Op Ed Piece by Rep. Radanovich - Fresno Bee 11-7-03

This opinion piece by Congressman Radanovich is so full of inaccuracies that
it is breathtaking!

Sierra Club's stance on LeConte Lodge hypocritical

By George Radanovich, represents the 19th District in Congress
(Published Friday, November 7, 2003, 5:35 AM)

http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/wo/story/7703009p-8606436c.html

The critics of my bill, H.R. 2715, to make some modifications to the
Yosemite Valley Plan miss the point: We must strike a balance between
preservation and public access, and the Valley Plan as it stands today
unfairly restricts the public's access in the name of preservation.

It is ironic that an organization like the Sierra Club, a national
environmental fund-raising organization that has made its name on fighting
private uses of public lands, is fighting to fiercely protect its own little
corner of Yosemite.

At the same time, it continues to fight against public access by opposing
the restoration of campsites to the Upper and Lower River areas, as required
by my legislation.

Perhaps the most widely discussed part of my bill is the provision to
relocate the LeConte Memorial Lodge to a suitable location outside of
Yosemite Valley. The LeConte Lodge is a memorial to one of the Sierra Club's
founding members Joseph LeConte. While the building is certainly quaint and
charming, it still constitutes a private use of public land.

The Sierra Club operates the lodge exclusively and uses it to conduct
programs and distribute information to visitors, the inherent purpose of
which is to promote the activities and agenda of the Sierra Club. There is
no doubt, according to the plaque outside the lodge that it belongs to the
club.

A private use, even with a so-called "educational" function, is still a
private use.

One point absent from the recent public discussion on this legislation is
the hypocrisy of the Sierra Club's criticism that the bill will disrupt the
Yosemite Valley Plan, reopening it to public comment and consideration. A
recent lawsuit supported by the Sierra Club threatens to do just that by
requiring further studies of impacts on the Merced River. If those studies
do not fall in line with what is in the Valley Plan, all of the good work
that is in progress could be halted. I do not believe that the Yosemite bill
will reopen the Valley Plan. It only makes modifications to the plan, while
the lawsuit supported by the Sierra Club upsets the very foundation of the
Valley Plan.

Restricting the public

Some critics have wondered what is behind the targeting of the LeConte
Lodge. The answer is simple: The lodge represents a special private access
to public lands by a group that is obsessed with restricting the public's
access to public lands.

The Sierra Club takes pride in the nearly 100-year history of LeConte Lodge,
but what of the generations of farmers who farmed and ranched until the
Sierra Club came along with a team of lawyers?

For example, the Blair family has ranched since the 1880s in what is now the
Mojave National Preserve. They own grazing rights, but the Sierra Club
claims that grazing threatens a host of endangered species. In 2001, the
Sierra Club won a lawsuit to restrict grazing near the preserve and this
year announced their intention to file a similar suit to restrict grazing
within the preserve.

For the sake of argument, let's say that the Blair family has a private use
of public land, forgetting that their family has ranched there since before
it became a preserve. This is a private use of public land, for several
generations, that the Sierra Club has no problem ending.

The Sierra Club has also targeted farmers in the Klamath Basin. Many of the
farmers there are descendents of homesteaders whose lease of land from the
U.S. Bureau of Land Management was protected by an act of Congress in 1964.
Under the auspices of protecting a fish species, the Sierra Club
successfully sued to stop farm irrigation in the basin. The Web site of the
club's Oregon chapter is arrogant enough to brag about their work on
"eliminating commercial agriculture." Once again, a private use of public
land that the Sierra Club has no problem stopping.

Examples of the Sierra Club's campaign to end public access to public lands
are common. What is uncommon is their hypocritical desire to preserve their
private access to public land, while advocating the restriction or outright
ban on public access.

Another location

At least the provisions of the Yosemite bill do not destroy the lodge as the
Sierra Club seeks to destroy farming, ranching and recreation on public
lands. It simply calls for the removal of the lodge from the Valley floor.
The building could be reassembled at some other location in the park and be
put to a great public use. It has already been taken apart and moved once
before.

The point is those who carelessly advocate for the removal of public access
and public use of public lands should be willing to give up their private
use of public lands. It's that simple.

© 2003, The Fresno Bee

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URGENT ALERT - E-Mails and Phone Calls needed . . .

SAVE THE 100 YEAR-OLD LECONTE MEMORIAL LODGE!!!!

H.R. 2715 is a bill that among other bad provisions requires the removal of
the century old LeConte Memorial Lodge from Yosemite Valley, one of four
National Historic Landmarks located in Yosemite Valley.

The House Committee on Resources is slated to mark-up H.R. 2715, a bill
introduced by Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA) next Wednesday, October 29.
Please contact your congressman - especially members of the Resouces
Committee (see list below) and ask them to insist during that mark-up that
the removal of the LeConte Memorial Lodge, a National Historic Landmark
which will be celebrating its Centennial next year, be deleted from the
bill. The bill also has other provisions which would be absurd in any other
political climate.

The LeConte Memorial Lodge, a designated National Historic
Landmark , was built by the Sierra Club in 1903-04. The unique structure
honors eminent University of California geologist Joseph LeConte , an early
Director of the Sierra Club who died in the Valley in 1901. The Sierra Club
provided the Valley's first public information center, first at a small
cottage in the old Yosemite Village, and then at the LeConte Memorial Lodge.
The Sierra Club has operated the the rough hewn granite and wood Tudor-style
as a public Memorial since 1904 presenting and promoting the conservation
ethic through public programs, educational displays and a library.

Congressman Radanovich admits that inclusion of this mean-spirited provision
is not included for its merits, but as a "bargaining chip" due to the Sierra
Club's well-reasoned opposition to re-opening campgrounds that are located
within the flood zone. Mr. Radanovich was quoted by the Fresno Bee as
saying:

"I don't really have any objections to LeConte, except for the Sierra Club's
opposition to the campgrounds."

As the Fresno Bee said, "We can argue about campsites, and other issues
involving access vs. damage. But let's not play "gotcha" with a treasure
such as the LeConte Memorial Lodge."

By preserving and celebrating part of Yosemite's history, open for all to
enjoy, we believe the LeConte Memorial Lodge is providing a valuable service
to the American public.

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 to be connected with your representative.

Please e-mail your congressman or find telephone contact information at:

http://www.house.gov/writerep/

* Insist that the removal of LeConte Memorial Lodge be deleted from the bill.
This beloved Memorial should not be used as a political football.

Also:

* Oppose re-opening campsites within the flood-zone, but favor expansion of
more campsites outside the flood-prone Yosemite Valley

* Oppose the bill's prohibition against expanded shuttle bus systems

* Oppose the bill's requirment to construct the "maximum amount of parking" at Camp 6

 

CONTACT THESE CONGRESIONAL REPRESENTATIVES WHO ARE MEMBERS
OF THE HOUSE RESOURCES COMMITTEE FROM CALIFORNIA:

Republicans:

Richard Pombo
Elton Gallegly
Ken Calvert
George P. Radanovich
Devin Nunes

Democrats:

Calvin M. Dooley
Grace F. Napolitano
Dennis A. Cardoza
George Miller
Joe Baca

FOR MORE INFORMAITION

For more information about the historic Leconte Memorial Lodge, including
photos and articles about its 100 year history, and recent editorials and
news briefs on this legislation, see our website and the recent news
reports, at:

http://www.sierraclub.org/education/leconte/

http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/story/7637269p-8543713c.html

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/7627710p-8534708c.html

--
Harold Wood
Chair, Sierra Club Le Conte Lodge Committee
harold.wood@sierraclub.org
http://www.sierraclub.org/education/leconte/

The LeConte Memorial Lodge, the Sierra Club's physical and
spiritual home in Yosemite Valley, will be celebrating its
100th anniversary in 2004.

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Lodge target in political spat

Radanovich wants to tear down a historic Yosemite building
with ties to the Sierra Club

By Michael Doyle


WASHINGTON -- Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, has raised a ruckus with his proposal to tear down one of Yosemite National Park's most beloved historic buildings.

Even as managers of the LeConte Memorial Lodge prepare for the building's 100th anniversary, Radanovich is pushing legislation to dismantle the granite and wood cottage.

The conservative lawmaker contends this would restore natural habitat to Yosemite Valley, but he concedes his motives also are colored by the building's Sierra Club affiliation.

"I'm very serious about removing that thing," Radanovich said. "It's special access, for people who want to limit access to the park."

The political prospects remain unclear for Radanovich's legislation, which will get a House subcommittee hearing Tuesday. As a rhetorical goad, though, its sting already is apparent.

"No one knows how seriously to take this, because it's such a ridiculous idea," Sierra Club spokesman Eric Antebi said.

The Sierra Club's political activists have regular run-ins with Radanovich, chairman of the House subcommittee overseeing national parks, and he seems to relish this current fight.

Radanovich followed up his bill with a combative letter to Sierra Club officials late Thursday, which he trumpeted with a news release denouncing what he called the "hypocrisy" of the "environmental fundraising organization."

The club's environmental educators, though, say the LeConte Memorial Lodge has been an apolitical park asset since it opened in 1904. Upward of 15,000 visitors participate annually in lodge programs, which range from lectures to musical performances.

"This is not a members' building, this is a public building," said lodge curator Bonnie Gisel. "We do no lobbying, no legislating, no politicking whatsoever. We're educating future generations here."

Holder of a doctorate in environmental history and a master's degree from Harvard Divinity School, Gisel in recent weeks has organized some typically diverse activities.

A Yosemite ranger discussed search and rescue operations, Nevada City artist Susan Barry offered a watercolor workshop, children sang what organizers called "Nature Nuts and Earthy Tunes," and a naturalist gave a talk about bears.

The lodge also maintains a small library and over the years has been the venue for sometimes provocative conversations.

"Frankly, it's been a protected place," said Ken Gosting, a Mariposa resident and longtime Yosemite observer. "It's like hallowed ground, in terms of a lot of what we take for granted in the national parks."

Radanovich sees it differently

He dismissed the lodge as an example of the Sierra Club "enjoying their own little piece of the park" and characterized it as a "structure in the Valley dedicated to a founding member of the Sierra Club."

Joseph LeConte, after whom the building is named, helped John Muir establish the Sierra Club in 1892. An esteemed geologist, LeConte also was one of the first natural history professors at the University of California at Berkeley and earned election to the elite National Academy of Sciences. His published journal, "Ramblings Through the High Sierra," captured his awed initial impressions of Yosemite Valley.

"I have heard and read much of this wonderful valley," LeConte wrote on July 31, 1870, "but I can truly say I have never imagined the grandeur of the reality."

In 1901, the 76-year-old LeConte died during a final Yosemite Valley trip. The building was dedicated at Camp Curry on July 3, 1904, relocated a short distance away in 1919, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

"LeConte Memorial Lodge is a highly unusual structure for a national park setting," the park service states in its historic landmark report.

"Its Tudor revival architecture and strong European tendencies are found in no other building in the national park system."

The historic landmark designation, though, does not explicitly prohibit destruction of the building.

Instead, the National Historic Preservation Act states federal officials should to the "maximum extent possible" seek to "minimize harm" to the 2,300 national historic landmarks.

Radanovich's proposal to remove the building is only one element in a larger bill, which also repudiates a longstanding Yosemite plan to restore natural habitat along the Merced River.

Radanovich wants campsites back along the river

Because environmental activists, citing the existing Yosemite management plan, oppose those new campsites, Radanovich believes he has them caught in a double standard with the LeConte memorial.

"These are people who want to limit access to the park, at the same time as they enjoy their own special access," Radanovich said.

While insisting he is earnest in his legislative efforts, Radanovich would not be the first to use legislation as a signal.

During the 1990s, for instance, Alaska Republican Don Young became angry over how environmentalists led by Indiana Democrat Jim Jontz wanted to protect more Alaska wilderness. So Young struck back, introducing legislation to designate one-third of Jontz's northwest Indiana congressional district as a national forest.

That bill gained only one co-sponsor, and went nowhere.

Radanovich, so far, has not attracted any co-sponsors to his Yosemite bill.

The reporter can be reached at mdoyle@mcclatchydc.com or (202) 383-0006.
Fresno Bee Washington Bureau - Published Saturday, July 19, 2003

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/7153222p-8082729c.html

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For more coverage:

Sunday, July 27, 2003 (SF Chronicle)

Yosemite once again a battleground

Mariposa congressman wants to change Clinton-era plan

Glen Martin, Chronicle Environment Writer

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/07/27/BA265274.DTL

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Congressman looks to revise plans for Yosemite

Zachary Coile, Chronicle Washington Bureau

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/07/23/MN261843.DTL 

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The following story from the FresnoBee - Sunday, August 3, 2003

Radanovich invited to LeConte Lodge

The year was 1898. Yosemite Valley was drawing no more than
a few dozen visitors per day, and those who made the difficult
trip found just a handful of rustic cabins and some rudimentary
administrative buildings. . . .

You can find this story on the web at:

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/7234274p-8161538c.html