Yosemite Programs to Get Big Push in Funds
Yosemite and 75 other national parks have been singled out to be part of a program in which private donations to the parks are matched by federal funds (kind of like a 401k for national parks).
FresnoBee.com: Updates: Yosemite wins big in public/private funding plan: “Yosemite National Park benefits more than most. The park%u2019s famous Tunnel View Overlook will be rehabilitated. A new Junior Ranger center will start in Yosemite Valley. Plants and animals will be researched. Throughout San Joaquin Valley schools, students will get scholarships to spend a week in the park.
The non-profit Yosemite National Institutes raised $750,000 from companies such as Intel and charitable groups such as the Stewart Foundation. This money will now be matched with $750,000 from the federal government.
The $1.5 million total will enable 10,000 schoolchildren to participate in week-long programs held in Yosemite and Olympic national parks and at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Yosemite-bound students are typically San Joaquin Valley and East Los Angeles residents between the ages of 10 and 15. Their park service scholarships are based on a sliding scale pegged to income.
The Yosemite scholarship program is among 110 projects funded through what Kempthorne has styled the %u201CNational Park Service Centennial Challenge.%u201D The basic idea is to combine public and private spending as a lead-up to the park service%u2019s 100th anniversary in 2016. “
For over 30 years now I've enjoyed hiking, backpacking, fishing, photographing and exploring Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. 
April 27th, 2008 07:17
Just drove passed Tunnel View the other day and was not a soul around looking at the view.
The park was so quiet.
Falls looked great but at this speed I don’t know if they will last the summer