A series of open houses are planned in Yosemite Valley at which the public is invited to discuss current projects and plans with the Yosemite National Park staff.  Open houses are scheduled on March 28, April 30 and May 30 from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Valley Visitor Center Auditorium.  CLICK HERE for more information.

Feb. 1 is the deadline to sign up to attend a User Capacity Symposium, Feb. 6 - 8, in Yosemite Valley to explore how to approach limiting visitation to Yosemite National Park and other public lands. Participating will be public land managers, researchers, elected officials, tribes and members of the public at large in open dialogue. To participate, email jim_bacon@nps.gov. Attendance is limited to 150.

Several opportunities to attend Yosemite National Park’s famous Bracebridge Dinner have become available.  Bracebridge is a national cultural treasure, a three-hour-long holiday banquet and concert, conceived by renowned Yosemite photographer Ansel Adams, that occurs in the world-famous Ahwahnee hotel Dining Room.  Approximately 30 seats each night for this highly sought-after event have been packaged with lodging at the luxurious Yosemite View Lodge for the nights of December 18, 19, 21 and 26.  Each dinner seat is $376 per person, including the seven-course gourmet feast and musical pageant.  Rooms at the Yosemite View Lodge vary from $142 to $210 per night, a 20% savings offered specially for Bracebridge guests.  To reserve your Bracebridge Dinner tickets and hotel room package, call 1-800-321-5261.  Hurry, as these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to attend Bracebridge will be gone before you can say, “Jack Frost.”

For its 100th anniversary in 2016, the National Park Service has launched an initiative to set bold goals, clear objectives, specific strategies and increased and accountable public and private investment in the parks.  Of over 200 proposals eligible for the NPS’s Centennial Challenge, which will match philanthropic cash donations with federal funding, 17 Yosemite projects were certified as eligible for funding and the park’s base budget stands to increase $3 million, allowing the equivalent of 86 new seasonal rangers in Yosemite.  Here’s a list of possible future projects:

• Connect underserved youth and parks
• Create multilingual junior ranger books
• Foster a diverse workforce through internships
• Tell untold stories
• Happy Isles Junior Ranger program
• Archeological site stewardship
• Meadow Songbirds Projects
• Invasive Plant Control
• Restore riparian habitat
• Preserve great grey owls
•  Restore Wawona Meadow habitat and historic features
• Create environmental campus
• Rehabilitate Tunnel View
• Rehabilitate Half Dome overlook
• Replace entrance signs
• Reconstruct trailhead access along Tioga Road
• Rehabilitate the most hiked trails

Geopositioning technology is now helping Yosemite Visitors experience Yosemite National Park more fully.  Tour devices called explorers can be rented at the Yosemite Valley Visitors Center provide waypoint information along a 1.6-mile loop around lower Yosemite falls.  At key points along the loop, users can turn on the device to get information about what they’re seeing.

The device works similar to car navigation systems to determine the exact location of the visitor, guiding them and providing narration and images. There are also stories, trivia questions and interactive games to play. For younger visitors, there is a treasure chest search for clues and secret messages.

The National Park Service, the nonprofit Yosemite Association and San Jose-based “Big Escapes” collaborated to offer this at Yosemite.  The Explorer units rent for $9.95/adults and $7.95/children (3 to 12 years old).  Headphones cost an additional dollar or you can use your own.  Yosemite Association members save 15%.

Topics stored in the devices include such subjects as Yosemite’s early pioneers, historic milestones, cultural heritage and native wildlife, and ecology, as well as see footage of forest fires, rock slides and the 100-year flood of 1997 and hear the words of John Muir and content from San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist Phil Frank.

The loop, which is fully accessible, usually takes about 90 minutes.  It begins at the visitor center, winds through oak woodlands and conifer forests to a close-up view of Lower Yosemite Falls. Reservations are not necessary, however, groups of 10 or more can reserve Explorer units in advance by calling (877) GPS-TOUR (477-8687) or online at www.lowerfallsloop.com.