Perhaps Assembly Member Greg Wallis would like to be a champion for all of Yosemite.

61 California legislators, led by Greg Wallis (Riverside) have sent a letter to Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum opposing the proposed Yosemite land swap.

The letter notes the swap would be a favor to a private developer and that “Yosemite belongs to no one and to everyone.” Restore Hetch Hetchy agrees. We aren’t opposed to any and all land swaps, but this one does not appear to be in the public interest.

Further, the letter addresses Yosemite’s unique role in American and world history:

That principle is as old as Yosemite’s federal protection. In 1864, in the middle of the Civil War, President Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant Act, setting aside Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias for public use and protection. It marked the first time the federal government set aside scenic land specifically for preservation and public use, and it laid the groundwork for the national park system that followed. What is being proposed now runs directly against that founding principle, more than a century and a half later.

Hetch Hetchy from Sunrise Point – Photo Isaiah West Taber (enhanced)

One wonders how these legislators feel about the affront to Yosemite that took place in 1913, when Congress passed and President Wilson signed the Raker Act, allowing Hetch Hetchy Valley to be dammed and flooded. Are they and their colleagues in Congress aware that water system improvements are available that could obviate the need for Hetch Hetchy Reservoir? What state and national officials are willing to stand up and undo the historic injustice to Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite?

Restore Hetch Hetchy continues to talk to elected officials. Many seem to get it, but so far the silence is deafening.

Politicians are like weather vanes. Our job is to make the wind blow. – David Brower