SFGATE: Calif. senator to White House: Approve Yosemite’s reservation system now
By Ashley Harrell
California Sen. Alex Padilla sent a letter Tuesday to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum urging him to approve Yosemite National Park’s permanent reservation system and to adequately staff the beloved park during its busiest time of year.
“I am writing to express my strong support for the Park’s efforts to better manage the visitor experience and reduce overcrowding through a permanent online reservation system,” Padilla states in the letter, which his staff shared with SFGATE. “I also want to underscore that the successful implementation of this Plan is contingent on sufficient staffing, including seasonal staff.”
Padilla’s letter comes at a time of chaos and confusion across the national park system, with President Donald Trump’s executive orders triggering widespread terminations and funding freezes at an agency that was already underfunded and understaffed. Hundreds of protests have ensued. And as the most visited national park in California, Yosemite is in a particularly precarious position.
Over the past decade, the park has welcomed between 4 million and 5 million guests nearly every year. Before the pandemic, the peak-season Yosemite experience was often defined by hourslong wait times to enter, gridlock on park roads, overflowing parking lots and rampant trash.
Park officials recognized the need for a visitor management plan, and over the past five years, they instituted pilot reservation systems during periods of heightened visitation. Although limiting park access was unpopular with some business owners in gateway communities, the move proved successful in mitigating overcrowding and protecting resources, and Yosemite administrators approved a permanent reservation system in December 2024.
They expected the permanent system to take effect in April, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.) But the Pacific West Regional Office of the National Park Service had not given final approval, the Chronicle reported, and now the Trump administration has the plans under review.
Insiders, who have been granted anonymity in compliance with Hearst’s ethics policy, have told SFGATE that it appears unlikely that the reservation system will be in place this summer, but officials haven’t responded to SFGATE’s inquiries, and the park website has displayed the same uninformative message for months.
“Yosemite National Park anticipates sharing details about this year’s reservation system early in 2025,” it reads. “We recognize the importance of providing clarity on that system as soon as possible to accommodate peak summer season travel planning.”
In Padilla’s letter, he points out that the lack of information about the reservation system has already become a problem. “The uncertainty surrounding the Plan’s approval is directly affecting visitors who are trying to make their summer plans now,” Padilla wrote, “as well as gateway businesses who depend on summer tourism to survive.”
In the letter, Padilla also advocates for the park’s employees, whose numbers have been reduced in the past two months by rescinded seasonal job offers, illegal terminations of probationary employees and buyouts. Although some jobs have been reinstated, Yosemite has lost at least 5% of its full-time workforce, including the park’s only locksmith.
In his letter, Padilla warns Burgum that without adequate staffing, the visitor experience will suffer. “Visitors will face long lines, trash will accumulate, and vital water and wastewater systems will be neglected,” he writes. “Additionally, reduced staffing will severely hinder Yosemite’s ability to manage wildfire risks, jeopardizing both the park and surrounding communities.”
Yosemite is “the crown jewel of the National Park System,” and when visitation goes unchecked, Padilla says, the park is plagued by problems that diminish what should be a world-class experience.
“In peak summer months, visitors are greeted not by the magnificent views of El Capitan, but with miles of gridlocked traffic, honking horns, and the oppressive smell of vehicle exhaust fumes,” he writes. “Particularly for first-time and international visitors, this is a far cry from the awe-inspiring sights Yosemite is known for. Not only does this affect visitors, but it also leads to significant pollution and degradation of the Park’s immense natural resources.”
He points out that visitor safety is dependent on there being enough park rangers and that a reservation system, to be successfully implemented, also requires adequate staffing. But for that to happen, the Trump administration would first need to approve it.
It’s unclear if Burgum, the Republican former governor of North Dakota, will be swayed by the letter. He took office Feb. 1, and two days later, he directed his staff to review national monuments, and possibly alter them, as part of an effort to expand the nation’s energy production.
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