Yosemite National Park turns 135 this year. For many Californians it may feel distant by miles, but near at heart.

Its rivers irrigate our farms, its forests clean our air and its wildlife capture our minds and hearts. For Latinos — even those who have never visited — Yosemite flows through our lives: in the water we drink, the food we grow and the landscapes we cherish. We are in Yosemite’s history.

Yet this anniversary should give us all pause, because today Yosemite and the lands that hold so much rich history are under threat.

An icon of that history, George Meléndez Wright, fought for the park long ago. Hired in 1927, Wright was the first Latino naturalist in the National Park Service.

He saw how mismanagement was threatening park wildlife. When Congress refused to fund a survey o

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