FISH CAMP DOINGS - SAVING THE MEADOW
UPDATE, May 2015: A lawsuit, brought against our water provider by now-bankrupt Los Angeles developer PacificUS, was dropped (with prejudice). A new development company now owns the meadow which remains undeveloped. The Sierra Foothill Conservancy is no longer involved in saving the meadow; the funds raised for meadow protection by them are now held by a local community services district. The Yosemite Alpine Community Services District is currently bolstering its water system against any future threats with the development of new well sites and water storage. Please see my blog entry for December 1, 2014.
In November, 2009 I wrote in this journal about a developer threatening the Fish Camp Meadow. Things have changed. We now have a chance to preserve the Fish Camp Meadow on Big Creek, protecting not only our community drinking water, but also the water of Big Creek which flows into Wawona and Yosemite National Park.
Photographs courtesy Pamela Salisbury, Big Creek Inn
John Muir himself saw fit to write about our meadow (or one very nearby to it) in 1875:
"Every flower, every needle is exhaling odor. Amid such innumerable fragrance fountains, how wonderful that Nature keeps so admirable a balance! The air is never gross, but subtle essences combine to give health and pleasure. So also the streams of our meadows are mixed with the juices of a thousand flowers—aye, and minerals too, for water is a universal solvent. . . . Yet how rich and pure and exhilarating a drink for gods!"
"Morning comes again, hallowed with all the deeds of night. Here it is [five] thousand feet above the sea, yet in all this tranquil scene we feel no remoteness, no rest from care and chafing duties because here they have no existence. Every sense is satisfied. For us there is no past, no future. We live in the present and are full. No room for hungry hopes, none for regrets, none for exultation, none for fear. . ."
"A cow comes through the woods exploring the meadow, and I know by her tracks she has been here before. Will all this garden be made into beef and mutton pastures, and be delved by the hog-herd and ditcher's spade? I often wonder what man will do with the mountains – that is, with their utilizable, destructible garments. Will he cut down all the trees to make ships and houses? If so, what will be the final and far upshot? Will human destructions like those of Nature – fire and flood and avalanche work out a higher good, a finer beauty? Will a better civilization come in accord with obvious nature, and all this wild beauty be set to human poetry and song? Another universal outpouring of lava, or the coming of a glacial period, could scarce wipe out the flowers and shrubs more effectually than do the sheep. And what then is coming? What is the human part of the mountains' destiny?"
All of the water you see in these pictures -- the water of Big Creek -- flows into Wawona and Yosemite. While campaigning for the creation of Yosemite National Park, Muir wrote:
"For the branching cañons and valleys of the basins of the streams that pour into Yosemite are as closely related to it as are the fingers to the palm of the hand—as the branches, foliage, and flowers of a tree to the trunk. Therefore, very naturally, all the fountain region above Yosemite, with its peaks, cañons, snow fields, glaciers, forests, and streams, should be included in the park to make it an harmonious unit instead of a fragment..." (read the full text of Muir's article here).Though not included within the artificial boundary of Yosemite National Park, what Muir observed surely establishes Fish Camp Meadow on Big Creek as interconnected with Yosemite's environs -- worthy of protection by any who strive to protect Yosemite National Park.
I share John Muir's concern regarding "the human part of the mountains' destiny," and strongly believe that a development in the middle of Fish Camp Meadow will decidedly not bring about a "higher beauty." I'll bet you agree, too.
UPDATE, May 2015: A lawsuit, brought against our water provider by now-bankrupt Los Angeles developer PacificUS, was dropped (with prejudice). A new development company now owns the meadow which remains undeveloped. The Sierra Foothill Conservancy is no longer involved in saving the meadow; the funds raised for meadow protection by them are now held by a local community services district. The Yosemite Alpine Community Services District is currently bolstering its water system against any future threats with the development of new well sites and water storage. Please see my blog entry for December 1, 2014.
In November, 2009 I wrote in this journal about a developer threatening the Fish Camp Meadow. Things have changed. We now have a chance to preserve the Fish Camp Meadow on Big Creek, protecting not only our community drinking water, but also the water of Big Creek which flows into Wawona and Yosemite National Park.
Photographs courtesy Pamela Salisbury, Big Creek Inn
John Muir himself saw fit to write about our meadow (or one very nearby to it) in 1875:
"Every flower, every needle is exhaling odor. Amid such innumerable fragrance fountains, how wonderful that Nature keeps so admirable a balance! The air is never gross, but subtle essences combine to give health and pleasure. So also the streams of our meadows are mixed with the juices of a thousand flowers—aye, and minerals too, for water is a universal solvent. . . . Yet how rich and pure and exhilarating a drink for gods!"
"Morning comes again, hallowed with all the deeds of night. Here it is [five] thousand feet above the sea, yet in all this tranquil scene we feel no remoteness, no rest from care and chafing duties because here they have no existence. Every sense is satisfied. For us there is no past, no future. We live in the present and are full. No room for hungry hopes, none for regrets, none for exultation, none for fear. . ."
"A cow comes through the woods exploring the meadow, and I know by her tracks she has been here before. Will all this garden be made into beef and mutton pastures, and be delved by the hog-herd and ditcher's spade? I often wonder what man will do with the mountains – that is, with their utilizable, destructible garments. Will he cut down all the trees to make ships and houses? If so, what will be the final and far upshot? Will human destructions like those of Nature – fire and flood and avalanche work out a higher good, a finer beauty? Will a better civilization come in accord with obvious nature, and all this wild beauty be set to human poetry and song? Another universal outpouring of lava, or the coming of a glacial period, could scarce wipe out the flowers and shrubs more effectually than do the sheep. And what then is coming? What is the human part of the mountains' destiny?"
All of the water you see in these pictures -- the water of Big Creek -- flows into Wawona and Yosemite. While campaigning for the creation of Yosemite National Park, Muir wrote:
"For the branching cañons and valleys of the basins of the streams that pour into Yosemite are as closely related to it as are the fingers to the palm of the hand—as the branches, foliage, and flowers of a tree to the trunk. Therefore, very naturally, all the fountain region above Yosemite, with its peaks, cañons, snow fields, glaciers, forests, and streams, should be included in the park to make it an harmonious unit instead of a fragment..." (read the full text of Muir's article here).Though not included within the artificial boundary of Yosemite National Park, what Muir observed surely establishes Fish Camp Meadow on Big Creek as interconnected with Yosemite's environs -- worthy of protection by any who strive to protect Yosemite National Park.
I share John Muir's concern regarding "the human part of the mountains' destiny," and strongly believe that a development in the middle of Fish Camp Meadow will decidedly not bring about a "higher beauty." I'll bet you agree, too.