Yosemite National Park chief to step down: Official going to nonprofit group that funds park's projects.

(Fresno Bee (CA) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 23--After six years guiding major restoration efforts on trails, bridges and even restrooms at Yosemite National Park, Superintendent Michael Tollefson said Friday that he will step down at the end of the year.

The 61-year-old Tollefson will replace Bob Hansen as president of the San Francisco based nonprofit Yosemite Fund. The donor-supported fund has contributed heavily to many Yosemite National Park improvement projects.

The change was formally announced by the Yosemite Fund and the National Park Service. Tollefson is a 36-year National Park Service veteran.

"It felt like a good time to make a move to a new challenge," Tollefson said. "I know clearly what I'm getting into."

Hansen called the Yosemite Fund a partner with the National Park Service.

The Yosemite Fund counts more than $45 million contributed over the past 20 years from 100,000 donors for 200 Yosemite National Park improvement projects.

In 2005, Tollefson dedicated a $13.5 million restoration project for Yosemite Falls trails, bridges, boardwalks and restrooms. The Yosemite Fund contributed $12 million to this effort. Tollefson also pushed the renovation of 100 miles of the park's most popular and heavily damaged trails.

Tollefson's career in the National Park Service includes the superintendency of Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks in California, Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee.

These included trails, habitat, wildlife, visitor center exhibits and cultural preservation projects.

"I won't be looking at Half Dome anymore from my office window," Tollefson said about the move to San Francisco. "I'll be looking at another building."

A Yosemite Fund spokesman said that Tollefson's salary with the nonprofit organization was under discussion. Tollefson noted that with a nonprofit organization, it won't be "a huge chunk of money."

Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said that at Tollefson's senior executive service level, his federal salary could range up to $120,000 annually.

The reporter can be reached at cmccarthy@fresnobee.com or (559) 675-6804.

To see more of The Fresno Bee, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.fresnobee.com
Copyright (c) 2008, The Fresno Bee, Calif.
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