Pile Burning In Yosemite

Yosemite National Park photo

Yosemite, CA – Smoke may be visible in the skies above Yosemite National Park next week.

The woodpiles will be set ablaze during daylight hours near the Yosemite Elementary School, beginning Monday, May 3, and running through Friday, May 6th. Park Fire Management relayed that burn days will be determined by the best smoke dispersion and weather parameters. The piles, seen in the image box photo, were constructed by the Calaveras Healthy Impact Product Solutions (CHIPS) crew, made up of local tribal members. The goal is to restore California black oak groves in the Yosemite Valley.

Fire managers noted that black oak is a cultural keystone species for the park’s seven affiliated tribes: North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California, Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, Kutzadika’a Mono Lake Indian Community, Bridgeport Paiute Indian Colony, Bishop Paiute Tribe, and the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation. They added that groves in the Yosemite Valley were planted, tended, burned, and harvested by tribal members for centuries. The park has invited tribal members to help burn the piles.