National Park Notes 



215 



Park, and Mr. Walter Fry, our former superintendent of Sequoia and General 

 Grant parks, is now United States commissioner for these parks. 



It is a pleasure to be able to record each year that Yosemite National Park 

 has completed its greatest and most successful season. Every season since my 

 official connection with the national parks was formed Yosemite has exceeded 

 all previous records of travel and has steadily forged ahead in improvements. 



Only recently, while in the Yosemite Valley, I surveyed all of the achieve- 

 ments of the past five and one-half years, especially of the five seasons of Su- 

 perintendent Lewis' incumbency, and as I compared the park of to-day with 

 that of 191 5 I realized as never before what a tremendous change in conditions 

 had been wrought. All of these accomplishments have been in the public 

 interest, and all have redounded, as made, to the pleasure of the park's pa- 

 trons. That the people themselves have appreciated what has been done there 

 is indicated plainly by the fact that ever-increasing throngs go to the park 

 each summer, even though approach roads are bad and many of the roads 

 within the park are often in a state of disrepair on account of shortage of 

 funds. 



It is a source of deep regret to me that other demands upon the resources of 

 the Yosemite National Park Company for more immediate expenditures in 

 facilities for summer visitors continue to postpone the erection of the hotel, 

 but there is no question about the building of the new hotel. The site finally 

 selected for the hotel is that formerly occupied by Camp Lost Arrow, not far 

 from the foot of Yosemite Falls. This is a secluded spot and is very beautiful. 

 Camp Curry made several betterments in its plant. It erected a new transpor- 

 tation office, a post-office, telephone and telegraph station, and a storage build- 

 ing for automobiles. It enjoyed a most successful season and, like the other 

 hotel and camp enterprises, gave good service at reasonable rates. Expansion 

 in housing facilities must continue in Yosemite Park, because travel will grow 

 heavier each year, 



A highway from Mariposa to El Portal, which is so essential to the develop- 

 ment of the winter use of the park, has been indefinitely delayed because of 

 lack of funds to do the construction work. The plan covered in my last report, 

 whereby five-dollar certificates, good for admission to the park when ex- 

 changed at the park gates for automobiles permits, were to be sold at par, the 

 proceeds to be used to build and pave this road, failed to meet with the popu- 

 lar support that was expected. The funds raised under this plan have now 

 been placed in trust, to be used in paving a part of the Mariposa-El Portal 

 Road when it shall have been graded and made ready for permanent surfacing. 

 It is to be regretted that this project has been temporarily postponed, not alone 

 because it holds back the consummation of plans for the winter use of the park 

 on a large scale, but also because the present approach roads to the park — the 

 Big Oak Flat and Wawona roads — are usually in such a bad state of repair 

 as to discourage travel in summer-time. 



In 19 19 over 18,000 people camped in the free public camps on the floor of 

 the valley, and this year they increased to 25,000. Many of them spent the 

 entire summer on their chosen pleasure-ground. On any given date of the 

 season there was the population of a fair-sized city living in the public camps. 



