324 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



The only other source of objection, except that from persons 

 and corporations who have no rights to protect, but merely the 

 hope of financial gain if the application of the city is denied, 

 comes from those who have a special interest in our National 

 parks from the standpoint of scenic effects, natural wonders, and 

 health and pleasure resort. I appreciate fully the feeling of these 

 protestants and have considered their protests and arguments 

 with great interest and sj-mpathy. The use of these sites for 

 reservoir purposes would interfere with the present condition 

 of the park, and that consideration should be weighed carefully 

 against the great use which the city can make of the permit. 

 I am convinced, however, that the "public interest" will be much 

 better conserved by granting the permit. Hetch Hetchy Valley 

 is great and beautiful in its natural scenic effects. If it were 

 also unique, sentiment for its preservation in an absolutely natural 

 state would be far greater. In the near vicinity, however, much 

 more accessible to the pubHc and more wonderful and beautiful 

 is the Yosemite Valley itself. Furthermore, the reservoir will 

 not destroy Hetch Hetchy. It will scarcely affect the canon walls. 

 It will not reach the foot of the various falls which descend from 

 the sides of the carion. The prime change will be that instead 

 of a beautiful but somewhat unusable "meadow" floor the valley 

 will be a lake of rare beauty. 



As against this partial loss to the scenic effect of the park, 

 the advantages to the public from the change are many and 

 great: The city of San Francisco and probably the other cities 

 on San Francisco Bay would have one of the finest and purest 

 water supplies in the world; the irrigable land in the Tuolumne 

 and San Joaquin valleys would be helped out by the use of the 

 excess stored water and by using the electric power not needed 

 by the city for municipal purposes, to pump subterranean water 

 for the irrigation of additional areas ; the city would have a cheap 

 and bountiful supply of electric energy for pumping its water 

 supply and lighting the city and its municipal buildings ; the 

 public would have a highway at its disposal to reach this beauti- 

 ful region of the park heretofore practically inaccessible ; this 

 road would be built and maintained by the city without expense 

 to the Government or the general public; the city has options 

 on land held in private ownership within the Yosemite National 

 Park, and would purchase this land and make it available to 

 the public for camping purposes; the settlers and entrymen who 

 acquired this land naturally chose the finest localities, and at 

 present have power to exclude the public from the best camping- 

 places ; and, further, the city in protecting its water supply 

 would furnish to the public a patrol to save this part of the 

 park from destructive and disfiguring forest fires. 



The floor of Hetch Hetchy Valley, part of which is owned 

 privately and used as a cattle ranch, would become a lake bordered 

 by vertical granite walls or steep banks of broken granite. There- 

 fore, when the water is drawn very low it will leave few muddy 

 edges exposed. This lake, however, would be practically full 

 during the greater part of the tourist season in each year, and 

 there would be practically no difficulty in making trails and 

 roads for the use of the tourists around the edges of the valley 

 above high-water mark. The city of San Francisco, through 



