LOS ANGELES, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Yosemite National Park on Wednesday announced its largest expansion in seven decades with the donation by a conservancy group of a large meadow surrounded by trees that will be home to dozens of endangered species. The addition to the park in California features wetlands and a grassy meadow surrounded by tall pine trees on rolling hills that are home to endangered wildlife. Ackerson Meadow is located along Yosemite's western boundary. Ackerson Meadow at the western edge of the current park was purchased from a private couple earlier this year by the Trust for Public Land for $2.3 million and donated to the National Park Service, a Yosemite spokeswoman said. (Robb Hirsch/The Trust for Public Land via AP)

Officials told The Associated Press that Yosemite will preserve the land — historically used for logging and cattle grazing — as habitat for wildlife such as the great grey owl, the largest owl in North American and listed as endangered by California wildlife officials. Wainwright and his wife Nancy, however, decided to take a slight loss on their investment and sold it to a land trust, which donated it Wednesday to Yosemite. Robin Wainwright said they lost a "few hundred thousand dollars" selling to the trust, and the couple also passed up a lucrative offer from a developer to build a resort. He said he often saw bears strolling through the meadow and owls soaring over fields of vibrant wildflowers blooming in the springtime. Image copyright AP Image caption The land was historically used for logging and grazing cattle

Mr Wainwright said he hadn't wanted that experience to be available only to visitors who could afford to stay in a resort. "To have that accessible by everyone to me is just a great thing," Robin Wainwright said. “It was worth losing a little bit of money for that.”

The park’s boundary has seen some minor changes over the years, but this expansion is the largest since 1949 to the park of nearly 750,000 acres total, park spokesman Scott Gediman said. More than 4.5 million people are expected to visit Yosemite this year, which spokesman Scott Gediman said would set a record for the park, which celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2015. Visitors pass Ackerson Meadow on their way to Hetch Hetchy reservoir, which provides drinking water to San Francisco. The land was bought with $1.53 million from the Trust for Public Land and $520,000 from the Yosemite Conservancy, which supports a variety of projects in the park. He said the Trust for Public Land had put up $1.53m for the purchase with the Yosemite Conservancy and anonymous donors making up the rest. "Donating the largest addition since 1949 to one of the world's most famous parks is a great way to celebrate the 100th birthday of our National Park Service -- and honor John Muir's original vision for the park," said Will Rogers, President of The Trust for Public Land. Frank Dean, president of the Yosemite Conservancy, said in a statement that Ackerson Meadow had been included in the original boundary plans for the park, which was inspired by the advocacy of Scottish-American naturalist John Muir. “It’s a stunning open meadow surrounded by forest habitat, which supports a wide variety of flora and fauna,” said the park superintendent, Don Neubacher.
The U.S. Yosemite National Park expands by 400 acres.