Question: What are the piles of brush alongside the roads into Yosemite with paper on the top?
Answer: No, they’re not houses for some of the Concessionaires Service staff, they’re actually part of a plan to make the park safer.
Yosemite Fire Management has been clearing the trees and other fuels that might feed a fire along the roadside in an effort to reduce the risk of fire crossing the road, creating a defensible line for Yosemite Fire crews, and providing a safe escape route should the park need to be evacuated in event of a fire emergency.
The paper on top of the pile helps keep the center dry for burning at a later date.
More work is scheduled clearing downed trees, brush, and fuels along the Wawona Road this summer.