OUR MISSION
We inspire people to support projects and programs that preserve Yosemite and enrich the visitor experience for all.
Annual Report 2024
Dear Friends of Yosemite,
was a year of expansion and change in Yosemite National Park. I am pleased to share the year’s annual report, which highlights remarkable transitions in species conservation efforts, technology and reservation systems, visitor programs, and more.
The year began with the announcement that we would fund a record number of projects — 60 initiatives with around $18 million in total support to the park — and Yosemite came to life with donor-funded programs that were felt in every corner of the park.
In the spring, biologists began surveying peregrine falcon nests to protect hatchlings while also providing visitors with recreational access to Yosemite’s big walls. As flowers reemerged, so did visitors, and another entrance reservation project was piloted to manage park traffic and long lines at the entrance gates.
Summer brought warmer days and the annual multiday Obata Art Weekend, which drew a total of 5,200 visitors, the highest number of participants in the event’s history. Keep It Wild crews restored and maintained 750+ wilderness campsites throughout the park. Biologists completed novel amphibian releases to nurture species resiliency. Our in-park programs had a record-breaking year for revenue, and our fundraising reached its highest mark ever, topping $24 million.
As 2024 came to a close, our impact remained steady. The Yosemite Ancestral Stewards Crew finished their season of reducing hazardous fuels in black oak groves. Five new horses and mules joined the Yosemite herd to support visitor service efforts. And right as snow began to fall, the WildLink program concluded its seventh and final in-park experience of the season, connecting 50+ students and families to the wild spaces and wilderness of Yosemite.
These initiatives were made possible by the generous support of donors, as well as the invaluable gift of time provided by volunteers, staff, and all of us who love and care for Yosemite. These highlights capture just some of the ways you made a difference in Yosemite in 2024.
Thank you for your continued dedication to preserving the natural wonders and cultural history of Yosemite National Park.
Steve Ciesinski, Chair
2024
BY THE NUMBERS
TRAIL REHABILITATION & ACCESS
California Conservation Corps crews completed repairs to more than 64 feet of single- and multitier stone walls, 21 steps, and 72 miles of trail maintenance in the Merced watershed.
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
750 California red-legged frogs and 471 Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs were released into 10 designated sites to support amphibian species recovery.
13 Pacific fisher dens used by six females were recorded in the park — the highest number ever found in Yosemite.
HABITAT RESTORATION
More than 2,300 native seeds were planted in Puppy Dome Meadow to restore an area previously impacted by a trail.
5 crews of young-adult Tribal members removed hazardous fuels from black oak groves in Yosemite Valley.
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
Volunteers completed the annual health survey of all large sequoias in the park, assessing the response of more than 630 trees to fire, drought, and insect attacks.
CULTURAL & HISTORIC PRESERVATION
The annual United in Yosemite event hosted 100 rock climbers from various backgrounds for skills clinics and stewardship opportunities.
Cultural demonstrators shared their traditional practices of knapping, weaving, beading, and dancing with more than 1,800 visitors.
VISITOR SERVICES & EDUCATION
During its 10th anniversary, the Ask a Climber program connected with 18,000 visitors in El Capitan Meadow.
More than 500 Junior Ranger walks and talks inspired over 10,000 youth.
More than 56,000 donors funded 60 + projects in support of the park.
Your Gifts at Work 2024 HIGHLIGHTS
ach year, we rely on gifts from donors to fund habitat restoration, scientific research, historic preservation, and more in Yosemite. Your support in 2024 was felt in the park from the High Sierra peaks to the Valley’s legendary trails to the giant wonders of Mariposa Grove.
Within the pages of this report, you’ll find more highlights from critical park projects. You’ll read about crucial restoration projects in and near Tuolumne Meadows, including the completion of the Tenaya Lake Loop Trail. You’ll take to the skies to learn about the park’s unique ecological web of winged species. You’ll experience the wonder of the new Yosemite Exploration Center. And you’ll celebrate the next phase of restorationat Ackerson Meadow.
PHOTOS: (LEFT) © ADONIS VILLANUEVA. (ABOVE: SONG SPARROW) © COURTESY OF NPS.
Program HIGHLIGHTS
Our in-park programs served more than 1.12 million visitors through overnight adventures, art retreats and classes, naturalist-led walks, and more. This included serving 66,000+ people through the Conservancy’s wilderness programs and permits; 7,000+ people through our art programs, including children’s art classes, which were offered at no charge and saw a 24% increase in participation; nearly 600,000 visitors at our seven retail locations; 24,000+ people who participated in Outdoor Adventures; and 400,000+ contacts through volunteer outreach.
Conservancy volunteers provided the equivalent of $645,000 in labor value to the park. Work Week Crews maintained trails, restored meadows, gathered native seeds, and repaired fencing, contributing 4,300+ hours of work. Our visitor information assistants reached nearly 425,000 visitors to help orient them to the park and experience Yosemite safely.
“With each adventure in Yosemite — from our first backpacking trip together to every hike, wildlife-spotting, and glimpse of the night sky — our appreciation for this park grows. Now, we look forward to sharing the wonder, awe, and restorative power of this special place with our daughter. We are so grateful to participate in the Future Leaders Advisory Circle, where our commitment to the stewardship of Yosemite flourishes.”
— JESSICA & BRENDAN MCLOUGHLIN Future Leaders Advisory Circle & Leadership Donors
PHOTOS: (TOP TO BOTTOM)
Ackerson Meadow PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
Ackerson Meadow sits at the edge of Yosemite National Park, where more than a century of private ownership and landscape manipulation — ranching, timber harvesting, and more — devastated the wetland ecosystem. When the National Park Service acquired the land in 2016, a massive 3-mile-long, human-caused gully had already eroded 90 acres of soil and was actively impacting an additional 100 acres in the 400acre mid-elevation meadow.
In 2023, 20+ organizations, agencies, and entities — including the National Park Service and the Conservancy — began work to restore 103 acres of lost wetland habitat and protect 84 intact acres. During the following two years, restoration crews filled in the gully network, re-established natural water flows, planted 400,000+ native wetland plants, removed 15+ acres of invasive plants, and restored habitat for an array of wildlife — including four threatened species.
Nearly a decade of planning, partnership, and $18 million in funding — partially provided by Conservancy donors — transformed this grazed and gullied area into a functioning wetland. Thanks to our supporters, committed restoration ecologists, state funding agencies, and the expertise of the National Park Service, hope for a more resilient, biodiverse future has returned to Ackerson Meadow.
Tuolumne PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
The broad grasslands, granite domes, and sharp peaks of Tuolumne Meadows offer visitors a quintessential experience of the Sierra Nevada high country. Tuolumne also holds immense cultural significance that can be easily harmed by overvisitation during the summer months. Conservancyfunded projects play a key role in sustaining the land through collaborative stewardship. From restoring native habitats to visitor outreach and engaging with Tribal knowledge, we work to create long-term resilience in Tuolumne.
Donor-funded wildlife monitoring and research projects protect flora and fauna that call Yosemite’s high country home. Adapted to high elevations, the Yosemite toad is extremely sensitive to minor habitat changes, and the population has declined rapidly. In 2024, to prevent precipitous species decline, park scientists successfully conducted the first-ever reintroduction of 118 Yosemite toads. Learn more about these amazing amphibians on YouTube in the latest Yosemite Nature Notes video, “Yosemite Toads.”
On the other side of the mountain ridge, alpine plant communities also face extinction from habitat loss. Thanks to you, teams monitored 19 high country sites in 2024 to understand how drought and rising temperatures are affecting plant communities and to identify solutions.
Cultural legacies were preserved at the Parsons Memorial Lodge Summer Series, where a variety of perspectives are brought together at the alpine cabin. From talks on natural sciences to musical and poetry performances, the event series reached nearly 1,000 visitors in 2024.
Park managers also protect Tuolumne by directly restoring habitat and trails. For 31 years, the Keep It Wild crew has documented, removed, and restored inappropriately located wilderness campsites, fire rings, social trails, and invasive non-native plants. In 2024, the crew surveyed 529 acres of the Tuolumne watershed to diminish the impact of visitors. Wilderness crews also spent the summer rerouting sections of the John Muir and Pacific Crest trails that cut through Puppy Dome Meadow and disrupted its natural hydrology and native plants. By moving the trail to the meadow’s northern edge, crews reduced continued erosion of the area and enhanced traditional wetland habitat.
Native plants and trail work played a key role in enhancing habitat and visitor experiences at Tenaya Lake. Thanks to your support, crews completed the Tenaya Lake Loop Trail, an effort that began in 2012 and now allows visitors to traverse the entirety of the lake’s shoreline. At the adjacent Murphy Creek trailhead, the Yosemite Ancestral Stewards Crew — a group of young-adult Tribal members who conduct critical conservation work in the park — revegetated this culturally significant site with native plants.
Conservancy funds also enhanced visitor experiences through direct education and outreach efforts. On the cliffs of Tuolumne, the Climbing Stewardship Program encourages safe and sustainable rock-climbing practices through trail restoration work and safety clinics.
Without you, our dedicated donors, it would be impossible to complete these critical projects, and Yosemite’s high country would be less resilient to shifting patterns of human visitation and severe weather. Tuolumne thanks you.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
Yosemite Flyers
Some of the most fascinating wildlife in Yosemite makes its home in the skies. This past year, Conservancy-funded projects studied nesting peregrine falcons, great gray owls, songbirds, spotted owls, bees, and bats to understand the needs of Yosemite’s flying species and their unique place in the park’s ecological web.
Yosemite is a habitat haven for an estimated 150 breeding adult great gray owls, the largest owl found in the park. While the park’s meadows and forests provide high-quality nesting and foraging opportunities for gray owls, human activity in the park remains the leading cause of owl mortality. In 2024, donor-funded research assessed the fine-scale movements of owls near roadways to pinpoint strategies to reduce owl–vehicle collisions.
No less charismatic is the California spotted owl. This species is found in Yosemite’s mid-elevation forests — areas that, unfortunately, are highly impacted by megafires that can severely affect available habitat and resources for owls. To protect owl habitat, park scientists used recording devices to locate nesting sites and identify areas where prescribed burns could protect owl habitat by reducing the likelihood of megafires.
Songbirds, colorful and vibrant, were surveyed in the summer as part of the park’s longest monitoring effort: 34 years. With your support, this program captured, recorded, and released more than 3,000 individual birds, representing 65 species, to contribute critical data on the long-term population trends, habitat ranges, and nesting productivity of Sierra Nevada songbirds.
PHOTOS: (TOP TO BOTTOM) © VISHAL SUBRAMANYAN. (JUVENILE CALIFORNIA SPOTTED OWL)
© PAUL BANNICK. (WESTERN TANAGER) © ANN & ROB SIMPSON.
The abundance of songbirds provides ample prey for a faster flyer, the once-endangered peregrine falcon, which was thought to be completely eradicated from Yosemite in the 1970s. Through critical management efforts partially funded by Conservancy donors — including efforts to ensure coexistence between falcons and recreational rock climbers — the park’s peregrine falcons have been brought back from the brink of extinction. In 2024, biologists monitored 106 cliff areas and nesting sites to protect peregrines with temporary closures on specific climbing routes.
At night, Yosemite’s cliffs are filled with the park’s 17 bat species. These bats protect the health of park ecosystems by consuming insects and acting as a food source for other species. As a result, the unprecedented impacts of severe shifts in weather patterns and invasive disease that threaten bats have park-wide implications. This past year, the Conservancy funded projects to develop novel cliff-surveying techniques and partnered with recreational climbers to improve our understanding of these critical bat populations.
Above the Valley’s cliffs, at the highest points in the park, are thousands of alpine bees that play a crucial role in maintaining Yosemite’s plant diversity through pollination. Yet these tiny flyers are experiencing dramatic global declines due to temperature spikes and drought. With your support, four park researchers surveyed pollinators at remote, high-elevation locations to assess habitat requirements for alpine pollinators, collecting a total of 5,880 bee specimens.
PHOTOS: (TOP TO BOTTOM) © JAMES MCGREW.
Revitalizing Yosemite Village PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
In 2024, the Conservancy funded meaningful changes to improve the visitor experience in Yosemite Village. From thoughtful storytelling practices to updated signage, these additions and alterations better support the needs of 21st century audiences.
At the Yosemite Exploration Center — formerly the Valley Visitor Center — park staff addressed flooding and damage caused by the unseasonably wet winter of 2022–2023. To protect visitor safety and enjoyment in the space, donor funds enabled the removal of hazardous mold and the design of new exhibits at the center.
“We are grateful for Yosemite Conservancy’s efforts to maintain our incredible national park and to support accessibility for so many to witness its majesty. We have seen the impact it has had on us and our family. We contribute because it is our hope that we can continue to enjoy our trips, to take our grandchildren in the near future, and that they can take their great-grandchildren, too.”
— OREN & JUSTINE JACOB Leadership Donors
Conservancy donors also supported the creation of a short, 7-minute film that highlights Yosemite’s Native people and their centuries-old connection with these lands. The film now plays on a loop in the Yosemite Museum lobby and has been seen by nearly a million people on the National Park Service’s social media and web pages.
Elsewhere in the village, new and updated park signage was installed along roadsides and paths to help visitors orient themselves. This project included creating and installing 37 new wayfinding signs and revising 21 navigation panels in the South Lot and Yosemite Falls parking areas.
These village initiatives are essential in our effort to enrich the park experience for all visitors. With your support, these projects allow new and returning park visitors to immerse themselves fully in Yosemite’s science and history.
Statement of Financial Position
As of Dec. 31, 2024
& Equipment, Net $1,700,547
Lease Liability, Net of Current Portion $190,023
As of Dec. 31, 2024
“As a board member, I’m especially proud of the deep commitment every member of our volunteer leadership shows to the park we love. In 2024, 100% of our Board and Council members made a gift to Yosemite Conservancy, setting an example we hope others will follow to help preserve and protect Yosemite for generations to come.”
— LAWSON RANKIN Board Member, Leadership Donor, & Legacy Society Member
“Yosemite is a beautiful and legendary place. We love volunteering for the Conservancy and donating to preserve and protect Yosemite.”
— PAUL & NANCY BOYD-BATSTONE Leadership Donors
PHOTOS (MIDDLE):
NANCY ROBBINS. (BOTTOM)
PAUL & NANCY BOYD-BATSTONE.
COUNCIL MEMBERS
As of Dec. 31, 2024
YOSEMITE CONSERVANCY
COUNCIL MEMBERS
CHAIR
Steve Ciesinski*
VICE CHAIR
Dana Dornsife*
SECRETARY
Robyn Miller*
TREASURER
Jewell Engstrom*
PRESIDENT & CEO
Frank Dean*
COUNCIL
Hollis & Matt* Adams
Gretchen Augustyn
David & Amelia Cameron
Jessica* & Darwin Chen
Diane & Steve* Ciesinski
Kira & Craig Cooper
Hal Cranston & Vicki Baker
John & Meredith Cranston
Carol* & Manny Diaz
Leslie & John Dorman
Dana* & Dave* Dornsife
Jewell* & Bob Engstrom
Kathy Fairbanks
Sandra & Bernard Fischbach
Cynthia & Bill Floyd
Bonnie Gregory
Rusty Gregory
Laura Hattendorf & Andy Kau
Christy & Chuck Holloway
Christina Hurn
Mitsu Iwasaki
Erin & Jeff Lager
Bob & Melody Lind
Patsy & Tim Marshall
Kirsten & Dan Miks
Robyn* & Joe Miller
Juan Sánchez Muñoz* & Zenaida Aguirre-Muñoz
Kate & Ryan* Myers
Daniel Paramés
Sharon & Phil* Pillsbury
Gisele & Lawson* Rankin
Bill Reller
Pam & Rod* Rempt
Skip Rhodes
Alain Rodriguez* & Blerina Aliaj
Dave Rossetti* & Jan Avent*
Greg* & Lisa Stanger
Ann* & George Sundby
Alexis & Assad Waathiq
Clifford J. Walker
Wally Wallner & Jill Appenzeller
Helen & Scott* Witter
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
Superintendent Cicely Muldoon
*Indicates Board of Trustees
Contact Us
CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Marion Ingersoll mingersoll@yosemite.org 415-362-1464
LEADERSHIP GIFTS — NORTHERN CALIFORNIA & NATIONAL
Caitlin Allard callard@yosemite.org 415-989-2848
LEADERSHIP GIFTS — SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Julia Hejl jhejl@yosemite.org 323-217-4780
PLANNED GIVING & BEQUESTS
Catelyn Spencer cspencer@yosemite.org 415-891-1039
Yosemite Conservancy 101 Montgomery Street, Suite 2450 San Francisco, CA 94104 Tax ID 94-3058041
ANNUAL, HONOR, & MEMORIAL GIVING Isabelle Luebbers iluebbers@yosemite.org 415-891-2216
GIFTS OF STOCK Eryn Roberts stock@yosemite.org 415-891-1383
FOUNDATIONS & CORPORATIONS
Laurie Peterson lpeterson@yosemite.org 415-906-1016