Fine for Yosemite--but Not for Japan

The U.S. Department of the Interior is going to get the hotels, restaurants, the supermarket and other buildings at Yosemite at bargain prices.

But if the episode leaves an impression in Washington that Japan-bashing really pays off, then that would make any price too high for comfort.

The deal was worked out after Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr. lamented the prospect of Japanese management of these various intrusions of civilization into the park’s elegant wilderness. Whether he helped drive the price down is hard to tell.

There certainly was never a real possibility that what Lujan was lamenting would ever happen. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which inherited the Yosemite concessions when it bought the entertainment giant MCA Inc., never intended to hold onto the concession. The company wanted to put it in escrow to avoid that very kind of harangue and apparently even discussed simply donating the Yosemite Park & Curry Co. concession, buildings and all, to Interior only to be told that would present a conflict of interest. It is hard to tell whether the giveaway offer was serious.

Yosemite will be better off with this deal than with many other possible outcomes. The National Park Service can more easily dismantle buildings targeted for destruction in Yosemite’s master plan. And because concessionaires would lose the advantage of owning the buildings, bidding for Yosemite concessions could become truly competitive.

Good news--unless Washington carries away the wrong lesson about Japan-bashing.