The Brief

After several months of uncertainty and delays, Yosemite National Park has announced it will begin accepting reservations for summer camping in several of the park’s most popular campgrounds starting Monday.

The campgrounds, which include the Upper Pines, Wawona and Hodgdon Meadow sites, will begin accepting camping reservations on Recreation.gov on Monday, March 24, for stays June 15–July 14, and on Monday, March 31, for stays July 15–Aug. 14. Reservations will be released at 7 a.m. PDT.

Several other Yosemite campgrounds, including Lower Pines and North Pines, will remain closed until further notice, with no advance reservations possible at the moment.

Camping reservations for Yosemite tend to sell out within minutes, so campers hoping to snag a spot are encouraged to act quickly when reservations are released.

Why were Yosemite reservations delayed this year?

On Feb. 14, President Donald Trump’s administration fired over a thousand National Park Service staff nationwide as part of a broader plan to cut federal spending.

The firings, including those at Yosemite, affected biologists, rangers, search and rescue personnel, custodians, locksmiths and wildlife specialists who had not completed their probationary periods, raising concerns about park maintenance and visitor safety. The NPS was also forced to temporarily freeze hiring for crucial seasonal workers.

A view of a welcome sign as hundreds of tourists and photographers flock in Yosemite National Park, California, United States on Feb. 19, 2025.

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Tayfun Coskun

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Anadolu via Getty Images

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That same day, Yosemite officials announced on social media that summer camping reservations for the park would be delayed. While the announcement did not attribute the delay directly to the layoffs, it noted, “We understand the impact this has on visitors who are planning camping trips to the park.” In addition, Yosemite’s 2025 separate day-use entry reservation system, intended to limit traffic in the park at peak times, was already delayed by the time layoffs hit. (Jump straight to more on the delay on day-use reservations.)

On March 20, the National Parks Conservation Association announced that NPS was authorized to reinstate all probationary park staff who were fired in February. In a statement, a Yosemite National Parks spokesperson said all reinstated employees would receive back pay and “individual notifications are underway, and while the process takes time, affected employees can expect to receive notification soon, if they have not already.”

Many national park workers, however, say they remain anxious about the longer-term future of their jobs, and Yosemite National Park did not comment on how the reinstatements might affect the park’s plan for limited campground reservations this summer.

Mark Rose, NPCA’s Sierra Nevada and Clean Air Program Manager, attributed Yosemite’s decision not to open reservations for all its campgrounds, in part, to the post-firing shortage of park staff, as well the park’s forced delay in hiring seasonal workers.

“Even with the new reservations finally going online for some campgrounds, Yosemite is still holding back over 250 sites from reservations,” Rose told KQED by email. Rose supports NPCA’s conservation efforts in Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, as well as in the surrounding Central Valley and Sierra Foothill communities.

Yosemite officials say the park may release further sites if operational capacity allows and will “provide at least seven days advance notice via the park’s website and social media if additional reservations are released.” The new reservations, once released, will not impact any reservations made beforehand.

NPS reported a record 331.9 million visits to its lands nationwide in 2024, with Yosemite accounting for over 4% of all visits to national parks that same year.

Tourists visiting Yosemite National Park on Aug. 3, 2022.

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Michael Ho Wai Lee

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SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

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What to expect at Yosemite when visiting this summer

Reservations will be released at Recreation.gov for Yosemite campgrounds, including the Upper Pines, Wawona and Hodgdon Meadow sites on:

• 7 a.m. PDT on March 24 for stays June 15–July 14.
• 7 a.m. PDT on March 31 for stays July 15–Aug. 14.

For the latest updates, be sure to check the official Yosemite National Park website or follow the park on social media.

Rose warned that visitors and campers should prepare for a potentially different Yosemite experience this summer as a result of the federal personnel cuts, which have reduced staffing across various departments.

One major impact could be increased traffic in Yosemite, Rose said. With reduced staffing and no reservation system to manage the number of vehicles entering the park, Rose said visitors should expect traffic jams, not just when traveling into the park but also around it.

“Popular destinations like Eastern Yosemite Valley may start turning vehicles around early in the morning on numerous days throughout the summer when parking lots fill up,” Rose said. “While these impacts have been seen in past years when day-use reservations were not in place, with less staff, we can expect overcrowding to be even more severe.”

A line of cars creeps slowly from Fish Camp toward the western Highway 41 entrance of Yosemite National Park as viewed on June 18, 2024, just outside Yosemite National Park.

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George Rose

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Getty Images

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Some of the other impacts visitors should anticipate:

• Limited campground services: Expect fewer rangers available for assistance and possible delays in maintenance.
• Longer lines: There may be longer lines at park entrances and visitor centers due to fewer staff managing traffic and services.
• Reduced ranger programs: Some programs, such as ranger-led talks and guided hikes, may be scaled back.

Park officials encourage visitors to be patient and plan ahead, as the reduced workforce could impact everything from check-in times to restroom maintenance at campgrounds.

Jonathan Farrington, executive director of the Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, remained optimistic about the upcoming visitor season despite recent staffing reductions at Yosemite National Park. He also pushed back against advocates and media speculation that essential services would be severely disrupted.

“There are actually more employees in Yosemite who don’t work for the government than do,” Farrington said, highlighting that hotels, restaurants, shuttle services and retail shops operate under private concessions unaffected by federal staffing changes.

Camas and western bistort bloom in Crane Flat, one of Yosemite National Park’s 3,000 meadows.

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Brian Whitehead

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NPS

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Day-use reservations still in limbo

Separately from campground reservations, Yosemite officials had intended to implement a permanent policy this year requiring all visitors without camping or lodging reservations to make a separate day-use reservation before driving into the park. The measure was designed to help manage high visitor volume, especially during peak season.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the day-use reservation system, which was first tried in 2020 and was scheduled to become permanent this year, was placed on hold amid uncertainty about its approval by the Trump administration. The park still has not announced further plans for day-use reservations, saying only that officials “[anticipate] sharing details about this year’s reservation system in the near future.”

Farrington said that since a permanent system has never existed, it’s hard to tell if implementing it now would help with overcrowding in the summer.

“If a reservation system was implemented tomorrow, the confusion that it would create at the entrance stations would be debilitating,” he said. “More than half of the reservations in hotels for people that are coming, especially internationally, to Yosemite this summer are already made.”

Rose noted that last year, over 700 vehicles — about 2,000 visitors — a day arrived unaware of the reservation requirement. “That created two-hour backups and a lot of disappointed visitors,” he said.

El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

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Craig Miller

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KQED

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Can’t get a Yosemite campground reservation? You still have alternatives

For those who miss out on a campground reservation due to this year’s reduced inventory and Yosemite’s overall popularity, there are still other options to stay inside or near the park:

Inside the park:

• Yosemite’s first-come, first-served campgrounds: for example Camp 4, a popular walk-in campground, may have limited availability.
• Lodging in Yosemite: The Ahwahnee, Yosemite Valley Lodge and Curry Village provide hotel and cabin options within the park, albeit at a premium.

Outside the park:

• Private campgrounds and RV parks: Spots like Yosemite Pines RV Resort, High Sierra RV Park and other private campgrounds near Groveland, Mariposa and El Portal offer alternatives.
• National Forest Land: Nearby areas in Stanislaus, Sierra and Inyo National Forests offer dispersed camping, which can be a good alternative for those comfortable with camping without basic amenities like toilets and potable water.

Farrington urged visitors to plan ahead and to arrive early or late to avoid peak congestion around popular scenic viewpoints between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. He said visitors could also consider biking through Yosemite Valley rather than driving.

“Sunrise is the best time to visit Tunnel View,” he advised. “And renting a bike is one of the best ways to explore the park at your own pace.”

Many of the bear-proofing designs you see in parks with bears were invented in Yosemite.

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Marissa Ortega Welch

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Useful reminders for visiting Yosemite in 2025

Here’s a list of essential tips if you’re hoping to visit Yosemite this summer:

Book early and check for cancellations
If reservations are full, check Recreation.gov frequently for cancellations, as spots may open up unexpectedly.
Prepare for self-sufficiency 
With reduced staffing, expect to handle basic campsite upkeep and pack out all trash. Bring extra supplies, including toilet paper, trash bags and hand sanitizer.
Arrive early 
Due to staffing cuts, campgrounds and entrances may be more congested than usual. Arriving early in the day can help avoid long waits.
Follow fire safety rules
Summer wildfires are a growing concern and fire restrictions may be in place. Check for updates before lighting campfires.
Respect wildlife 
With fewer rangers patrolling the park, bear activity could increase. Always store food in bear-proof containers and never leave food unattended.
Plan for limited cell service
Yosemite’s remote areas have little to no phone reception. Download maps, bring a GPS and let someone know your itinerary before heading into the backcountry.

KQED’s Carly Severn contributed to this story.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen were ensconced in the Orion space capsule when they dropped into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego at 8:07 p.m. Friday. The USS John P. Murtha is stationed near the splashdown zone to help recover the crew.

The USS John P. Murtha is stationed near the splashdown zone and will help recover the crew. A team will head out to the floating capsule and install an inflatable raft just below Orion's side hatch. The crew will be examined by a flight surgeon, then helped out of the capsule. From the transport ship, they will hitch a ride back to Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Risk of reentry

There's always risk when returning from space. Glover said that he has been thinking about this portion of the mission since he was selected for it back in 2023, and he's been looking forward to it ever since.

"We have to get back," he said from the Orion capsule Wednesday. "There's so much data that you've seen already, but all the good stuff is coming back with us. There's so many more pictures, so many more stories, and, gosh, I haven't even begun to process what we've been through."

To get back, the capsule must hit the atmosphere at a precise angle.

"Let's not beat around the bush," said Jeff Radigan, Artemis II's lead flight director. "We have to hit that angle correctly. Otherwise, we're not going to have a successful reentry."

All eyes will be on the heat shield — this is the piece of hardware beneath the capsule that protects the crew from the extreme temperatures during reentry. NASA tested it out on Artemis I, the previous, uncrewed mission, and found that the heat shield wasn't performing as designed.

NASA mission planners and the Artemis II team worked on a way to mitigate that risk. Instead of "skipping" through the atmosphere like Artemis I, this mission would hit the atmosphere steeper and faster, limiting the time the spacecraft spends in those fiery, energetic moments of reentry.

"It's 13 minutes of things that have to go right," said Radigan. "I have a whole checklist in my head that we're going through of all the things that have to happen."

Mission success

The Artemis II mission is a key flight test for Orion, and thus far, mission managers have been pleased with the results. The spacecraft has taken humans farther from Earth than they've ever been, breaking a record set by Apollo 13 astronauts in 1970.

The crew tested the manual control of the spacecraft, which will be needed for future missions that will dock with a lunar landing system. The mission tested the spacecraft's life support systems and ability to keep four astronauts comfortable within the confined space.

Artemis II returned humans to the moon for the first time since the Apollo program over 50 years ago. And while some astronauts back then did see the far side of the moon, the Artemis II crew was able to observe it from a vantage point never before seen by humans. Their images and geological notes will help better determine what the moon is made of and where it came from.

While some of the astronauts' observations may help scientists understand the distant past, others will help mission managers better plan for the future. Case in point: The crew tested out the very first toilet to go to the moon, and it quickly ran into issues during flight. Multiple times during the trip, the crew had to use manual urinals instead. The issue, NASA said, was not with the toilet itself, but the system that dumps the urine overboard when it gets full.

The Orion capsule will return to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after the mission, where engineers will examine the spacecraft after its flight, including a closer look at the spacecraft's plumbing. The team will be picking apart the spacecraft to see how it performed — and make any necessary changes ahead of the next mission, Artemis III, set to launch next year.

An L.A. city official sounded the alarm Friday that homeless service providers may go bankrupt or have to lay off staff over major reimbursement delays that still haven’t been fixed by the region’s homeless services agency — despite promises two years ago to fix it.

The L.A. Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) is late in reimbursing more than $50 million to shelter, housing and other service providers — much of which is more than 90 days overdue — according to a report it issued last month. One service provider said LAHSA is more than 90 days late in reimbursing more than $12 million in invoices to their organization.

”Everybody involved with contracting is frustrated, is angry, is exhausted," said John Wickham, the lead city staff member who presented about the issue to the city council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee on Friday. Wickham said the frustrations are shared by all of the city departments that deal with LAHSA, as well as LAHSA staff and service providers.

Wickham said he’s heard that some service providers may be considering layoffs or even considering filing for bankruptcy because of the delayed payments.

“ When payment delays occur, [service providers] are forced to make difficult decisions that everyone is experiencing right now,” said David Carpio, the chief operating officer for Veteran Social Services, Inc.

Those decisions, he said, include reducing available beds, limiting intake of new people for services, increasing wait times, ending projects — which he said leads to increased homelessness and burden on the city for emergency services calls.

Sharon Sandow, a spokesperson for the city housing department, said the department has paid LAHSA upfront — known as “advances” — so it has cash on hand to pay service providers. Sandow said the city has, at times, borrowed money from the General Fund to make advance payments to LAHSA.

Wickham said advanced payments from the city to LAHSA were being passed “ back and forth and around and around in circles.”

“ I actually haven't been able to get to the bottom of that myself,” Wickham said when asked why that’s happening. “Nobody [can] understand that.”

Wickham said he and colleagues have held over 100 meetings with officials to try to understand how the city contracts for homeless services, but some aspects were still unclear.

Officials promised to get payments back on track two years ago by streamlining their processes. Councilmember Nithya Raman, who has chaired the council’s homelessness committee for the past few years, said on Friday the city is “stuck” and has not fixed the issue.

“We don't have the ability at the city to manage this process any better than we did last year or the year before. We have just not moved forward at all,” she added. “It is extraordinarily frustrating, and those same issues persist at LAHSA that we've been discussing. So we're literally in the same place that we've been for two years.”

What LAHSA leaders say

The agency’s CEO, Gita O’Neill, told the committee the delays are “unacceptable” and that LAHSA is working with a consultant to improve its processes. LAHSA’s chief financial officer, Janine Trejo, said LAHSA “is accepting responsibility,” while she also pointed at the city for what she described as delays in the city finalizing its agreements to fund LAHSA and payments to LAHSA.

Mayor Karen Bass oversees the city agencies that pay LAHSA and is the only elected official on LAHSA’s governing commission, which she has served on for more than two years. She did not respond to a request for comment through a spokesperson on Friday’s discussion of the payment delays. Raman is running against Bass in the June primary election for mayor.

What’s next

Following up on City Council requests from years ago, the council committee plans to decide next Wednesday whether to recommend pulling all of the city’s funding out of LAHSA and having a different agency manage it. It will then go to the full City Council for a decision.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is expected to consider, a motion aimed at assessing the impact of the growing number of data centers in the region.

The centers have drawn criticism for their potential health and environmental effects on surrounding communities, and for the amount of energy they use.

Around the country, the growth in the number of data centers — which house servers, storage systems and other technology — has been driven in part by the proliferation of artificial intelligence, which has drastically increased the need for critical internet technology infrastructure.

There are already more than 70 established data centers in the county, with that number likely to grow as developers approach cities and the county to create additional facilities, according to the motion authored by Supervisor Hilda Solis.

“Establishing local regulatory oversight of data center placement and operation is needed to ensure community and environmental health and safety is protected,” the motion states. “As newer centers expand in scale and complexity, their energy use and environmental footprint is also increasing, with little community engagement on the potential impacts on residents’ health and wellbeing.”

A representative of the data storage industry raised concerns about the motion, which calls for a moratorium on data center development in unincorporated L.A. County that would be initiated “as applicable.”

“What concerns me most with the motion is the inclusion of a moratorium,” said Khara Boender, director of state policy for the Data Center Coalition. “That sends a strong signal as to whether they are welcome in those areas.”

Data centers ‘underregulated’

Solis’ motion calls on various departments including public health, public works and fire to provide findings regarding the health, environmental and safety impacts of data centers on neighboring communities, the impact on electrical and water resources and a review of how other jurisdictions around the county are regulating data centers within urban areas.

It also calls for a community education and outreach campaign to inform residents on potential impacts of advancing technologies.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, has said the data center industry is under-regulated and accelerating at a speed, scale and concentration that is impacting energy systems, water supplies, air quality, community health, land use and public finances.

A recent report by the group said state and local policymakers are at the forefront of this expansion, “uniquely positioned to guide it in ways that reflect local priorities and community needs, especially in the absence of federal guidelines.”

A fact sheet from the council said unrestricted buildout of data centers could come with big consequences including:

• Higher household water and energy bills
• Water scarcity 
• Increased water, air and noise pollution

The motion by Solis quotes a 2026 report by Community & Environmental Defense Services that showed pollutants emitted from data centers may adversely impact the health of individuals living as far as 0.6 miles from the site.

Boender, of the Data Center Coalition, said concerns about data centers have been overstated. In addition, she said data centers have “a lot of positive economic impacts associated with them.” She cited a Pricewaterhouse report that found one job in a data center creates six jobs in the broader economy.

Support for state legislation

In addition to asking county staff to assess the impact of data centers, the Solis motion calls on the county to support state legislation that directs the Public Utilities Commission to create a special rate structure for large-scale energy users and requires these users to pay for upfront transmission or distribution upgrades.

The county Board of Supervisors is expected to consider the motion during its regular meeting Tuesday. For more information, click here.

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, one of the leading candidates for California governor, came under increasing pressure Friday to drop out of the race following a report by the San Francisco Chronicle that he sexually assaulted a former female staffer. Swalwell denied the allegations.

Several other Democratic candidates called for him to immediately drop out, including Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former Controller Betty Yee, who called the allegations “sickening.”

Swalwell had racked up endorsements across the Democratic establishment, and at least one labor union and one politician who was backing him suspended their support swiftly Friday afternoon.

The Chronicle reported that a woman who worked in Swalwell’s Castro Valley office claimed to have had sexual encounters with him while she worked for him and alleged he sexually assaulted her when she was intoxicated. The report comes after weeks of rumors that Swalwell had inappropriate interactions with staff for years. On one instance in 2019, the woman said she became intoxicated after Swalwell asked her for drinks and woke up in his bed in a hotel room, feeling the effects of intercourse.

"These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor. For nearly 20 years, I have served the public — as a prosecutor and a congressman and have always protected women. I will defend myself with the facts and where necessary bring legal action,” Swalwell said in a statement Friday.

In recent weeks, two social media influencers began posting online what many people had considered rumors about Swalwell’s behavior with women. The influencers said they had spoken with several young women with whom Swalwell had behaved inappropriately. CalMatters has not independently verified the claims.

Swalwell pushed back hard against the allegations this week, telling reporters at a town hall in Sacramento on Tuesday that they are “false,” that he had “never” had a sexual relationship with anyone who worked for him. He suggested the allegations were politically motivated.

“I don’t want there to be any question in the minds of Californians,” he said. “I’m offering myself also as somebody who is fearlessly going to stand up for Californians on the toughest issues and not flinch.”

An attorney for Swalwell sent cease-and-desist letters to some of the women, one of the influencers, Arielle Fodor, wrote online. The attorney, Elias Dabaie, did not respond to a request for comment on the Chronicle story but confirmed to other news outlets the letter’s authenticity.

On Thursday night, Swalwell canceled a planned town hall in Southern California. Swalwell began calling groups that have endorsed him Friday morning to tell them of an upcoming story in the Chronicle, and denying the story, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to CalMatters.

At least four of his senior campaign staffers, including a top consultant who helped him court labor support, abruptly resigned before the news report.

Swalwell’s top two Democratic competitors in governor’s race, Tom Steyer and Katie Porter, on Friday avoided calling for him to drop out, though both issued statements commending the woman in the Chronicle story for coming forward.

Some groups that have endorsed Swalwell declined to comment on the allegations when reached by CalMatters, saying their board members needed time to digest the news.

For others, the exodus was swift. U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez, a Los Angeles Democrat who chaired Swalwell’s campaign, resigned from the role Friday and called on Swalwell to drop out. He called the allegations “the ugliest and most serious accusations imaginable.”

“My involvement in any campaign begins and ends with trust,” he said in a statement. “The congressman should leave the race now so there can be full accountability without doubt, distraction, or delay.”

The powerhouse union California Teachers Association immediately suspended its support of Swalwell, calling the allegations against him “incredibly disturbing and unacceptable” in a statement by President David Goldberg. “Our elected board will be meeting as soon as possible to follow our union’s democratic process to determine next steps.”

Another heavyweight union that endorsed him, Service Employees International Union California, suspended at least one ad buy in support of Swalwell following the accusations.

The California Medical Association, another backer, was convening an emergency meeting of the board, and “takes these allegations extremely seriously,” said spokesperson Erin Mellon.

CalMatters' Yue Stella Yu contributed to this report.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.