192 



Sierra Club Bulletin 



Olmsted on Hetch Hetchy 



(Editorial Boston Transcript, Nov. 19, 191 3.) 



The Transcript to-day presents a discussion of the Hetch Hetchy 

 Valley by Frederick Law Olmsted. By reason of his nation-wide repu- 

 tation as an expert in all matters of landscape, his opinion upon this 

 important case will command the attention of the public at large, and 

 because of his official position as a member of the National Fine Arts 

 Commission, upon which he has contributed most distinguished service, 

 his word will have weight with Congress. Mr. Olmsted has followed 

 this case with deep interest for several years, and has studied the 

 engineering reports and the various arguments, pro and con, with care, 

 but until now, largely because of his official relations to the Govern- 

 ment, he has been reluctant to express an opinion. Inasmuch as those 

 who favor the giving of the valley to San Francisco for a municipal 

 reservoir have been so insistent that the lake thus created would furnish 

 an added beauty to the Yosemite Park, without in any wise detracting 

 from its usefulness and natural charm,, and have made this point so 

 prominent a feature of their argument, the Transcript asked Mr. Olm- 

 sted for his opinion upon it. His article is the first contribution to the 

 discussion of this really fundamentally important phase of the question 

 by anyone fully qualified by professional training to pass upon it. Until 

 now all who have hazarded this point of view have been stigmatized 

 as hysterical "nature fakers." It will be difficult to make the public 

 believe that Mr. Olmsted belongs in that class. 



The San Francisco Water Supply Controversy as the Foremost 

 Landscape Authority Sees It 

 By Frederick Law Olmsted 



The controversy over the bill to grant San Francisco reservoir rights 

 in the Hetch Hetchy Valley seems to turn upon three principal points : 



I. 



the effect of the proposal upon the value of the yosemite national 



park 



The proponents have claimed 

 that the proposed lake will add to 

 the beauty of the scenery, that the 

 improved facilities for access will 

 further increase the value of the 

 park to the public, and that the 

 losses are so slight that there will 

 be no net damage to the park as 

 a place of public recreation. 



The opponents have claimed that 

 the damage to the scenery and the 

 restrictions upon the public enjoy- 

 ment of the park would be such as 

 to impair its value very seriously 

 indeed. 



