Tom McClintock represents the people of California’s historic gold country and Sierra Nevada in a district that stretches from Lake Tahoe, through Yosemite Valley and on to Kings Canyon.
Often described as “the gold standard” for fiscal conservatism in Congress, the National Taxpayers Union rated him the best vote for taxpayers in the House four times, most recently in 2020. Citizens Against Government Waste recently named him as one of only two perfect votes in the House fighting wasteful government spending.
Yosemite National Park is the crown jewel of the National Park System that includes some of the most beautiful natural splendors in all the world. It was also the cornerstone of the National Parks System, being the first public land set aside in 1864 by the United States government for “public use, resort and recreation…for all time.” One of the greatest honors of representing the Fourth Congressional District of California is to defend the original intent of the Yosemite Grant Act and all that it means for the millions of park visitors who come here each year and the many gateway communities whose economies depend directly on the tourism that the park generates.
Through the years, generations of Americans have come to Yosemite to take pleasure in those splendors while enjoying all varieties of outdoor activities amidst the park’s natural beauty, including camping and lodging, hiking and biking, horseback riding, river rafting, ice skating. Recent attempts to restrict access to the park and remove many of its amenities and activities undermines the original purpose of the Yosemite Grant Act.
Yosemite is also threatened by years of neglect of its surrounding forests, which are now dangerously overgrown and are falling victim to disease, pestilence and ultimately, catastrophic wild fire. The Rough Fire in 2015 burned into the periphery of the Park. The next major fire could decimate the valley itself, a matter I discuss in length under Forest Policy.