Federal judge halts 9 renovation projects in Yosemite Valley

A federal judge has ordered a halt to a broad slate of renovation projects in Yosemite Valley, stepping anew into a battle over the human imprint on one of America’s most heavily visited cathedrals of nature.

In a 25-page written ruling, U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii in Fresno ordered the halt to nine construction projects -- including roadwork, hotel renovations and new RV campsites -- that are part of a long-planned, $423-million upgrade of long-neglected visitor facilities.

Park officials say the projects are being held hostage by litigation brought by “fringe” environmental groups.

“These are projects the public has told us they want,” said Scott Gediman, a park spokesman.

Greg Adair of Friends of Yosemite Valley said the legal fight is necessary to turn back the clock on environmental degradation while thwarting a shift to upscale hotel rooms, reduction of family camping and prices that could push average Americans away.

“We hope for a park that has meaningful environmental protection and equitable social access,” he said. “What we’ve seen instead is this pandering to commercialism, this rush to do construction and this shortchanging of environmental laws.”

Ishii’s decision, issued Friday, marked the second time in recent years that environmental groups have won court victories to halt the park’s ambitious construction schedule.

In addition to ordering the work stoppage, the judge ordered the National Park Service to attempt for a third time to produce a legally sound management plan for the Merced River, which cleaves the popular mile-wide valley.

Ishii criticized the park for rushing its most recent evaluation, suggesting that such a planning effort should take at least two years. The judge set a hearing Jan. 9 to determine a timeline.

Ishii’s decision stems from a ruling in July, in which he concluded that the park violated the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and failed to adequately follow federal environmental rules in its river protection plan.

He also criticized park officials for not going far enough in conducting a user-capacity study, a planning document that some environmentalists hope will usher in limits on the number of daily visitors to Yosemite Valley.

Adair, of Friends of Yosemite Valley, called user capacity “a foundational issue” in the planning process for the river and Yosemite Valley. “Yosemite went from 500 visitors in the early 1900s to now more than 3 million a year,” he said. “It’s the 21st century, and they need to define a measurable use of the park. But the Park Service hasn’t had the political will to do that.”

Park spokesman Gediman, however, said such limits amount to a quota system akin to treating Yosemite “like a nightclub,” with bouncers turning away eager patrons at the entrance. In addition, Gediman said, a limit on daily visitors would not guarantee protection of the valley’s natural resources, and coordination at the park’s various far-flung entrances could prove daunting.

In the mid-1990s, the Park Service came under fire after it briefly closed Yosemite’s gates during peak afternoon hours in the summer because of crowding.

Adair and others envision a day-use reservation system similar to the park’s backcountry permit requirement, which has been in effect for several decades.

Among the construction projects affected by the work stoppage order is a long-awaited face-lift for Yosemite Lodge and an effort to fix a nearby traffic bottleneck. Other plans include expanding day-use parking, constructing additional campground spaces, installing new utility lines, repairing dilapidated sewer mains and patching the valley’s pothole-blemished loop road.

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eric.bailey@latimes.com