YOSEMITE – Yosemite National Park and the Yosemite Climbing Association invite the public to participate in the tenth annual Yosemite Facelift on Tuesday, Sept. 24, through Sunday, Sept. 29.
The goal of the Yosemite Facelift is to clean up trash and debris from around the park after the busy summer season.
Volunteers are needed to help pick up litter at various locations in the park, including roadways, in the river corridor, on trails, near climbing routes, and in parking, camping, and lodging areas.
Last year over 1,200 Yosemite Facelift volunteers collected more than 20,000 pounds of trash and debris, and over 95 percent of the trash collected was recycled.
Volunteers worked 9,390 hours throughout the event and throughout the entire park to clear debris and trash from heavily visited areas and along park roads.
If you are interested in volunteering, you can sign up at the booth in front of the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25 through Sunday, Sept. 29. A second check-in station will be located at the Tuolumne Meadows Wilderness Center on Friday, Sept. 27 through Sunday, Sept. 29. The Tuolumne Meadows booth will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
On Saturday, Sept. 28, there will also be a registration booth in Wawona at the Mariposa Lower Grove parking lot, 9 a.m. to noon.
Crew leaders will be at the booths to organize work groups and hand out trash bags, gloves, and litter sticks. Trash must be returned to the booths each day by 4 p.m. to be weighed and sorted.
Also on the 28th, the park will celebrate National Public Lands Day. In order to help celebrate this special day and the Facelift events, the park will waive entrance fees. The fee waiver includes entrance fees on Saturday only and is not associated with camping fees.
For more information and a complete schedule of events, please contact Ken Yager at yageryca@gmail.com or visit the Yosemite Climbing Association facebook page.
Individuals who are unable to participate during the cleanup, but would still like to help, may make a tax deductible donation to help pay for costs associated with the cleanup effort. Donations can be made to the Yosemite Climbing Association at P.O. Box 89 Yosemite, California 95389.
