The Sufis have a kinda slogan..."we're asleep in this world"...or something like that...brb...
quote
THE PROGRESS OF MAN
by Rumi
First he appeared in the realm inanimate;
Thence came into the world of plants and lived
The plant-life many a year, nor called to mind
What he had been; then took the onward way
To animal existence, and once more
Remembers naught of what life vegetive,
Save when he feels himself moved with desire
Towards it in the season of sweet flowers,
As babes that seek the breast and know not why.
Again the wise Creator whom thou knowest
Uplifted him from animality
To Man's estate; and so from realm to realm
Advancing, he became intelligent,
Cunning and keen of wit, as he is now.
No memory of his past abides with him,
And from his present soul he shall be changes.
Though he is fallen asleep, God will not leave him
In this forgetfulness. Awakened, he
Will laugh to think what troublous dreams he had.
And wonder how his happy state of being
He could forget, and not perceive that all
Those pains and sorrows were the effect of sleep
And guile and vain illusion.
So this world
Seems lasting, though 'tis but the sleepers' dream;
Who, when the appointed
Day shall dawn, escapes
From dark imaginings that haunted him,
And turns with laughter on his phantom griefs
When he beholds his everlasting home.
translation
R. A. Nicholson
http://www.armory.com/~thrace/sufi/poems.html
unquote
Starting out on the evening walkabout behind the Cabin, I was asked...well...it was 'Hello, how are you doing?"...the usual greeting!...and I answered...'Trying to stay awake!"....and I meant it literally...as I had just woke up from a nap...and felt like curling up some more!....but on the walk about I got to thinking....the 'close observation of Nature' effort is like trying to stay awake...awake to Nature inspite of all the hullabaloo!...and I recollected the Sufi slogan...but hadn't seen Rumi's bit I find tonight!...which is knockdown...
quote again...
Remembers naught of what life vegetive,
Save when he feels himself moved with desire
Towards it in the season of sweet flowers,
As babes that seek the breast and know not why.
unquote...
but let me get the 'sleep' bit I'm more familiar with...
quote
Buddha founded his Path on the human fact of suffering. Islam gives the basic situation in which we find ourselves a slightly different interpretation: man in his ordinary state of consciousness is literally asleep ("and when he dies he wakes," as Mohammad said). He lives in a dream, whether of enjoyment or suffering - a phenomenal, illusory existence. Only his lower self is awake, his "carnal soul." Whether he feels so or not, he is miserable. But potentially the situation can be changed, for ultimately man is not identical with his lower self. (The Prince of Balkh, Ibrahim Adham, lost in the desert while hunting, chased a magic stag, which turned on him and asked, "Were you born for this?") Man's authentic existence is in the Divine; he has a higher Self, which is true; he can attain felicity, even before death ("Die before you die," said the Prophet). The call comes: to flight, migration, a journey beyond the limitations of world and self.
Introduction to the Sufi Path
by Peter Lamborn Wilson
http://www.kheper.net/topics/Islamic_esotericism/introduction.htm
unquote
That's taken from the top of the search...but let me find Shah's take...brb...
quote
This is a 1972 mass market pb printing from Penguin in very good condition with no marks other than light stains on page edges. Aptly titled, "Reflections," is a collection of fables, aphorisms, and statements that challenge the conditioned, assumptive manner we use when thinking of and interacting with others and ourselves. These reflections-whose effect is similar to being shaken out of sleep-offer insight on many levels.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Reflections-by-Idries-Shah-1972-Fables-in-Sufi-Trad_W0QQitemZ170220715018QQcmdZViewItem
unquote
there should be a better bit somewhere...brb...oh...here's a good long tale that address the question..."What do the Sufi's mean..."To be in the world but not of it.""...
http://www.wie.org/j18/bayrak.asp
But it's a theologon's argument...and isn't going to stop global warming...where is that other Sufi slogan!..."Trust in God...and tie up your donkey!"
quote
‘Trust in God, but tie your camel first.’ The economic organization of the trans-Saharan slave trade between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries...
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=68E6B1CBB3159AA1C1EC347EF7F65F7D.tomcat1?fromPage=online&aid=454808
or the guest workers in Arabia...
that slogan attributed to Mohammed gets plugged into a lot of things..
here's a whole list of 'camel' proverbs...
http://creativeproverbs.com/cgi-bin/sql_search3cp.cgi?boolean=and&field=all&frank=all&keyword=camel
well...nothing much can fit into a nutshell...brb...
quote
The central concept in Sufism is love. Dervishes—the name given to initiates of sufi orders—believe that love is a projection of the essence of God to the universe.They believe that God desires to recognize beauty, and as if one looks at a mirror to see oneself, God looks at himself within the dynamics of nature. This is substantiated using the famous Hadith Qudsi (extra-Qur'anic utterance of God): "I was a hidden treasure, and I wanted to be known, so I created Creation." Since they believe that everything is a reflection of God, ...
http://www.experiencefestival.com/transmigration_of_souls/page/2
unquote
I suppose I can curl up with that one!
DavidDavid
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Outstanding Remarkable Values
Here's link to the Park Service's page...which is called The Merced River Plan...insomuch as the River runs through it all!
http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/newmrp.htm
and here's a curio...
quote
Topic Questions Instructions: There are six draft Outstandingly Remarkable Values identified in this report. Please specify which ORV(s) you are providing comments for in your response. Topic Questions: Guidelines for determining ORVs are provided in the Interagency Wild and Scenic Rivers Coordinating Council's "The Wild & Scenic River Study Process." These guidelines state that a Wild and Scenic River must be free-flowing and possess one or more ORVs. To be assessed as outstandingly remarkable, a value must be both river-related AND a unique, rare, or exemplary feature that is significant at a comparative regional or national scale.Do the draft ORV statements in this report meet these criteria?Do the statements accurately capture the values that make the Merced River and South Fork Merced River "outstandingly remarkable"? http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkId=347&projectId=18982&documentID=22564
unquote
and here's the form to make an online comment report:
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?parkID=347&projectID=18982&documentId=22564
I imagine this might be a little like writing to the Governor....surley it'll be read...and shared with other commenteers!...and of course responded to!
There are scehduled public hearings where comments can be made...current one is delayed it seems.... I'll have to figure out how to condense fivehundred gigs of pics and clips, and the walkabouts, into that comment form!
Or I could just send a link to Tree in the Door...
Something to think on...
quote
Biological – Riparian areas and low-elevation meadows are the most productive communities in Yosemite Valley. The high quality and large extent of riparian, wetland, and other riverine areas provide rich habitat for a diversity of river-related species, including special-status species, neotropical migrant songbirds, and numerous bat species.
unquote
Oh...it's all generalities...I did a watercolor...2003... looking across the Merced from opposite Housekeeping...just west of Stoneman Bridge...so there I'm looking at the bank just below the road...and into the forest on the far side of the road...well... that forest is now a city...the new housing....a sidebyside then and now....but that housing is one of the most important things...and needed desperately...to keep up with the larger forest become a city!...and that's how it's gone...and will go...one wonders where the construction workers were/are to be housed fed and provided...well...for the housing project they brought their own tikis....
DavidDavid
http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/newmrp.htm
and here's a curio...
quote
Topic Questions Instructions: There are six draft Outstandingly Remarkable Values identified in this report. Please specify which ORV(s) you are providing comments for in your response. Topic Questions: Guidelines for determining ORVs are provided in the Interagency Wild and Scenic Rivers Coordinating Council's "The Wild & Scenic River Study Process." These guidelines state that a Wild and Scenic River must be free-flowing and possess one or more ORVs. To be assessed as outstandingly remarkable, a value must be both river-related AND a unique, rare, or exemplary feature that is significant at a comparative regional or national scale.Do the draft ORV statements in this report meet these criteria?Do the statements accurately capture the values that make the Merced River and South Fork Merced River "outstandingly remarkable"? http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkId=347&projectId=18982&documentID=22564
unquote
and here's the form to make an online comment report:
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?parkID=347&projectID=18982&documentId=22564
I imagine this might be a little like writing to the Governor....surley it'll be read...and shared with other commenteers!...and of course responded to!
There are scehduled public hearings where comments can be made...current one is delayed it seems.... I'll have to figure out how to condense fivehundred gigs of pics and clips, and the walkabouts, into that comment form!
Or I could just send a link to Tree in the Door...
Something to think on...
quote
Biological – Riparian areas and low-elevation meadows are the most productive communities in Yosemite Valley. The high quality and large extent of riparian, wetland, and other riverine areas provide rich habitat for a diversity of river-related species, including special-status species, neotropical migrant songbirds, and numerous bat species.
unquote
Oh...it's all generalities...I did a watercolor...2003... looking across the Merced from opposite Housekeeping...just west of Stoneman Bridge...so there I'm looking at the bank just below the road...and into the forest on the far side of the road...well... that forest is now a city...the new housing....a sidebyside then and now....but that housing is one of the most important things...and needed desperately...to keep up with the larger forest become a city!...and that's how it's gone...and will go...one wonders where the construction workers were/are to be housed fed and provided...well...for the housing project they brought their own tikis....
DavidDavid
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Thread Comments
a google groups search brings the following thread up...which counsels to 'quote in full only'...okay...
quote
The Truth About the Yosemite Valley Plan
A Development Plan, not a Restoration Plan Cost: $441,000,000 -- 94% of which would fund construction projects (information in this sheet from the Yosemite Valley Plan and other documents)
In Yosemite Valley: * The asphalted surface area of Yosemite Valley would increase significantly (facilitated by an asphalt batch plant to be constructed in Yosemite for this purpose) * Approximately half of the Valley's roadways would be significantly widened or realigned, cutting down historic oaks and impacting River zones (including Southside Dr) * A ten-acre traffic check station is planned for the pristine West Valley (El Cap turnaround) * A new segment of road would be built at Yosemite Lodge much closer to the River than the existing segment, bulldozed through riparian and forest areas (Northside Dr.) * A 22-bay urban style bus station would be built in Yosemite Village, and Y. Village would increase in size * More than 500 round trip diesel buses projected daily during peak season,1 shuttle arriving every 1.4 minutes * Air pollution, including deadly small particulates, and noise levels would increase * A 14 acre parking lot to be paved in a National Park Service identified "Highly Valued Resource Area" adjacent to the Merced River -- Camp 6 (Instead continue the existing 50 yr. old Curry day-parking) * Annual Park transportation operating costs would increase more than 5 times from $1,770,000 to $10,131,000 (Who will pay?) * So-called lodging "reductions" focus on removal of modest rustic cabins and tent-cabins in favor of constructing and/or renovating hundreds of new, more upscale Valley hotel rooms (inappropriately characterized as "rustic" by the National park Service) ; Yosemite Lodge and Curry complexes would expand beyond their current borders. * Almost 40% of the 800 pre-flood campsites were already closed in 1997 before the Valley Plan (accounting for most of the claimed restoration in the Valley Plan -- lodging generates concession $, camping does not) * Restaurant seating in Yosemite Valley would significantly expand * More development requires more employees which requires more housing (numbers of employees, support facilities, and operating costs significantly increase) * Construction would destroy or degrade scores of native American prehistoric sites * New bridges and new and widened pathways would be constructed through the 56-acre braided stream area of Lower Yosemite Fall preventing natural sideways stream meandering, impacting wetlands, degrading and destroying wildlife habitat, traditional Miwuk gathering areas and archeology (see Lower Yosemite Fall sheet)
Outside Yosemite Valley: * Extensive parking areas are planned replete with commercial services producing development and sprawl * A 600' road segment would be plowed through an intact Yosemite National Park forest to facilitate private development (at Hazel Green) * Administrative stables would be moved to a sensitive low elevation meadow/wetland habitat, requiring the trucking of horses and the widening of roadways (McCauley Meadow -- this should be designated Wilderness) * A black oak sloped Park woodland is in the works to be traded and graded for a private lodging development. (Wawona, SDA Camp) Pristine Park wetlands would be traded to a developer at El Portal (Fischer exchange) * Construction would occur in sensitive habitat and endangered species foraging areas (e.g. Great Gray Owl) * Large new tracts of employee housing and administrative development would be built on undisturbed land at El Portal, Wawona, and/or Foresta
permission is granted to reproduce or copy this in full only -
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.climbing/browse_frm/thread/ac7b27edc68fa707/84c2991370d3c793?hl=en&lnk=st&q=yosemite+valley+plan#84c2991370d3c793
unquote
Oh..to post I had to delete a little..that was causing an error...email of source...but web link takes one to that...
and to reiterate...
from above
A new segment of road would be built at Yosemite Lodge much closer to the River than the existing segment, bulldozed through riparian and forest areas (Northside Dr.)
That thread petered out in 2004...brb...here a more recent...
http://groups.google.com/group/parklandsupdate/browse_frm/thread/3cc4936d879a410/add9bd24dc9ecc29?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=yosemite#add9bd24dc9ecc29
and this group might be one to look at for Plan news...or events...or..dustups!...though it appears pretty staid!...
http://groups.google.com/group/parklandsupdate?hl=en
Google groups is the usenet...and would be a fine place for a transparent discussion of the Valley...that may evolve a kinda 'self correcting' movement...I know from jfk that the discussions in the groups...while they wobble widely at the beginning of a thread...usually arrive at a kinda consensus...or accuracy...it's hard to describe...last night Charlie Rose interviewed a computer web futurists who pointed out that wikipedia...after much doubts...has blossomed...and a main reason is that it 'self corrects'...
And the futurist noted such self correcting could work in over venues...and I'm curious to think how the 'self correcting'...volunteers sorting out problems in the posts...could tie together with the new concept of 'transparency'...and actually solve some problems!...in the instance of the Valley...nearly all the groups involved are volunteer groups...and they seek 'transparency' from the NPS...and from the culled information try to work out a Plan....the whole effort being grass roots rather than a top down decreeing officialdom...which is exactly the problem the Futurist was trying to articulate!...in the context of the web becoming restricted due to security vulnerabilities...will an officialdom make decrees we will all follow?...or can a grass roots discussion evolve a kinda decorum...and set in place voluntary restraints......
oh...a report of lots of new grafitti in the trees and boulders up the Mist Trail...reporter asked me if I knew the reason...Vandals!..I'd say...
one problem with the groups is that the sysops are so ruthless in trimming spurious posts...that only a few...and usually the same old few!...get posts put up...the kinda comment threads one sees on youtube don't appear in the groups...they are ..scrupulous!...but that's is one on the major 'self corrections'...flaming posts became taboo...
for awhile all posters...making a blog...were beset by spammers...computer driven spam...but now with the 'enter the code you see' gate...that's helped...and is the kinda innovation the web has to come up with to keep going!
DavidDavid
quote
The Truth About the Yosemite Valley Plan
A Development Plan, not a Restoration Plan Cost: $441,000,000 -- 94% of which would fund construction projects (information in this sheet from the Yosemite Valley Plan and other documents)
In Yosemite Valley: * The asphalted surface area of Yosemite Valley would increase significantly (facilitated by an asphalt batch plant to be constructed in Yosemite for this purpose) * Approximately half of the Valley's roadways would be significantly widened or realigned, cutting down historic oaks and impacting River zones (including Southside Dr) * A ten-acre traffic check station is planned for the pristine West Valley (El Cap turnaround) * A new segment of road would be built at Yosemite Lodge much closer to the River than the existing segment, bulldozed through riparian and forest areas (Northside Dr.) * A 22-bay urban style bus station would be built in Yosemite Village, and Y. Village would increase in size * More than 500 round trip diesel buses projected daily during peak season,1 shuttle arriving every 1.4 minutes * Air pollution, including deadly small particulates, and noise levels would increase * A 14 acre parking lot to be paved in a National Park Service identified "Highly Valued Resource Area" adjacent to the Merced River -- Camp 6 (Instead continue the existing 50 yr. old Curry day-parking) * Annual Park transportation operating costs would increase more than 5 times from $1,770,000 to $10,131,000 (Who will pay?) * So-called lodging "reductions" focus on removal of modest rustic cabins and tent-cabins in favor of constructing and/or renovating hundreds of new, more upscale Valley hotel rooms (inappropriately characterized as "rustic" by the National park Service) ; Yosemite Lodge and Curry complexes would expand beyond their current borders. * Almost 40% of the 800 pre-flood campsites were already closed in 1997 before the Valley Plan (accounting for most of the claimed restoration in the Valley Plan -- lodging generates concession $, camping does not) * Restaurant seating in Yosemite Valley would significantly expand * More development requires more employees which requires more housing (numbers of employees, support facilities, and operating costs significantly increase) * Construction would destroy or degrade scores of native American prehistoric sites * New bridges and new and widened pathways would be constructed through the 56-acre braided stream area of Lower Yosemite Fall preventing natural sideways stream meandering, impacting wetlands, degrading and destroying wildlife habitat, traditional Miwuk gathering areas and archeology (see Lower Yosemite Fall sheet)
Outside Yosemite Valley: * Extensive parking areas are planned replete with commercial services producing development and sprawl * A 600' road segment would be plowed through an intact Yosemite National Park forest to facilitate private development (at Hazel Green) * Administrative stables would be moved to a sensitive low elevation meadow/wetland habitat, requiring the trucking of horses and the widening of roadways (McCauley Meadow -- this should be designated Wilderness) * A black oak sloped Park woodland is in the works to be traded and graded for a private lodging development. (Wawona, SDA Camp) Pristine Park wetlands would be traded to a developer at El Portal (Fischer exchange) * Construction would occur in sensitive habitat and endangered species foraging areas (e.g. Great Gray Owl) * Large new tracts of employee housing and administrative development would be built on undisturbed land at El Portal, Wawona, and/or Foresta
permission is granted to reproduce or copy this in full only -
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.climbing/browse_frm/thread/ac7b27edc68fa707/84c2991370d3c793?hl=en&lnk=st&q=yosemite+valley+plan#84c2991370d3c793
unquote
Oh..to post I had to delete a little..that was causing an error...email of source...but web link takes one to that...
and to reiterate...
from above
A new segment of road would be built at Yosemite Lodge much closer to the River than the existing segment, bulldozed through riparian and forest areas (Northside Dr.)
That thread petered out in 2004...brb...here a more recent...
http://groups.google.com/group/parklandsupdate/browse_frm/thread/3cc4936d879a410/add9bd24dc9ecc29?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=yosemite#add9bd24dc9ecc29
and this group might be one to look at for Plan news...or events...or..dustups!...though it appears pretty staid!...
http://groups.google.com/group/parklandsupdate?hl=en
Google groups is the usenet...and would be a fine place for a transparent discussion of the Valley...that may evolve a kinda 'self correcting' movement...I know from jfk that the discussions in the groups...while they wobble widely at the beginning of a thread...usually arrive at a kinda consensus...or accuracy...it's hard to describe...last night Charlie Rose interviewed a computer web futurists who pointed out that wikipedia...after much doubts...has blossomed...and a main reason is that it 'self corrects'...
And the futurist noted such self correcting could work in over venues...and I'm curious to think how the 'self correcting'...volunteers sorting out problems in the posts...could tie together with the new concept of 'transparency'...and actually solve some problems!...in the instance of the Valley...nearly all the groups involved are volunteer groups...and they seek 'transparency' from the NPS...and from the culled information try to work out a Plan....the whole effort being grass roots rather than a top down decreeing officialdom...which is exactly the problem the Futurist was trying to articulate!...in the context of the web becoming restricted due to security vulnerabilities...will an officialdom make decrees we will all follow?...or can a grass roots discussion evolve a kinda decorum...and set in place voluntary restraints......
oh...a report of lots of new grafitti in the trees and boulders up the Mist Trail...reporter asked me if I knew the reason...Vandals!..I'd say...
one problem with the groups is that the sysops are so ruthless in trimming spurious posts...that only a few...and usually the same old few!...get posts put up...the kinda comment threads one sees on youtube don't appear in the groups...they are ..scrupulous!...but that's is one on the major 'self corrections'...flaming posts became taboo...
for awhile all posters...making a blog...were beset by spammers...computer driven spam...but now with the 'enter the code you see' gate...that's helped...and is the kinda innovation the web has to come up with to keep going!
DavidDavid
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Comments on the Plan
Comments on the Plan are kinda hard to find!...brb...
quote
RIGHT NOW, the National Park Service, which has heretofore cherished Yosemite, seems intent on converting this temple into a profit center, with pricey hotels, scant camping, few modest accommodations, wider roads to field bigger diesel buses, ecological roadside mayhem, atmospheric damage and requiring people who want to celebrate Yosemite Valley to park outside the park in various still unspoiled places that are soon to be paved. This is all to exploit what you can do when you have $200 million or $300 million dollars to spend instead of the discipline former National Park Service Director Newton Drury enjoyed when he said, "We have no money, therefore we can do no harm."
Published on Monday, November 20, 2000 in the San Francisco Chronicle
David Brower on the Yosemite Valley Plan
by David Brower
http://www.commondreams.org/views/112000-105.htm
unquote
Ever since Mineral King...when the development there was halted...there's been a kinda tussle over things in the Sierra!...brb...
quote
Forest Service bows to Bush Administration and backslides on Emigrant Wilderness dams
The Stanislaus Forest, under political pressure from the Bush Administration, has recently decided to re-open the issue of whether or not to allow human-made checkdams in the Emigrant Wilderness to deteriorate and to eventually disappear, or to artificially maintain them.
What is at stake is not only the integrity of the native aquatic ecosystem impacted by these checkdams but also whether development projects should be allowed and tolerated inside designated wilderness. By allowing these structures to be "reconstructed" the Forest Service is saying that wilderness will be managed by special interest groups, not according to the intent of the Wilderness Act.
http://www.calwild.org/action/alert_022603.php
unquote
That's about Emigrant Meadow, which I hiked through in '73, and saw incongruously a small bus crossing in the distance on a dirt road!.....brb
wiki's Mineral King take...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney's_Mineral_King_Ski_Resort#cite_note-MK-webcam-1
wiki's Emigrant Meadow...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emigrant_Wilderness
Sierra Club take on Valley Plan...
quote
Park Service Plans to Urbanize Yosemite
by Joyce M. Eden and Greg Adair
The coming six to eight months will shape the future of Yosemite National Park for the next century. Preservationists have now worked for one hundred years to push back the tide of human development in the Park, and particularly in Yosemite Valley. With these very goals in mind, Yosemite's General Management Plan (GMP) was drafted, with extensive public input, as a plan to decrease Yosemite's human development and increase ecological restoration.
http://lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/lp9906_Yosemite.html
brb...
quote
The National Park Service installed 10 interpretive wayside exhibits in key areas in the Valley. Areas selected were those that could be affected by actions included in the Draft Yosemite Valley Plan/SEIS, including Camp 4 (Sunnyside Campground), Lower Yosemite Falls, the concession stable, and Curry Village. The signs informed visitors of the potential changes that could occur at each location, and guided visitors to areas where they could receive more information.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/yose/planning/yvp/seis/vol_Ib_p2/chap5_1.html
unquote
NPS site...brb...try to see if it is up to date!!...well...it doesn't jump out..but it looks to be old...
brb...
quote
As many of you know, Plaintiffs Friends of Yosemite Valley prevailed in our lawsuit* against the 2005 Plan for the Merced River in Yosemite. The case has moved into its last phase. The Court will now order the National Park Service (NPS) to prepare a new plan for the Merced. This will be the third time a court has ordered Yosemite to prepare a legally adequate plan for the Merced. The Court will also now rule on our request for injunctive relief. That means that the Court will now order what may happen on the ground in Yosemite. Here is the schedule for the case before the US Federal Court, Eastern District, before the Honorable Anthony Iishi. Please mark your calendars with this important hearing date:
http://www.yosemitecampers.com/discus/messages/4400/3937.html?1179699889
unquote
That's a Friends of Yosemite thread...found with search: Judge Ishi Yosemite Valley Plan...
Judge has an interesting name!..brb...
quote
“I believe in capitalizing on the strengths of our leadership,” Mainella said. “Mike’s ability to implement the Giant Forest restoration, a project that took years of planning, was nothing short of miraculous. He is the man for the job of implementing the funded portion of the Yosemite Valley Plan.”
Mike Tollefson Named Yosemite National Park Superintendent
http://home.nps.gov/applications/release/Detail.cfm?ID=311
unquote...
Giant Forest...been there too...dwelling...brb..
quote
Years of planning, design, and construction are now converging into the realization of Colonel White’s vision. All commercial activity has been removed from Giant Forest. Overnight accommodations have been relocated outside the grove to Wuksachi Village. Demolition of 282 buildings in Giant Forest is complete, and ecological restoration of 231 acres is underway. The conversion of Giant Forest to a day use area is nearly complete.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/seki/snrm/gf/gf_index.htm
unquote
At that page it shows the little cabins that have been removed... a sidebyside before and after!...I worked repairing those little cabins...it was a wonder to change yellow light bulbs at night...the cabins the big trees...listening to the voices and seeing the activities of the campers..."How does one get a job here?"...I've had some of the best jobs ever anywhere....
quote
On these pages you will witness the dramatic transformation (see map) of the Giant Forest from city to forest.
unquote
brb...
quote
Yosemite officials want to see only pedestrians, bicyclists and photogenic wildlife intersecting near the thundering Sierra icon in the future.
But, before that happens, everyone will have to put up with construction dust over the next three years as the park service pours $140 million into perhaps the biggest remake of Yosemite Valley since the 1960s. Up to 300 workers will build everything from sewers to motel rooms.
The sunsets and the granite domes will remain, and the valley will be open to visitors throughout the construction process. But in a few years, you might not recognize the place.
"We're starting to shape what Yosemite Valley will look like many years from now," says Yosemite Superintendent Michael Tollefson.
http://www.yosemite.org/newsroom/clips2003/september/092103.htm
unquote
That's the Yosemite Association...which I pay dues to...that and Sierra Club and PCT...oh...the latter is over due!...
quote
The Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA) extends its congratulations to Tejon Ranch and the environmental community for collaborating on a monumental conservation plan.
http://www.pcta.org/general/news/tejon_ranch.asp
unquote
brb...
quote
And the far-reaching redevelopment of Yosemite Lodge, including a new Indian Cultural Center and some new rooms, is expected to kick off next year. By 2006, Northside Drive will be shifted south of Yosemite Lodge, and the busy intersection near Yosemite Falls will become part of a pedestrian promenade or trail.
unquote
from same YA page...they needn't have sounded so bubbly!...and it's kind of a 'party line'...I'd say...
brb...
searched the blogs...and found a blog page...
http://hikehalfdome.com/blog.html?cq=1&p=705
that has a link...
that doesn't work!...it's supposed to be the court documents...but that's a well centered blog!...
enough for tonight...I'll hunt up..down!...some more commentary tomorrow!
DavidDavid
quote
RIGHT NOW, the National Park Service, which has heretofore cherished Yosemite, seems intent on converting this temple into a profit center, with pricey hotels, scant camping, few modest accommodations, wider roads to field bigger diesel buses, ecological roadside mayhem, atmospheric damage and requiring people who want to celebrate Yosemite Valley to park outside the park in various still unspoiled places that are soon to be paved. This is all to exploit what you can do when you have $200 million or $300 million dollars to spend instead of the discipline former National Park Service Director Newton Drury enjoyed when he said, "We have no money, therefore we can do no harm."
Published on Monday, November 20, 2000 in the San Francisco Chronicle
David Brower on the Yosemite Valley Plan
by David Brower
http://www.commondreams.org/views/112000-105.htm
unquote
Ever since Mineral King...when the development there was halted...there's been a kinda tussle over things in the Sierra!...brb...
quote
Forest Service bows to Bush Administration and backslides on Emigrant Wilderness dams
The Stanislaus Forest, under political pressure from the Bush Administration, has recently decided to re-open the issue of whether or not to allow human-made checkdams in the Emigrant Wilderness to deteriorate and to eventually disappear, or to artificially maintain them.
What is at stake is not only the integrity of the native aquatic ecosystem impacted by these checkdams but also whether development projects should be allowed and tolerated inside designated wilderness. By allowing these structures to be "reconstructed" the Forest Service is saying that wilderness will be managed by special interest groups, not according to the intent of the Wilderness Act.
http://www.calwild.org/action/alert_022603.php
unquote
That's about Emigrant Meadow, which I hiked through in '73, and saw incongruously a small bus crossing in the distance on a dirt road!.....brb
wiki's Mineral King take...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney's_Mineral_King_Ski_Resort#cite_note-MK-webcam-1
wiki's Emigrant Meadow...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emigrant_Wilderness
Sierra Club take on Valley Plan...
quote
Park Service Plans to Urbanize Yosemite
by Joyce M. Eden and Greg Adair
The coming six to eight months will shape the future of Yosemite National Park for the next century. Preservationists have now worked for one hundred years to push back the tide of human development in the Park, and particularly in Yosemite Valley. With these very goals in mind, Yosemite's General Management Plan (GMP) was drafted, with extensive public input, as a plan to decrease Yosemite's human development and increase ecological restoration.
http://lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/lp9906_Yosemite.html
brb...
quote
The National Park Service installed 10 interpretive wayside exhibits in key areas in the Valley. Areas selected were those that could be affected by actions included in the Draft Yosemite Valley Plan/SEIS, including Camp 4 (Sunnyside Campground), Lower Yosemite Falls, the concession stable, and Curry Village. The signs informed visitors of the potential changes that could occur at each location, and guided visitors to areas where they could receive more information.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/yose/planning/yvp/seis/vol_Ib_p2/chap5_1.html
unquote
NPS site...brb...try to see if it is up to date!!...well...it doesn't jump out..but it looks to be old...
brb...
quote
As many of you know, Plaintiffs Friends of Yosemite Valley prevailed in our lawsuit* against the 2005 Plan for the Merced River in Yosemite. The case has moved into its last phase. The Court will now order the National Park Service (NPS) to prepare a new plan for the Merced. This will be the third time a court has ordered Yosemite to prepare a legally adequate plan for the Merced. The Court will also now rule on our request for injunctive relief. That means that the Court will now order what may happen on the ground in Yosemite. Here is the schedule for the case before the US Federal Court, Eastern District, before the Honorable Anthony Iishi. Please mark your calendars with this important hearing date:
http://www.yosemitecampers.com/discus/messages/4400/3937.html?1179699889
unquote
That's a Friends of Yosemite thread...found with search: Judge Ishi Yosemite Valley Plan...
Judge has an interesting name!..brb...
quote
“I believe in capitalizing on the strengths of our leadership,” Mainella said. “Mike’s ability to implement the Giant Forest restoration, a project that took years of planning, was nothing short of miraculous. He is the man for the job of implementing the funded portion of the Yosemite Valley Plan.”
Mike Tollefson Named Yosemite National Park Superintendent
http://home.nps.gov/applications/release/Detail.cfm?ID=311
unquote...
Giant Forest...been there too...dwelling...brb..
quote
Years of planning, design, and construction are now converging into the realization of Colonel White’s vision. All commercial activity has been removed from Giant Forest. Overnight accommodations have been relocated outside the grove to Wuksachi Village. Demolition of 282 buildings in Giant Forest is complete, and ecological restoration of 231 acres is underway. The conversion of Giant Forest to a day use area is nearly complete.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/seki/snrm/gf/gf_index.htm
unquote
At that page it shows the little cabins that have been removed... a sidebyside before and after!...I worked repairing those little cabins...it was a wonder to change yellow light bulbs at night...the cabins the big trees...listening to the voices and seeing the activities of the campers..."How does one get a job here?"...I've had some of the best jobs ever anywhere....
quote
On these pages you will witness the dramatic transformation (see map) of the Giant Forest from city to forest.
unquote
brb...
quote
Yosemite officials want to see only pedestrians, bicyclists and photogenic wildlife intersecting near the thundering Sierra icon in the future.
But, before that happens, everyone will have to put up with construction dust over the next three years as the park service pours $140 million into perhaps the biggest remake of Yosemite Valley since the 1960s. Up to 300 workers will build everything from sewers to motel rooms.
The sunsets and the granite domes will remain, and the valley will be open to visitors throughout the construction process. But in a few years, you might not recognize the place.
"We're starting to shape what Yosemite Valley will look like many years from now," says Yosemite Superintendent Michael Tollefson.
http://www.yosemite.org/newsroom/clips2003/september/092103.htm
unquote
That's the Yosemite Association...which I pay dues to...that and Sierra Club and PCT...oh...the latter is over due!...
quote
The Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA) extends its congratulations to Tejon Ranch and the environmental community for collaborating on a monumental conservation plan.
http://www.pcta.org/general/news/tejon_ranch.asp
unquote
brb...
quote
And the far-reaching redevelopment of Yosemite Lodge, including a new Indian Cultural Center and some new rooms, is expected to kick off next year. By 2006, Northside Drive will be shifted south of Yosemite Lodge, and the busy intersection near Yosemite Falls will become part of a pedestrian promenade or trail.
unquote
from same YA page...they needn't have sounded so bubbly!...and it's kind of a 'party line'...I'd say...
brb...
searched the blogs...and found a blog page...
http://hikehalfdome.com/blog.html?cq=1&p=705
that has a link...
that doesn't work!...it's supposed to be the court documents...but that's a well centered blog!...
enough for tonight...I'll hunt up..down!...some more commentary tomorrow!
DavidDavid
The Plan
Well...while I'm sorting out what direction to go next...I'll have some thoughts to post about the Plan...the Plans for development in the Incomparable Valley...now...
right now a Judge has put a hold on everything...but on the web are documents which show what was...is... in the works...and after a solid year of wandering around the backyard in all weathers...I have a sense...well...a sense where the following pavements were going to go... and what they were going to cover up!....it is very hard to drill down through the jargon of the Plan...a walk along either side of the Creek from Wee Bridge to the confluence with the Merced...will pretty much give anyone an idea...and an appalling perception...of how callous the following is...
quote:
The proposed action would remove guest lodging and Lodge facility buildings from the Merced River 100-year floodplain. Remaining in the floodplain would be the realigned Northside Drive, registration parking lot, a multi-use paved trail, Lodge parking, overnight bus parking, and the sewage lift station. Upon removal of the guest lodging buildings (Hemlock, Maple, Alder, and Juniper), the maintenance buildings, Wellness Center, and miscellaneous buildings, the 100-year floodplain would be restored to near-natural flow conditions because the major obstacles to high flood flow would be removed. The roads and parking lots proposed for this area could negligibly affect flood flow, but these developments would not be expected to substantially alter the flow path of the flood waters because they would have low relief and would not be constructed on an embankment. As a result, the proposed action would locally improve the conditions of the 100-year floodplain by removing the major flow impediments.
unquote
"Remaining in the floodplain"....that's Owl Woods...paved over..."Northside drived south of the Lodge"....that's a new road turning south at Wee Bridge and crossing over the Creek...I think I know where...just North of the Deer House...on a New Bridge....it would follow the road that goes to the Deer House now...and comes across to somehow hook up again with Northside drive, which is currently closed because of a rock!...the roads and parking lot of course would "negligibly effect high water"....they're pavement after all...but what about what's been paved over!!....it goes on...
quote
The diversion dam located at the confluence of Yosemite Creek and the Merced River would be removed to restore the natural flood regime the Merced River within this reach. Once removed, high flood flow in the Merced River would be unimpeded to inundate portions of the floodplain not previously possible due to the presence of the diversion dam. Removing the diversion dam would return the affected portion of the floodplain to a more natural flow condition. In addition, the riprap revetment currently in place along Yosemite Creek would be removed to restore the natural flow regime along a short stretch of Yosemite Creek.
unquote
I'm not sure why the diversion channel is called a dam...and I dont know when the channel was made...right now water flows into it at daily high water...and flows backs out of it at daily low water...it has preserved a kindof peninsula that goes all the way to Ozone Beach...maybe that's the dam...it's not even noticeable most of the time...it's just a low area in the Forest...as for the rip rap in the Creek...this is silly...remove it and the Creek from the Falls all the way to the Merced will eroded into a disperse Delta...but of course that wouldn't happen if a road is running along the Creek...which is the point...the rip rap would be replaced by the road grading..
source of the quotes...
Chapter V: Merced Wild and Scenic River
http://www.nps.gov/archive/yose/planning/lodge/html/ylarp_ch5.htm
I dont know what is said or goes on in the public hearings...I do know they were busy cutting trees at the Wellness Center three Springs back...and were stopped in their tracks...which is where thing have stood...
There is no area that can be characterized as a 100 yearflood plain....for a few days each Spring there is High Water...I've seen it reach the foundation of the Chapel...but after a few days...it all drops back down...there's no ground water table to speak of in the Sierra...it's all granite...water just runs off...the flood of '97 was a flash flood...and not a terrific eroding force in the Valley...as it was down lower in the Merced canyon...took out the road there...it just floated away a lot of old buildings in the Valley...didn't do a thing to Housekeeping!...I've seen all of that area under water for a few days...but this 100 year flood plain is a refrain...and likely an effort to tie into the funds accumulated to deal with flooding...which are substantial...
The Merced and Tenaya Creek and Yosemite Creek are riprapped where ever they threaten to erode the banks at their turns...have a look at Sugar Pine Bridge...and Three Arch Bridge...whoever did the Bridges...and the riprap...did it beautifully...each Bridge is placed at 'world class views'....and though built with modern cement...the facades...the polygonal stone work..is beautiful...it's the same as at Tunnel View and the 120 Tunnels.
"and the sewage lift station"
I have no idea why it is where it is....and it often lets one know it is where it is!...right now the man hole covers in Cook's are underwater....and the Creek is maybe three feet below the Tiki Temple Outlet...it has a one way cover to anticipate submergence...as does the Temple...which gives it it's unique...Temple look!
There is a 'riparian' border to all the waterways...which should be the real defining "hundred year flood plain".....and over the years development has encroached on it....on one side of the Merced in the canyon is the road...and on the other the old railroad road bed...and there's a lot of riprap...and once into the Valley the roads are often right next to the Merced...can't be helped...the Valley is that narrow...and in truth the road bed has contained the Merced....it's trying to erode right back down a few thousand feet where it was a few thousands of years ago, after all!...but the 'riparian' border has to be respected...scurpulously...it's where all the critters live...
"major obsticles to high flood will have been removed"
Some of the thinking in these plans are just nuts!....there's nothing going to stop the Merced from flooding when conditions are such like in '97.
DavidDavid
right now a Judge has put a hold on everything...but on the web are documents which show what was...is... in the works...and after a solid year of wandering around the backyard in all weathers...I have a sense...well...a sense where the following pavements were going to go... and what they were going to cover up!....it is very hard to drill down through the jargon of the Plan...a walk along either side of the Creek from Wee Bridge to the confluence with the Merced...will pretty much give anyone an idea...and an appalling perception...of how callous the following is...
quote:
The proposed action would remove guest lodging and Lodge facility buildings from the Merced River 100-year floodplain. Remaining in the floodplain would be the realigned Northside Drive, registration parking lot, a multi-use paved trail, Lodge parking, overnight bus parking, and the sewage lift station. Upon removal of the guest lodging buildings (Hemlock, Maple, Alder, and Juniper), the maintenance buildings, Wellness Center, and miscellaneous buildings, the 100-year floodplain would be restored to near-natural flow conditions because the major obstacles to high flood flow would be removed. The roads and parking lots proposed for this area could negligibly affect flood flow, but these developments would not be expected to substantially alter the flow path of the flood waters because they would have low relief and would not be constructed on an embankment. As a result, the proposed action would locally improve the conditions of the 100-year floodplain by removing the major flow impediments.
unquote
"Remaining in the floodplain"....that's Owl Woods...paved over..."Northside drived south of the Lodge"....that's a new road turning south at Wee Bridge and crossing over the Creek...I think I know where...just North of the Deer House...on a New Bridge....it would follow the road that goes to the Deer House now...and comes across to somehow hook up again with Northside drive, which is currently closed because of a rock!...the roads and parking lot of course would "negligibly effect high water"....they're pavement after all...but what about what's been paved over!!....it goes on...
quote
The diversion dam located at the confluence of Yosemite Creek and the Merced River would be removed to restore the natural flood regime the Merced River within this reach. Once removed, high flood flow in the Merced River would be unimpeded to inundate portions of the floodplain not previously possible due to the presence of the diversion dam. Removing the diversion dam would return the affected portion of the floodplain to a more natural flow condition. In addition, the riprap revetment currently in place along Yosemite Creek would be removed to restore the natural flow regime along a short stretch of Yosemite Creek.
unquote
I'm not sure why the diversion channel is called a dam...and I dont know when the channel was made...right now water flows into it at daily high water...and flows backs out of it at daily low water...it has preserved a kindof peninsula that goes all the way to Ozone Beach...maybe that's the dam...it's not even noticeable most of the time...it's just a low area in the Forest...as for the rip rap in the Creek...this is silly...remove it and the Creek from the Falls all the way to the Merced will eroded into a disperse Delta...but of course that wouldn't happen if a road is running along the Creek...which is the point...the rip rap would be replaced by the road grading..
source of the quotes...
Chapter V: Merced Wild and Scenic River
http://www.nps.gov/archive/yose/planning/lodge/html/ylarp_ch5.htm
I dont know what is said or goes on in the public hearings...I do know they were busy cutting trees at the Wellness Center three Springs back...and were stopped in their tracks...which is where thing have stood...
There is no area that can be characterized as a 100 yearflood plain....for a few days each Spring there is High Water...I've seen it reach the foundation of the Chapel...but after a few days...it all drops back down...there's no ground water table to speak of in the Sierra...it's all granite...water just runs off...the flood of '97 was a flash flood...and not a terrific eroding force in the Valley...as it was down lower in the Merced canyon...took out the road there...it just floated away a lot of old buildings in the Valley...didn't do a thing to Housekeeping!...I've seen all of that area under water for a few days...but this 100 year flood plain is a refrain...and likely an effort to tie into the funds accumulated to deal with flooding...which are substantial...
The Merced and Tenaya Creek and Yosemite Creek are riprapped where ever they threaten to erode the banks at their turns...have a look at Sugar Pine Bridge...and Three Arch Bridge...whoever did the Bridges...and the riprap...did it beautifully...each Bridge is placed at 'world class views'....and though built with modern cement...the facades...the polygonal stone work..is beautiful...it's the same as at Tunnel View and the 120 Tunnels.
"and the sewage lift station"
I have no idea why it is where it is....and it often lets one know it is where it is!...right now the man hole covers in Cook's are underwater....and the Creek is maybe three feet below the Tiki Temple Outlet...it has a one way cover to anticipate submergence...as does the Temple...which gives it it's unique...Temple look!
There is a 'riparian' border to all the waterways...which should be the real defining "hundred year flood plain".....and over the years development has encroached on it....on one side of the Merced in the canyon is the road...and on the other the old railroad road bed...and there's a lot of riprap...and once into the Valley the roads are often right next to the Merced...can't be helped...the Valley is that narrow...and in truth the road bed has contained the Merced....it's trying to erode right back down a few thousand feet where it was a few thousands of years ago, after all!...but the 'riparian' border has to be respected...scurpulously...it's where all the critters live...
"major obsticles to high flood will have been removed"
Some of the thinking in these plans are just nuts!....there's nothing going to stop the Merced from flooding when conditions are such like in '97.
DavidDavid
Friday, May 9, 2008
Year Blogs
I...dont have a direction any more...no compass point for the blog...insomuch I've pretty much wrapped up the Souvenir...ekphrasis...posts...I thought to run them out for a year...and overshot a bit...
Doing year blogs...y'know...a post everyday for a year...has become a kinda thing to do...though I had no idea such things were in the works when I started...mostly it looks to be photogs over in sites like Flkr that are tasking themselves with doing a photo a day...
In my art classes a refrain by the teacher was that each of us should keep a sketch journal...doing a sketch a day...I did do that...for one semester...and it was just one or two days a week...but I have the journal still...a kinda treasure...and since it has so much to do with being how I got from there to here...I'll scan it in...and maybe task myself for real that sketch a day ordeal!
For now Tree in the Door posts will be kinda sporadic...I have some mundane tasks to do...like housecleaning...going to the Optometrist..and a Giants baseball game next week!
Fauna and Flora...as I suspected it would..has taken on a life of it's own..."It tasks me, Ahab!"
One should be so lucky to have such a task!..
quote
By heavens man, we are turned round and round in this world, like yonder windlass, and fate is the handspike.
unquote
DavidDavid
'
Doing year blogs...y'know...a post everyday for a year...has become a kinda thing to do...though I had no idea such things were in the works when I started...mostly it looks to be photogs over in sites like Flkr that are tasking themselves with doing a photo a day...
In my art classes a refrain by the teacher was that each of us should keep a sketch journal...doing a sketch a day...I did do that...for one semester...and it was just one or two days a week...but I have the journal still...a kinda treasure...and since it has so much to do with being how I got from there to here...I'll scan it in...and maybe task myself for real that sketch a day ordeal!
For now Tree in the Door posts will be kinda sporadic...I have some mundane tasks to do...like housecleaning...going to the Optometrist..and a Giants baseball game next week!
Fauna and Flora...as I suspected it would..has taken on a life of it's own..."It tasks me, Ahab!"
One should be so lucky to have such a task!..
quote
By heavens man, we are turned round and round in this world, like yonder windlass, and fate is the handspike.
unquote
DavidDavid
'
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Ussher Time Line
I got another assignment...look up Ussher's Time Line...there's some question of who comes first...the Sumerian tale of Noah...well...they're Noah...or the Jewish Noah...
PBS story on Hot Dogs..now NOVA with tale of the four winged dinosaur...a must see...Mirco Raptor...think that's it...
but to Ussher...brb...
well...I knew of this...and it's fun to read!...but not much help with Noah...2348BC
brb...the Sumerian story look to be in 2ooo bc or so...but cant nail it down...
and here on amazon is the time chart...
I'll have to look close at the Brown Creepers...
DavidDavid
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