While many national park fans look to Yosemite's Facebook and Twitter feeds for event updates and weather forecasts, the story has been different in recent days. Fans and friends of the park want fire information.
The Rim Fire, which started on Aug. 17, is now one of California's largest wildfires on record, hitting 23 percent containment on Wednesday, Aug. 28. Acres burned? As of that date, the number stands at 188,000 -- nearly 300 square miles.
Full Coverage: California Wildfires
It can be a bit of a helpless feeling, watching the reports flood in -- two groves of giant sequoias are currently under threat -- but there are plans to make and help to lend.
Plan one? Obviously supporting the businesses on the west end of the park in the months ahead is always a solid plan.
But here's a plan you can enact now: The Yosemite Conservancy has established a fund to deal with the aftermath of the Rim Fire. Money raised will help "restore trails, facilities, and wildlife habitats" impacted by the blaze.
And what of the trail of your donation? It goes directly to the National Park Service, says the Conservancy.
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Donation amounts start at $50, though there is a space to give what you can.
Yosemite, which is home to Half Dome, El Capitan, Bridal Veil Falls, and Tuolumne Meadows, isn't our country's first national park; that designation goes to Yellowstone. But the Yosemite Grant of 1864 did much to help Yellowstone and all of the national parks and monuments to come.
So can we call it a very special place deserving our constant care and help? Without question.
