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Guardians of the Yosemite (1961) by John W. Bingaman

Chapter XIX

TUOLUMNE MEADOW DISTRICT RANGER STATION

Tuolumne Meadow District Ranger Station is situated seven miles west of Tioga Pass on the Tioga Road at an elevation of 8,700 feet. It is in a large open alpine meadow surrounded by mountain peaks that rise up to 13,050 feet. It serves as headquarters for the district ranger in charge and in the last decade ten seasonal rangers have been assigned there to assist with ranger duties. Ranger naturalists are also headquartered there in summer. Nearby a large campground is maintained with space for two thousand campers. A store and gas station is open from the middle of June to the middle of September.

This is a most unique area of the Park. Trails take you into a vast wilderness with stands of lodge pole pine and hemlock. Wild flowers thrive and carpet the meadows during July and August.

I enjoyed ranger duties here for ten summers. To me it was an unusual and rewarding experience.

Many hikers take off into the high country from this vantage point. Some back pack, some use burros to pack their camp gear and food and some ride horses. Sight-seeing and fishing are the main reasons for these trips. It is the real way to see nature in the rough with time to pause and wonder at God’s great creation.

The Tioga Pass Entrance Station elevation is 9,941 feet. This is under the supervision of the district ranger. Seasonal Ranger Castillo has been in charge of the Station for five summers. It opens Memorial Day and closes with the first heavy snow storm.

Little has been said about the Needleminer which infects and destroys a large area of the lodge pole pine forest every so often. The Needleminer has caused much concern for the protection of the forests in the high country from Tenaya Lake, Tuolumne Meadow, Cathedral Basin and the Virginia Canyon areas.

Yosemite reports have records on the epidemic of the Needleminer as early as 1904. That year a Major John Bigelow mentions a dead forest in Kerrick Canyon, one-half mile wide and two to three miles in length.

J. M. Miller, Entomologist, reported in 1911-1912 a moth flight was noticed and in 1913 needles dropped from the trees causing a severe defoliation and the area along the Tioga Road became known as the dead forest. In 1915 J. J. Sullivan carried on extensive study, and on the basis of these reports a control plan was carried through. The Park Service has spent a great deal of money in order to control this disease on the Lodge Pole Pine since the first reports and study were made.

In 1945 another epidemic started and the cycle reached the adult stage in 1955. Again the Park Service made extensive study and control by spraying insecticide, using helicoptors to cover the infested area. It is hoped that this method of control will stop the spread of the disease. Two chemicals, malathio and endrin, have been used and the summer of 1961 will tell the story of the success or failure of these chemicals.

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