steep slopes of Yosemite National Park Yosemite attracts many visitors in winter The Yosemite Ski Snowboard Area offers plenty of opportunities for downhill and cross-country skiing Millions of people also visit the park throughout the rest of the year Rock climbers come for the challenge of scaling Yosemite’s cliffs Nature enthusiasts explore the park’s groves of giant sequoia trees Yosemite offers something for everyone 6 Trailblazer Clare Marie Hodges Clare Marie Hodges became a Yosemite park ranger in 1918 She was the first female park ranger of the National Park Service NPS The NPS was having a hard time finding men to work as park rangers Many were fighting in World War I 1914 1918 Hodges had been a teacher in the Yosemite Valley School She knew the park needed rangers and she knew she was well qualified She approached Yosemite superintendent Washington B Lewis with her idea She expected him to laugh at her Instead he agreed Hodges’s example paved the way for future female park rangers
snow depth inches 72 48-72 24-48 6-24 0 1-6 0 Nevada Pacific Ocean California Snow Depth in the Sierra Nevada The map above shows annual snow depth in the Sierra Nevada Which parts receive the most snow How can you tell Yosemite is located in California along the Sierra Nevada mountain range Spanning 748,036 acres 302,719 ha it is roughly the size of Rhode Island More than 4 million people visited the park in 2015 This makes Yosemite one of the top ten most-visited US national parks 7
The Yosemite Land Grant Act Early white settlers came to Yosemite Valley in the mid-1800s Some brought cattle and sheep These livestock grazed in Yosemite’s meadows They damaged plants Settlers also cut down trees They used the trees to build houses California senator John Conness wanted to protect Yosemite Valley and the surrounding lands He wrote a bill The bill asked the US government to give the lands to California President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill in 1864 It became the Yosemite Land Grant Act More than 60 square miles 155 sq km of land were given to California This included Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias Government workers tried to protect this land But visitors still damaged the resources Protecting Yosemite Environmentalist John Muir visited Yosemite in 1889 He had lived and worked in the area only eight years earlier But the landscape had changed Tunnels had 8
9 John Muir knew making Yosemite into a national park was the only way to ensure the land was protected
