What is the significance of Yosemite National Park and why should I care?

Yosemite National Park is a vital living research laboratory, a sanctuary, and an example of a relatively pristine natural environment. This is of special significance in California, a state with a rapidly growing population of more than 35 million people.

• The vast landscape of Yosemite National Park provides refuge for the survival and recovery of many rare, endemic, and threatened or endangered species. The park is home to an exceptional diversity of living things, fostered by a broad elevation range and the sequence of climatic zones contained within its boundaries.

• Land preserved within Yosemite National Park is part of the ancestral homeland of several contemporary American Indian tribes and groups. Oral tradition and archeological evidence suggest humans have been living continuously in the Yosemite region for at least 8,000 years.

• Yosemite National Park has the distinction of being the first scenic natural area to be set aside by the United States for public benefit and appreciation of landscape beauty. Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove were the 1864 birthplace of the national park idea, which has spread throughout the world.

Yosemite is a glaciated landscape, and the scenery that resulted from the interactionof the glaciers and the underlying granitic rocks was the basisfor its preservation as a national park. Iconic landmarks such as Yosemite Valley, Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite Falls, Verna land Nevada Falls, Bridalveil Falls, Half Dome, El Capitan, the Clark Range, and the Cathedral Range are known throughout the world by the photographs and paintings of countless artists, both amateur and professional.

Landforms resulting from glaciation include U-shaped valleys, jagged peaks, rounded domes, waterfalls, lakes, moraines, and granite spires. Glacially polished granite is further evidence of glaciation, and is common in Yosemite National Park.