Yosemite National Park: SWOT-Analysis

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
SWOT / TOWS Matrix
References

Introduction

Situated in the central Sierra Nevada of California, Yosemite National Park was originally a California state park created by the U.S. Congress. It became a national park in 1890. As it is 150 miles east of San Francisco and only a six-hour drive from Los Angeles, the park is popular among tourists with 3.5 million visitors each year. Although most visitors only use the seven square mile area of Yosemite Valley, the whole park spans 750,000 acres and 1,200 square miles containing thousands of lakes and ponds, 1600 miles of streams, 800 miles of hiking trails, and 350 miles of roads. It was also designated a World Heritage Site in 1984 and the most popular sights of Yosemite are its granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, and biological diversity (National Park Service Information).

Strengths

Huge popularity among visitors.
Great biodiversity.
Spectacular geological features.
Easily accessible from major cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Weaknesses

Commercialization of its nearby areas.
Traffic congestion and overcrowding (Fimrite, 2007).
Disturbance of wildlife.
Lack of management efforts to preserve wildlife.

Opportunities

Wide variety of ecotourism possibilities.
Visitor education and participation in preserving wildlife.
Restoration of public viewing areas (Rogers, 2007).

Threats

Global warming (Kiernan, 2007).
Invasion of non-native plant and animal species.
Air pollution.
Forest fires.

SWOT / TOWS Matrix

	Strengths	Weaknesses
Opportunities	Huge popularity Ecotourism possibilities	Commercialization Visitor education and participation
Threats	Great Biodiversity Non-native plant and animal infestations	Traffic and overcrowding Air pollution

Due to the huge popularity of Yosemite National Park all over the world, the park management can utilize this strength to push on with various eco-tourism opportunities that will be beneficial for the park. However, the commercialization around the area of Yosemite Valley is a weakness and the park management should increase their efforts to educate the people and letting them participate in the preservation of the park. Also, another cause of concern is the invasion of non-native plants and animals in the Yosemite National Park. The park website informed that plant pests like the spotted knapweed, yellow star-thistle, bull thistle, and Himalayan blackberry are competing with the indigenous plants. The presence of wild turkeys, white-tailed ptarmigan, bullfrogs, introduced fish, and other non-native animal species in Yosemite also threaten the park’s native animal species. If this threat is not regulated, this would greatly affect the great diversity which the Yosemite National Park is priding about. There is also a huge threat of air pollution because of the overcrowding and traffic congestion in the nearby areas of Yosemite Valley. Thus, efforts should be done in minimizing overcrowding to allay the threats of air pollution that would greatly affect the scenic beauty of Yosemite National Park.

References

Fimrite, Peter. Danger on the dome; Overcrowding: Hikers swarming Yosemite’s Half Dome create a bottleneck at the treacherously steep granite climb to the summit. San Francisco Chronicle (2007): A1.

Kiernan, Thomas C. Unnatural disaster. National Parks 81.3 (2007).

QuickMBA. SWOT Analysis. 2007.

Rogers, Paul. Yosemite’s historic overlook to get an overhaul. San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, CA) (2007).

Yosemite National Park. Natural Resources at Yosemite National Park. National Park Service Information. 2007. Web.

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