Yosemite National Park, California

Yosemite is located in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. The alpine wilderness, groves of giant Sequoia trees and the specatcular valley landscape of Yosemite make it a pre-eminent natural marvel. In articulating the beauty of this place, the naturalist John Muir said, "No temple made with hands can compare to Yosemite." Yosemite was made by glaciers. During the last Ice Age the granite bedrock was gouged and shaped into bare peaks, sheer cliffs, rounded domes and huge monoliths. the flat valley floor evolved from a large meltwater lake that slowly filled with sediment. Now flowering meadows fill the valley and dramatic waterfalls surround it. geological evolution is ongoing here, as lakes continue to silt up. Biological adaptaion is evident also in the Giant Sequoia trees which are resistent to fire and for whom periodic fires are, in fact, necessary to clear the dense undergrowth and make way for young sequoias. Breathtaking panoramas of rugged scenery and huge variety of plant and animal life are protected in this incomparable valley. (Inscribed in 1984)