YOSEMITE: Smoke forces temporary closure,
Numerous consecutive days of stagnant wildfire smoke and hazardous air quality throughout Yosemite National Park have prompted federal authorities to close one of the Golden State’s top tourist destinations.
Multiple sensors in Yosemite monitored by the federal Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program show hazardous and very unhealthy air quality levels have been measured in the park every day since Sept. 10.
All park entrance stations and roads were to begin closing at 5 p.m. Thursday. The park will be closed to all visitors and all vehicles.
With air quality projected to be in the unhealthy to hazardous range over the next several days, park administrators anticipate the closure to be in effect at least through this weekend, Yosemite
National Park communications staff said. The park will reopen to visitors when conditions improve. The park’s closure is now in alignment with the closure of all 18 national forests in the state, including the Stanislaus National Forest.
Due to explosive wildfires and extreme wind events last week, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sept. 7 closed eight national forests, including the Stanislaus and Sierra national forests, which are closest to Yosemite. That federal closure was extended to all 18 national forests in the Golden State on Sept. 9.
Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, all of which are now closed, are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Interior. Asked last week why Yosemite National Park remained open while all the state’s national forests were closed, Forest Service officials said they could not speak for the Park Service.
In the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, visitation to Yosemite National Park has already been limited since June to those with pre-made reservations.