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| Yosemite Park Announces Largest Expansion in 67 Years | Yosemite Park Announces Largest Expansion in 67 Years |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Yosemite National Park announced on Wednesday that it was growing by 400 acres, thanks to a donation of land along its western boundary. | |
| Though the addition is the park’s largest expansion since 1949, it is relatively small in scale: It contributes less than two-thirds of a square mile to a park that covers 1,169 square miles in all. But the parcel, known as Ackerson Meadow, is home to crucial wetlands. | Though the addition is the park’s largest expansion since 1949, it is relatively small in scale: It contributes less than two-thirds of a square mile to a park that covers 1,169 square miles in all. But the parcel, known as Ackerson Meadow, is home to crucial wetlands. |
| “The generous donation of Ackerson Meadow will preserve critical meadow habitat that is home to a number of state and federally listed protected species,” the park’s superintendent, Don Neubacher, said in a statement. | “The generous donation of Ackerson Meadow will preserve critical meadow habitat that is home to a number of state and federally listed protected species,” the park’s superintendent, Don Neubacher, said in a statement. |
| The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit conservation organization that helped make the donation possible, described the area in its own announcement as “a bright island of open grass in a sea of shady forest.” | The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit conservation organization that helped make the donation possible, described the area in its own announcement as “a bright island of open grass in a sea of shady forest.” |
| The trust purchased Ackerson Meadow for $2.3 million earlier this year, contributing $1.53 million to the cost. | |
| It worked with the Yosemite Conservancy, which contributed $520,000. The National Park Trust and American Rivers provided further funding. | |
| While the land is a small addition to a giant park, parcels like Ackerson Meadow provide critical habitats for hundreds of species of plants and animals, including humans. | While the land is a small addition to a giant park, parcels like Ackerson Meadow provide critical habitats for hundreds of species of plants and animals, including humans. |
| “At just 3 percent of Yosemite National Park’s area, meadows may be home to one-third of all of the plant species found in the park,” the National Park Service said in a statement. “Most of San Francisco’s water is filtered by Yosemite’s meadows, including Ackerson Meadow.” | “At just 3 percent of Yosemite National Park’s area, meadows may be home to one-third of all of the plant species found in the park,” the National Park Service said in a statement. “Most of San Francisco’s water is filtered by Yosemite’s meadows, including Ackerson Meadow.” |
| In 2013, the meadow’s wet soil helped stave off a wildfire, which left burn scars on trees at the land’s edge. The threat of that encroachment underscored the need to save the land, the Trust for Public Land said. | |
| “With climate change, we’re seeing temperatures increasing and snowpack decreasing all across the Sierra,” Sarah Stock, a Yosemite wildlife biologist, said in the trust’s statement. “Meadows are already drying up earlier in the year.” | “With climate change, we’re seeing temperatures increasing and snowpack decreasing all across the Sierra,” Sarah Stock, a Yosemite wildlife biologist, said in the trust’s statement. “Meadows are already drying up earlier in the year.” |
| The National Park Service plans to alter stream flows to help the meadow hold water longer. | The National Park Service plans to alter stream flows to help the meadow hold water longer. |
| In a way, Wednesday’s expansion was long overdue: The original 1890 boundary plans for Yosemite included Ackerson Meadow. | In a way, Wednesday’s expansion was long overdue: The original 1890 boundary plans for Yosemite included Ackerson Meadow. |