FoYV files Legal Appeal on Merced River Plan case

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Friends of Yosemite Valley

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
9/20/02

Contact: Joyce Eden

APPEAL FILED
YOSEMITE PARK'S MERCED RIVER PLAN OPENS THE DOOR TO MORE DEVELOPMENT

San Francisco: The two citizen groups, Friends of Yosemite Valley (FoYV) and Mariposans for Environmentally Responsible Growth (MERG), filed an appeal yesterday in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The groups are asking the court to reconsider the Federal District Court ruling brought by Judge Anthony Ishii, March 22, 2002, in Fresno, CA, on Yosemite Park's Merced River Management Plan (FoYV and MERG v. the Department of the Interior).

The Plaintiffs (FoYV and MERG) claim that the recent judgment was deficient in numerous ways and that the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was not correctly interpreted in the ruling. Bart Brown, Chair of MERG, stated, "The River Plan opens the door to even more development in Yosemite. Already, pile drivers and bobcat machines are drilling and gouging out the sensitive Lower Yosemite Falls stream area. We presented a strong case that the River Plan is not protective, but the District Court's ruling did not reflect that." The groups had argued before the court that the River and the special values for which the River was designated Wild and Scenic -- such as the braided streams, sensitive plant and animal species, and Yosemite Native American archeological sites and ongoing basketry, plant gathering -- are put in jeopardy by the National Park Service's Merced River Management Plan, rather than protected as required by the law.

Dr. Susan Sanders, a biologist who has studied the River Plan, observed, "I was disappointed to find that the Park Service's Merced River Plan fails to show the extent or nature of the Merced River's important biological resources. Without such knowledge this Plan cannot and has not provided for their protection."

"Yosemite's River Plan is a blank check allowing for more development and more asphalt," said Joyce Eden, Co-Director of Friends of Yosemite Valley. "We argued, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act mandates true protection and enhancement of the River's special attributes. In accepting less, we, and river protection groups throughout the country, feel that the District Court has erred badly and put the future vitality of the River and its outstanding values at imminent risk."

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