Very nice project begins to brings back the majesty and sanctuary the first people treasured for us to enjoy again.
An excerpt.
Restoration project takes root among giant sequoias
Buildings and asphalt were removed from the park, and vegetation was planted.
By Mark Grossi - Fresno Bee Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, October 13, 2006
In the late 1990s, the National Park Service removed an old sewage-treatment plant that ecologists considered an ugly bunion at the foot of ancient giant sequoias.
But the sewage plant was more than an ecological nuisance in Giant Forest, where four of the world's five largest trees reside. The leaky, 1920s-vintage plant symbolized a development era that only this year passed into oblivion.
Besides the sewage plant, crews have hauled out 282 buildings and 24 acres of asphalt over the past decade.
Gone are lodge units, employee quarters, a market and the lodge dining hall.
The park service and volunteers a few weeks ago finished planting vegetation to restore nature in the bare spots that were left behind. A small city amid the sequoias has become a natural place where a steady stream of people visit and picnic during the day.
The revival in Sequoia National Park's premier attraction parallels other projects that have moved urban development farther from nature in high-profile Western national parks, such as Yosemite, Yellowstone and Grand Canyon.
