Yosemite Grant

Yosemite Grant

Concerned by the impact of commercial interests, citizens, including Galen Clark and Senator John Conness, advocated protection for the area. The 38th United States Congress passed legislation that was signed by PresidentAbraham Lincoln on June 30, 1864, creating the Yosemite Grant. This is the first time land was set aside specifically for preservation and public use by the U.S. government, and set a precedent for the 1872 creation of Yellowstone national park, the nation's first. According to Rolf Diamant and Ethan Carr, "the Yosemite Grant was a direct consequence of the war ... an embodiment of the ongoing process of remaking government ... an intentional assertion of a steadfast belief in the eventual Union victory." Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove were ceded to California as a state park, and a board of commissioners was established two years later.