Letter from Yosemite

Last weekend my wife and I were in Yosemite -- which was my first trip to the park in some 15 years. During the visit, I couldn't help but look around and think about the next 15 years. Every national park will have to endure changes. For example, Glacier National Park will see its glaciers go. Joshua trees in Joshua Tree National Park will be migrating north beyond the park's boundaries.

So what's on Yosemite's plate? Recently KQED's climate blog dissected what's to come for this majestic place:

California’s Yosemite National Park has been scarred by several big fires in recent years—the latest contained less than two months ago. But new research affirms that this crown jewel among national parks is likely to have even more fire in its future.

In late August, when fire crews attacked the Big Meadow Fire in Yosemite, it was hard to blame nature for the 74-hundred acres lost. That was a "prescribed burn" that got out of hand (or "escaped," as the official report puts it). But nine out of ten wildland fires in the Sierra start with a lightning strike. Newly published work suggests that as California’s climate changes, the combination of warmer temperatures, less snow and more lightning strikes could mean 20% more fires by mid-century. USGS research forester emeritus Jan van Wagtendonk co-authored the study with James Lutz at the University of Washington. He says they studied 20 years of Yosemite fire data to identify a trend. The mechanism starts with the oft-cited warming scenario,causing more rain and less snow at upper elevations.

"What happens in the mountains is that, as snow recedes in the spring the
moisture in the fuels follows," says van Wagtendonk. "The fuel starts drying out
earlier and we extend the fire season by having more days available for fires to
burn."

My wife took some great pics.

The falls dried up in August, but were rolling again last weekend thanks to some early Autumn downpours. Deer are pretty de-sensitized to humans. Below is a beautiful buck.