Reports. 



265 



Whereas, No greater damage could be done to the great 

 National Park, excepting the damming of Yosemite itself; and 

 Whereas, All of the arguments advanced in favor of making 

 Hetch-Hetchy into a reservoir could be made to apply with 

 equal force to the case of making Yosemite into a reservoir, 

 except that the cost of a dam in the latter case would be greater ; 



Whereas, Such use would, to a great extent, defeat the pur- 

 pose and nullify the effect of the law creating the Park; and 



Whereas, The proponents of the San Francisco water scheme 

 desire the use of Hetch-Hetchy, not because water as pure and 

 abundant cannot be obtained elsewhere, but because, as they 

 themselves admit, the cost would be less; and 



Whereas, We do not believe that the vital interests of the 

 nation at large should be sacrificed and so important a part of 

 its National Park destroyed to save a few dollars for local 

 interests ; therefore, be it 



Resolved, That we are opposed to the use of Hetch-Hetchy 

 Valley as a reservoir site, and devoutly pray that the appHca- 

 tion of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to the Honorable 

 Secretary of the Interior may be denied. 



(Signed:) John Muir, President, 



William E. Colby, Secretary, 

 J. N. Le Conte, Treasurer, 

 Wm. F. Bade, 

 E. T. Parsons, 



Directors of the Sierra Club. 

 The Honorable Secretary of the Interior. 

 Respectfully submitted. 



To THE Editor of the Sierra Club Bulletin. 



Dear Sir: A careful canvass discloses that the members of 

 the Sierra Club are almost unanimously opposed to the utilization 

 of Hetch-Hetchy Valley as a reservoir for supplying water to 

 San Francisco. There are a few, however, who hold contrary 

 opinions, and it is only just to these that the reasons, which 

 induced the Committee of the Board of Directors to take the 

 strong stand which they have in opposition to the project, be 

 briefly outlined. 



The reserving of the Yosemite National Park was no fortuitous 

 circumstance done without object or reason. It was created 

 because of the wonderful aggregation of natural scenic features 

 existing within its borders "which the Congress of the United 

 States sought by law to preserve for all coming time as nearly 

 as practicable in the condition fashioned by the hand of the 



