Creek Running North

it is impaired only for those visitors who do not get out of their cars

Amen, brother.

I suppose the next thing the SC determines appropriate, would be to support the cutting of the trees out of the Tuolumne meadows, claiming that John Muir’s original drawings (and the photos taken prior to publication of that seminal book) show them to be free from as many as there are now?

Maybe next they’ll try some mountain top mining techniques to improve the perspective. ..... Ah, when nature becomes an artistic canvas for bureaucrats.

Just a guess, but is it possible that the original “tunnel view” was created as a result of cutting down trees for road construction?

Also, I’m struggling to identify all the levels of irony in defending a “tunnel view.”

it is impaired only for those visitors who do not get out of their cars.

Yeah, I had that thought too. 

Of course, I’d expand that out to the whole idea of scenic “photo stops” - while I appreciate scenic overlooks in places where one is driving through on the way to something else, it seems bizarre to have them in a place that is a destination, since it implies that the way to “do” the park is to just drive through it.  Just get out of the car and go exploring, for pity’s sake!

=v= Certain people can’t see the Subaru Forester for the trees.

Chris, Spyder et al - In many respects I substantially agree with you.  And I do not think Dave Brower would have preferred parking lots and idling diesel buses full of idling tourons to idyllic piny vistas.  In fact, I know he would not.  As Chris is aware, my entrée to Earth Island and CRN was through Dave, who is one of my principal inspirers.  However, now I work for the Forest Service (which Dave despised), so let me spout a little company line just for grins.  The particular trees at Old Inspiration Point may not be problematic, but the influx of conifers, particularly white firs, in Yosemite and throughout the Sierra Nevada in the past 75-100 years of fire suppression is a problem in terms of fuel buildup, deviation from pre-settlement fire return intervals, root fungi, and general ecosystem imbalance.  Yosemite Park is one of the pioneers and leaders in analyzing fire ecology and trying to modify forest structure where fire cycles are severely perturbed, so fewer catastrophic fires occur.  I admit that the Park Service is schizoid with respect to resource issues, because they are commanded to enhance visitor experiences while preserving natural values - frequently an impossible divergence of missions.  But, it is not, for instance, in my view and that of many professional resource managers who are charged with trying to maintain a functional diversity of ecosystem structure and function, out of the question to rid meadows of invading conifer trees.  Meadow habitat is relatively rare and supports species that reside there and nowhere else, like willow flycatcher, sundew, bog orchids, and so on.  Where a century of fire suppression and surface disturbance by grazing threatens the hydrologic and ecological integrity of meadows, conifer removal is a frequently prescribed and effective method (in conjunction with stream restoration, etc.) for helping regain valuable meadow surface and edge habitat.  It is also used where similar changes in disturbance regimes have caused coniferous invasion of aspen stands, which particularly on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada are also a rare and valuable habitat type.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I love trees.  I support preserving ancient forests where they still exist, and doing what we can to help existing ecosystems towards something resembling their previous structure and diversity.  Often the only tool available is tree removal or stand thinning where fire has been excluded for so long that other methods such as prescribed fire would not be effective, or rather would be TOO effective, wiping out the stand completely and probably escaping to wreak havoc as an uncontrolled wildfire.  So, we’re in a pickle of our own making with respect to forest health, and mechanical intervention is certainly something we need to consider in a lot of places.  This is opinion is mine, and is NOT meant as a blanket approval of all timber harvest activities.  If trees are blocking a view, though, maybe there is a natural reason why they weren’t there in the past, and perhaps if we don’t take them down, fire eventually will, with its own set of consequences.