Benefits of Yosemite Concession Sale Told

The planned sale of the Yosemite National Park concession to a nonprofit foundation ultimately will generate an estimated $107 million for improvements in the popular Yosemite Valley area, National Park Service Director James Ridenhour said Wednesday.

Under the arrangement between the Interior Department and the new Japanese owners of MCA Inc., the Yosemite Park & Curry Co. concession operation will be taken over by the National Park Foundation when the company’s contract expires in 1993. The foundation will turn over its equipment, hotels and restaurants to the Park Service, and competition will be opened to award a new contract to operate the park.

Long a sore spot with Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan Jr., the lucrative Yosemite concession provoked an uproar after MCA was acquired by Japan’s Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Lujan strenuously objected to having a national park concession operated by a foreign company.

After the sale of the concession was worked out, Lujan went out of his way to end the bitter episode. Testifying before a House subcommittee Wednesday, he denied he had engaged in “Japan bashing,” refused to rule out future foreign participation in park concessions and invited MCA Vice President Robert Hadl to join him in explaining the agreement to lawmakers.

With concessions at several national parks up for renewal in the next three years, it appears likely that the fight over the Curry Co. will produce a sweeping congressional review of concession operations and profits.

Rep. Mike Synar (D-Okla.), chairman of the energy, environment and natural resources subcommittee of the House Government Operations Committee, said he will introduce legislation to increase concessionaire fees and reduce the terms of concession contracts. The pacts run to 30 years and tend to be extended in perpetuity.

According to some estimates, national park concessioners pocketed $500 million in 1988 while paying the U.S. government about $12 million in concession fees.

One of the most profitable has been the Curry Co., which was purchased by MCA for $13 million in 1973.

Lujan said Wednesday he prefers to reduce the contract length to no more than 10 years. He declined to say how much the government should be able to collect in franchise fees.

Park officials have estimated they will need $107 million for improvements at Yosemite and expect that the increase in concession fees going to the government will allow them to finance what is needed.