowing film entry for $3 each. (Please note: we are not accepting credit cards this year.) www.sixthstreetcinema.org . This week: Jan. 27th - 28th (Friday Saturday) 7:30 p.m. MARGIN CALL. Starring Kevin Spacey and Demi Moore, the film is set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry. A thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. (Rated R; 109 minutes). (T. Arfsten - 1/26)
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For Rent
2 bedroom/2 bathroom house in Mariposa (near hospital) for rent starting March 1. Huge master bedroom with fireplace, den, yard, large garage. $1000/month + dep. Call-966-7697 (evenings). (Chappell - 1/25)

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Daily Report - Yosemite National Park Thursday, January 26, 2012