Skip to global NPS navigation
Skip to this park navigation
Skip to the main content
Skip to this park information section
Skip to the footer section






National Park Service Search Search
This Site
All NPS
 Open
Menu
Close
Menu
Explore This Park
Explore the National Park Service


Exiting nps.gov
  Cancel


Yosemite
National Park
California


Info
Alerts
Maps
Calendar
Fees


Alerts In Effect Dismiss
 more information on current conditions...
 Dismiss View all alerts


Contact Us
  Yosemite Presents...
 Yosemite Presents is a collection of videos on a variety of topics. Yosemite has a rich human history, and a vast array of animals and plants that call this park home. It is also a place where natural processes prevail, such as floods, rockfalls, and fire. Management of these resources and processes is also important to allow for their existance while also allowing visitors to enjoy the majestic scenery that Yosemite encompasses. Prescribed fire, restoring giant sequoia groves, and protecting peregrine falcons are only some examples of ways we preserve park resources and processes. You can learn about all of these topics and more from this video library.

On This Page Navigation

History and Human Stories

Obata's Yosemite
With generous support from Yosemite Conservancy donors, Yosemite National Park is proud to present Obata's Yosemite. Join us as we celebrate the extraordinary life of Japanese American artist Chiura Obata, which included his incredible artistic talent such as the watercolor and woodblock prints of Yosemite and his writings on "Great Nature." This film also highlights his art school while incarcerated at the TanForan Detention Center then later at Topaz concentration camp.
Duration:14 minutes, 54 seconds

Chinese History in Yosemite
Did you know that early Chinese immigrants played an important role in shaping the Yosemite that we know today? Join Park Ranger Yenyen Chan on an exploration of this impressive and surprising history.
Duration:7 minutes, 32 seconds

Uncovering Yosemite's Chinese History
Park Ranger Yenyen Chan shares the history of the Chinese Laundry building located in Wawona, along with information and artifacts uncovered that have taught us more about the role Chinese played in Yosemite's history.
Duration:3 minutes, 30 seconds

A Century of Road Trips on the Tioga Road
Have your ever jumped in your car and headed for the mountains to escape the summer heat? The Tioga Road has provided an escape route to Yosemite's breathtaking high country for more than one hundred years.  We celebrate a century of road trips on this cherished travel route, and look forward to another one hundred years of scenic high country adventures.
Duration:7 minutes, 13 seconds

Animals and Plants

Yosemite Peregrines: A Story of Hope
The peregrine falcon thrives in Yosemite Valley, but this remarkable bird was temporarily extirpated from much of its native range, including Yosemite where it disappeared for decades, leading to its listing as an endangered species in the early 1970s. Because of the remarkable, collaborative efforts of Yosemite climbers, UCSC Predatory Bird Research Group, and NPS biologists, with generous funding from the Yosemite Conservancy, the story of Yosemite’s peregrine falcon is one of hope.
Duration:7 minutes, 8 seconds

Saving Yosemite's Frogs
Can we save the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog from extinction? Human introduced non-native species (fish and fungus) have been causing the frog to go from the most abundant amphibian in the Sierra Nevada to critically endangered. However, habitat restoration efforts in Yosemite are showing promising signs for the frog's recovery and long-term survival.
Duration:8 minutes, 27 seconds

Big Wall Monkeyflowers
When faced with harsh and extreme conditions, how do organisms survive, thrive, and persist?
Plants living on the steep granite walls surrounding Yosemite Valley manage to survive and reproduce despite constant exposure to harsh environmental conditions such as wind, heat, limited soil, and seasonal water availability. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms that have allowed for plant populations to adapt to this intense environment.
Duration:5 minutes, 2 seconds

Fire

Prescribed Fire in Yosemite
In 1970, the NPS began to intentionally return fires to Yosemite, recognizing the traditional use of fire on the landscape and its important ecological role. Since 1970, fire managers have used fire to restore thousands of acres of forest, and continue to plan for future prescribed fires throughout large portions of the park.
Duration:2 minutes, 16 seconds

Rim Fire
The 2013 Rim Fire was, at the time, the largest forest fire in California history, and the largest fire in Yosemite history. Burning 400 square miles, the speed and size of the fire was unprecedented. As these unnaturally large fires become more commonplace due to previous fire suppression and climate change, Yosemite National Park is seeing the benefits of carefully allowing smaller, controlled fires on the landscape.
Duration:9 minutes, 55 seconds

Best Intentions
Who would have thought that giant sequoia groves need to be burned in order to be saved? Learn how early park managers discovered the importance of fire the hard way, and see how today's managers carefully manage fire in Yosemite. (26:00)
Duration:26 minutes, 22 seconds

Blue Jay Fire (2020)
The Blue Jay Fire started on July 24th, 2020 and burned into winter. It was a natural ignition lightning fire that the park managed for resource objectives under a confine and contain strategy. In this video, Battalion Chief Russell Mitchell, who was the Incident Command for a long duration of this fire, explains the importance of fire on the landscape in Yosemite Wilderness ecosystems and the meaning of a confine and contain strategy.
Duration:2 minutes, 10 seconds

Yosemite's First Women's Fire Corps Crew
Only a small fraction of career firefighters in the United States are women. The California Conservation Corps and the National Park Service are working together to change that with support from the National Park Foundation. In 2021, six California Conservation Corps members formed Yosemite’s first Women’s Fire Corps Crew. Crew members learned basic skills for firefighting and fire management, while connecting with mentors to prepare for future fire careers.
Duration:3 minutes, 43 seconds

Natural Elements

Floods of 1996 and 1997
Floods in Yosemite Valley aren't uncommon during spring, when the Merced River swells with melted snow. The largest, least common floods occur during winter. See what the Valley looked like during the large floods in May 1996 and January 1997.
Duration:5 minutes, 53 seconds

Ferguson Rockslide
In the spring of 2006, a rockslide buried a section of Highway 140 just outside of Yosemite National Park. The slide remained highly active for many days, allowing rare views of a rockslide in motion. The rockslide has been bypassed with temporary bridges, allowing Highway 140 to remain open. This footage was shot after the main rockslide, but while movement was still occurring.
Duration:3 minutes, 45 seconds

Restoration

Ackerson Meadow Restoration
Ackerson Meadow is one of the largest mid-elevation meadows in the Sierra Nevada, and the largest in Yosemite National Park and is an ecologically and regionally critical wildlife corridor. The Ackerson Meadow Restoration Project is the largest wetland restoration project in Yosemite’s history. It is the largest restoration project, by fill volume, to date within the Sierra Nevada. Learn more about this collaborative undertaking which started in late summer 2023.
Duration:11 minutes, 48 seconds

Restoring the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias
The Mariposa Grove reopened in June, 2018, after being closed three years for restoration. Crews improved habitat for sequoias by removing parking lots and roads,  and restoring the natural flow of water to the trees. Parking was relocated two miles away from the grove, and is connected by shuttle buses. The restoration also added accessible trails and improved bathrooms.  This was the largest restoration project in the history of the park.
Duration:3 minutes, 55 seconds

Restoring Tribal Tending of Black Oaks in Yosemite Valley
This short film about Black Oak Tribal Stewardship was produced by local Tribal film makers, Tisina Parker and Matthew Falcon. Thanks to Yosemite Conservancy donors for their support in funding this project.
Duration:7 minutes, 14 seconds

Restoring a Meadow—Cultural Burning in Yosemite
Local American Indians, park fire managers, and blackberry weeders team up to save a meadow in danger of losing its unique native plants.
Duration:7 minutes, 24 seconds

Cascades Diversion Dam Removal
Cascades Diversion Dam, once located on the Merced River just west of Yosemite Valley, was removed in 2004 followed by re-vegetation and monitoring of the river channel. After 68 years of operation, the hydroelectric facility associated with the dam was taken offline in the mid-1980s due to decay. The deteriorated dam, built of cribs formed by logs or square timbers spiked together, had spanned 184 feet with a crest height of approximately 17 feet. The National Park Service intended to restore the free-flowing conditions of the Merced, in keeping with its designation as a Wild and Scenic River. Removal has allowed for natural channel grades and hydrologic processes along this segment of river. Removal also eliminated the potential uncontrolled collapse of the dam, which had been weakened by the 1997 flood.
Duration:3 minutes, 49 seconds

Yosemite at Work

Dream Jobs
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work in a national park? Get a taste of the exciting variety of National Park Service jobs in Yosemite, from archeology and carpentry to search & rescue and wildlife management.
Duration:3 minutes, 11 seconds

Dream Jobs (Full Length Version)
Is working for Yosemite your dream job? Watch this movie for information about the variety of National Park Service jobs in Yosemite.
Duration:15 minutes, 43 seconds

Olmsted Point Plowing (2005)
Every spring, both visitors and locals look forward to the opening of the Tioga Road, a high-elevation pass that crosses Yosemite National Park. Get a glimpse of what it takes to clear snow and ice from a section of the highway known for dangerous avalanches.
Duration:3 minutes, 35 seconds

What it Takes to Open the Tioga Road and Tuolumne Meadows in Spring

Tioga Road Plowing (2023)
Each spring, plowing crews set out to clear 45.5 miles along the Tioga Road. Crews must safely navigate through multiple avalanche zones. In addition to several feet of snow, downed trees and rockfall often need to be cleared from the road. This video shows footage of plowing operations in May 2023, which was a heavy snow year.
Duration:2 minutes, 14 seconds

Using Explosives to Spread Charcoal at Olmsted Point
Along the Tioga Road, ahead of the snow plows, the avalanche team surveys, monitors, and mitigates safety concerns along the route. Crews use explosives to spread charcoal during spring plowing operations to help snow melt faster at Olmsted Point. This helps decrease the avalanche hazard in a well-known avalanche zone along Tioga Road.
Duration:1 minute, 49 seconds
 Last updated: May 21, 2024
 Park footer Contact Info Phone: 209/372-0200 Contact Us
 Tools FAQ
Site Index
Español
 Stay Connected


This Site
All NPS 
  National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior
 Accessibility
Privacy Policy
FOIA
Notices
Contact The National Park Service NPS FAQ
No Fear Act
Disclaimer
Vulnerability Disclosure Policy
USA.gov Facebook
Youtube
Twitter
Instagram
Flickr