Yosemite is home to giant sequoia trees and a haven for myriad wildlife species. El Capitan, a 3,000-foot (914-meter) wall of sheer granite and possibly the world’s most fabled rock face ...

Andria Townsend led a team of biologists in search of one of the West’s most elusive creatures: the Pacific fisher. Then the axe fell. The 36-year-old supervisory scientist at Yosemite National Park was among the many National Park Service employees abruptly fired from their job – and her efforts to find and ultimately protect the endangered fisher were abandoned.