Upper Yosemite falls is seen with layers of ice in early morning during a spring thaw yielding high water flow.
United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in the central eastern portion of the state of California. The park, which is managed by the National Park Service, covers an area of 761,268 acres and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain. Over million people visit Yosemite each year: most spend their time in the seven square miles of Yosemite Valley. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, Giant Sequoia groves, and biological diversity. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness. Yosemite was central to the development of the national park idea. First, Galen Clark and others lobbied to protect Yosemite Valley from development, ultimately leading to President Abraham Lincoln signing the Yosemite Grant in 1864. Later, John Muir led a successful movement to establish a larger national park encompassing not just the valley, but surrounding mountains and forests as well - paving the way for the United States national park systemm, one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park supports a diversity of plants and animals. The park has an elevation range from 2,127 to 13,114 feet, five major vegetation zones: chaparral/oak woodland, lower montane forest, upper montane forest, subalpine zone, and alpine. Of California's 7,000 plant species, about 50% occur in the Sierra Nevada and more than 20% within Yosemite. There is suitable habitat or documentation for more than 160 rare plants in the park, with rare local geologic formations and unique soils characterizing the restricted ranges many of these plants occupy, geology of the Yosemite area is characterized by granitic rocks and remnants of older rock.
Size: 6000px × 3689px
Location: Yosemite National Park California USA
Photo credit: © M2 Photography / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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