196 OUR FEDERAL LANDS 



of Hetch Hetchy, the public conviction that the once 

 so vigorously urged damming of Yellowstone Lake 

 had water power as its concealed purpose is beyond 

 removal, perhaps for generations. 



This unfortunate clouding of the repute of a 

 great American business may serve in the end a use- 

 ful purpose. It will pass, of course, and the delibera- 

 tion of its passing may bring conception to business 

 of the balances demanded by the ideals of a nation 

 such as ours. Public realization that water power 

 is a national instead of sectional enterprise, a great 

 development of the East and the South as well as of 

 the far West, will tend to just comprehension. 



At this writing, the country contains thirty- 

 three hundred and ninety-seven power plants of a 

 hundred horse-power or more. Many of them are 

 small, many incidental to water storage for other 

 purposes, many large, a few of great size. All 

 which impound water, creating lake-like reservoirs, 

 have their additional public recreational use. Ex- 

 cept in reservations specially set apart for perpetual 

 preservation of natural conditions, like National 

 Parks, or in localities where works will damage 

 beauty of very extraordinary quality, recreational 

 enjoyment and public education in national enter- 

 prise must be added to the economic arguments in 

 any contest to determine whether or not proposed 

 projects should be undertaken. 



