Fighting For Yosemite's Future

A Japanese takeover of the park's concessions stirs a debate over who should reap profits from America's natural treasures

Few vacation spots can match Yosemite National Park's rare combination of wild beauty and civilized comfort. At the Ahwahnee Hotel, guests book reservations a year in advance to watch the alpenglow off the majestic Half Dome from cozy rooms equipped with TVs and minibars. When not ice skating, skiing or hiking through the mountain slopes clad with ponderosa pines, visitors can patronize a pizza parlor, a gourmet deli, a one-hour photo service, an automatic bank teller and, of course, a gift shop full of coffee mugs and T shirts with the Yosemite logo.

Is the commercialism encroaching on the nation's wild...

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