New plan for Merced River in Yosemite Park

A decade of litigation over the Merced River in Yosemite National Park ended Wednesday when the federal government agreed to completely rewrite a key management plan for the river.

Under the agreement -- which was filed in U.S. District Court in Fresno -- the National Park Service will start from square one, creating a new plan for managing the Merced River by the end of 2012.

In addition, the park service will kill a controversial Yosemite Valley Plan that outlined planned improvements after a large Merced River flood caused extensive damage on the valley floor.

That plan called for adding more cabins at Curry Village, replacing campgrounds lost in the flood, as well as rooms at the Yosemite Lodge.

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