[NAFEX] Fwd: [CalRareFruit] Fw: Preserving rare apples in Yosemite National Park

Betty Mayfield bmayfield at opusnet.com
Sun Apr 5 18:09:32 EDT 2009


To the list,

A search of Google turned up a detailed story of the history of the 
fruit trees in a 1977 publication of the Yosemite Natural History Association.
http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/yosemite_nature_notes/46/46-2.pdf

Betty Mayfield

At 01:23 PM 4/5/2009, you wrote:
>Cross posting that fits NAFEX perfectly.
>
>
>Begin forwarded message:
>
>From: "William A. Grimes" <wagrimes at sonic.net>
>Date: April 5, 2009 12:20:37 PM PDT
>To: <all-chapters at crfg.org>
>Cc: <goldengatecrfg at yahoogroups.com>, 
><CalRareFruit at yahoogroups.com>, <info at crfg.org>
>Subject: [CalRareFruit] Fw: Preserving rare apples in Yosemite National Park
>Reply-To: CalRareFruit at yahoogroups.com
>
>If there is any interest, please contact Scott at sntipton at san.rr.com and me.
>
>Bill Grimes
>
>From: Scott Tipton
>Sent: Sunday, April 05, 2009 7:43 AM
>To: info at crfg.org
>Subject: Preserving rare apples in Yosemite National Park
>
>Greetings,
>
>My wife and I visited Yosemite National Park last spring, as we do 
>every year.  We just happened to be there on Earth Day.  There were 
>a lot of activities, presentations and discussions about what each 
>and every person that visits Yosemite can do to help preserve and 
>conserve natural resources.
>
>I had known for years that Yosemite as a National Park policy 
>removes non-native and invasive plants to keep the park as close to 
>its natural and historic condition as possible.  I also knew that 
>there are orchards of fruit trees, mainly apples, that are allowed 
>to grow and not considered as qualifying for removal as non-native 
>plants.  They just grow, unattended or cared for, where they were 
>planted by early settlers in Yosemite Valley and environs from as 
>early as 1855.
>
>Since it was Earth Day, there were representatives from the 
>different departments of the National Park Service that work in 
>Yosemite at kiosks available to answer questions about park 
>preservation.  One of the kiosks was from representatives from the 
>History, Architecture & Landscape Branch.  They had displays and 
>information about historic structures and landmarks, but they also 
>had information about the removal of the non-native plant species 
>and how to get involved in that program.
>
>I asked one of the ladies at the kiosk why the Park Service was so 
>concerned about removing invasive weeds, grasses, shrubs trees, etc. 
>but the old fruit groves and orchards were left to grow wild.  Why 
>weren't the fruit trees being removed?  The answer surprised me.
>
>Almost all of these non-native fruit trees, mostly apples and pears, 
>are historic, heirloom, rare, antique and obscure varieties there 
>are now not found anywhere else but in Yosemite National Park.  If 
>the trees were to be removed, they would then be extinct 
>varieties.  Therefore, the trees are left alone.
>
>I asked why there weren't efforts being made to preserve these rare 
>varieties for future generations in case something happened that 
>would cause the trees to be killed by some natural means or if one 
>of these varieties could solve agricultural needs or prevent other 
>fruit grower's problems.  Her answer was that there were not 
>sufficient funds for such a project to save seeds, make cuttings for 
>grafting or any other collecting and storing of specimens, and even 
>if there were funds, other projects for the park made that sort of 
>endeavor a lower priority.
>
>That is the reason that I am contacting your organization.   There 
>are dozens of apple and pear varieties that are now found nowhere 
>else but in Yosemite National Park and there is nothing being done 
>to save and preserve these fruit trees that may be of great 
>agricultural importance now and in the future.
>
>If you would be interested in being somehow involved with the 
>preservation of these last known varieties of apples and pears, 
>please contact me and I will provide you with the contact 
>information for the National Park Service staff in Yosemite who 
>would dearly love to see these trees saved for future 
>generations.  It would be great, if when I am in Yosemite again next 
>month, that I could have some good news for these hard working and 
>concerned park employees that don't have the means or government 
>funds or support to do the preservation work themselves, but there 
>are others that are willing to provide some kind of help.
>
>I thank you very much for your time and attention to this matter.
>
>Yours,
>
>Scott Tipton
>1438 Hornblend St.
>San Diego, CA 92109
>(858) 581-6847
>sntipton at san.rr.com   -or-  sntipton at everythingyosemite.com
>
>
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