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| Above, the former Ahwahnee Hotel. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
People are upset and frustrated over the continuing battle between the National Park Service (i.e., the federal government) and former Yosemite National Park concessionaire Delaware North.
One Californian has taken his anger and frustration to another level. He has started a website protesting the name changes that the trademark lawsuit between the National Park Service.
According to the Union Democrat:
A web developer who lives in Santa Barbara County is so fed up with the name change for a landmark lodge in Yosemite Valley he’s set up a website to protest.
Earlier this year, the National Park Service changed the name of several landmarks, including The Ahwahnee, because of an ongoing dispute with a former concessioner. The rustic stone-walled establishment is now named the Majestic Yosemite Hotel.
Will Etling, a 34-year-old resident of Solvang, said he remembers visits with his parents to Yosemite National Park when he was younger.
“We would usually stay outside the park because it was less expensive,” Etling said Thursday. “But there was one particular Christmas we stayed at the Ahwahnee. It was maybe 1994. I was probably 12 years old.
“Being there when I was young it was like living in a dream or a movie, some magical place,” Etling said. “You’re surrounded by nature and nature’s smells, and with all the rock the building is made of, it’s like being in a cave. The rock of the actual hotel feels so natural. Staying there a couple nights I was able to walk around and explore on my own without my parents.”
The legal battle between the National Park Service and outgoing concessioner Delaware North, over ownership of trademarks and place names including Curry Village and the Wawona Hotel, began simmering last year. Etling says he registered the domain name majesticyosemitehotel.net in January.
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| Above, the Grand Dining room at the former Ahwahnee Hotel. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, yours truly in the Grand Dining Room. |
I visited Yosemite twice this year and saw the name changes the lawsuit compelled the National Park Service to make. According to the article, the federal government considers the changes to be "temporary".
To date, there are no signs of any possible out-of-court settlement between the National Park Service and Delaware North.
To read more, go here.
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