Japan Firm Will Sell Yosemite Stake in a Year

Responding to concerns about foreign ownership of a national park concession, the Japanese firm that is acquiring entertainment conglomerate MCA Inc. announced Monday that the Yosemite Park & Curry Co. will be spun off to an American buyer within a year.

The Curry Co., an MCA subsidiary, operates hotels, restaurants and other tourist services at Yosemite National Park under contract with the National Park Service.

National Park Service Director James Ridenour, in a telephone interview from Washington, said that MCA and its buyer, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., agreed to put Curry Co. stock in escrow for a year until a buyer for the park concession can be found. In the meantime, the company’s net profits, described by Ridenour as “multiple millions,” will be turned over to the National Park Foundation, a nonprofit group that funnels private money into national park programs and projects.

“As time got short, this became an option that looked like the best thing to do,” the park director said. “ . . . It certainly has great potential for being a very good deal for the people of America.”

The arrangement follows public pleas to MCA by Ridenour and Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr. to keep the Yosemite concession in American hands. The two officials declared their concerns after the Park Service received dozens of letters from citizens objecting to a foreign-owned firm running a national park concession.

Ridenour said both MCA and Matsushita “had a great feeling of sensitivity for this issue.”

Among the prospective buyers of the Curry Co. are the Yosemite Restoration Trust, a group founded by environmentalists and businessmen earlier this year to oust MCA from the park, obtain the concession contract and reduce development in the park.

“The trust will try to buy it, and they are very serious about it,” said Patricia Schifferle, a member of the trust’s advisory council. “They are acquiring the financial backing now.”

Schifferle, however, called on MCA to donate the Curry Co. to the Restoration Trust. The Curry Co., which has been owned by MCA since 1973, has been valued at from $50 million to $300 million.

“Few of us in our lifetime have an opportunity that (MCA Chairman) Lew Wasserman has today,” said Schifferle, “and that is to alter the course of current events . . . and ensure that for the future, Yosemite will remain a decommercialized gem.”

An MCA spokeswoman declined to say whether the corporation has discussed such a possibility with the Restoration Trust.

“I am not at liberty to disclose that right now,” said spokeswoman Christine Hanson. “That is an option that may or may not have been considered. But at this point, what we are doing is to put it up for sale.”

Matsushita probably would have to agree to the donation of Curry Co. assets.

George T. Frampton Jr., president of the Wilderness Society and a member of Restoration Trust’s board of directors, declined to comment on any aspect of the deal. The Restoration Trust has pledged, should it get the concession contract, to return its profits to the park and reduce commercialization there.

“As a board member of the trust, I am not in (a) position to say anything at all right now,” Frampton said. “Obviously, we are watching what is happening with great interest.”

Ridenour said MCA and the Park Service discussed the possibility of MCA donating the Curry Co. or some of its Yosemite holdings to the government or to a park foundation. But he said “legal impediments” and MCA’s commitment to protecting its employees at Yosemite made such a deal impossible, given the frenzied pace of negotiations with the Park Service over the past two weeks.

Ridenour also said the Park Service ultimately will decide who buys the company, and may even help determine the price.

The director added that the Curry Co. contract with the Park Service could be renegotiated when the company is sold to increase fees paid to the government. The agreement under which the company operates accommodations at Yosemite expires in 1993.

The contract has been a center of controversy for more than a year. Some environmentalists charged that the corporation earned excessive profits at Yosemite and commercialized the park; Ridenour pledged to raise the concession payments in future contracts.

Under its agreement with the Park Service, the Curry Co. pays 0.75% of its gross revenues to the federal government each year in the form of a franchise fee. Last year, according to the Restoration Trust, the company paid $636,000 to the federal government in fees and rent.

Environmentalists have estimated that MCA’s profits at Yosemite in 1989 ranged from $12 million to $17 million. The Curry Co., which declines to reveal its profits, says the estimates are “grossly exaggerated.”

The company also vigorously defends its record at the park, pointing out that its operations were modified or expanded only with the approval of the Park Service and that many of its policies and programs, including recycling, have been beneficial to the environment.

Daniel Jensen, executive vice president of the Curry Co., sought Monday to reassure employees and the public that services and accommodations will remain unaltered at Yosemite while a buyer is being sought. In response to speculation, he said there was no active proposal by company employees at this time to try to buy the concession.

“What we’re doing is waiting to see what happens with this transaction,” he said. “ . . . Being placed in escrow and held aside for a year, what that really means to me is that we are going to continue business as usual.”