A measure of optimism has arisen in the Yosemite National Park trademarks battle between DNC Parks & Resorts and the federal government, with the parties gaining judicial approval to more time to negotiate a settlement.

Early in the 20th century there was a fight over the fate of the Hetch Hetchy Valley at Yosemite National Park. Would it remain an amazing, waterfall-rimmed valley that so very well complemented the Yosemite Valley, or would it be given over to a reservoir to meet San Francisco's utilitarian needs? The battle for wildness, of course, was lost at Hetch Hetchy. Today the battle is being repeated in Utah, where wildness and sacredness at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments are being tossed aside not so much for utilitarianism as for profiteering.

Yosemite National Park officials are proposing an overhaul of the Wawona Wastewater Treatment System, which suffers from an over-taxed and antiquated system for handling human wastes from the southwestern end of the park.