Hetchy Hetchy’s role in American history is best known to many of us by the political battle, culminating in the 1913 passage of the Raker Act, which pitted San Francisco against John Muir and the nascent Sierra Club. Hetch Hetchy’s human history did not begin, however, with Muir’s many trips to Hetch Hetchy in the 1870s, nor even with the Screech Brothers who first visited in 1850.
Hetch Hetchy is the ancient homeland of nearly a dozen Indigenous peoples, including Sierra Miwok, Yokuts, Washoe, Western Mono, and Paiute. The word Hetch Hetchy may refer to the name of a Miwok village in the valley and/or to “a kind of grass or plant with edible seeds abounding in the valley.” Alternatively, the valley is referred to as Iyaydzi in the Paiute language. Regardless of the name used, for thousands of years indigenous people were the stewards of this special place – hunting, burning, pruning, cultivating, seeding, transplanting, utilizing and caring for important plant species. (For more information see Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California’s Natural Resources, M. Kat Anderson, 2013)
Accordingly, RHH strongly supports Tribes in having a meaningful and active participation in the restoration, management and use of Hetch Hetchy. In this spirit, we are sharing the memorandum sent to NPS staff from Director Chuck Sams, its first Native American Director, in celebrating Native American Heritage Month:
Chuck Sams, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, served in the United States Navy from 1988 to 1992.
From: Director, NPS <NPS_Director@nps.gov> Sent: Wednesday, November 2, 2022 12:42 PM Subject: Celebrating Native American Heritage Month
Dear Colleagues,
I’m deeply proud to join you for the first time as Director in celebrating Native American Heritage Month. It’s an immense honor to lead the National Park Service as we work to strengthen Indigenous connections and enhance our nation-to-nation relationships with Tribes. I’m moved by the significance of being the first American Indian to hold this office, but I’m also often reminded by my elders that, regardless of what title I hold, I have a responsibility to steward natural resources not just for myself, but for the generations to come.
This is a time for us to uplift the traditions, languages, and stories of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and to ensure their rich histories and contributions continue to thrive with each passing generation.
Recently, I had a chat with Drew Lister, an intern in our Office of Native American Affairs and member of the Council for Indigenous Relevancy, Communication, Leadership and Excellence (CIRCLE). We shared thoughts about our lived experiences as Native Americans working for the National Park Service, and I invite you all to watch the video.
I want to thank CIRCLE for supporting our employees and sharing recommendations on hiring, retention, and improved visibility of Native Americans throughout the NPS.
While there is always work to be done, I’m grateful for the progress we’re making on key issues. Following extensive Tribal consultation, the Department of the Interior is proposing changes to Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act regulations to streamline the process for returning human remains and sacred and cultural objects to Indigenous people. The Department has also issued new guidance to strengthen Tribal co-stewardship of public lands and waters. NPS employees can learn more about co-stewardship in upcoming webinars from the Office of Native American Affairs on November 17, December 7, and January 13.
Employees can also participate by observing Red Shawl Day on November 19, a time to bring attention to violence committed against Native Americans, particularly women and children. According to the Department of Justice, Native American and Alaska Native women go missing and are murdered at a rate more than 10 times higher than the national average. All NPS employees and volunteers, including uniformed employees, are invited to join the observance, onNovember 19, 2022.
I also invite Indigenous employees, volunteers and visitors to join in Rock Your Mocs week, November 13-19. It’s an opportunity to celebrate Tribal individuality, honor our ancestors and Indigenous people nationwide by wearing traditional footwear.
Thank you all for your support, and your dedication to our mission, and for the commitment to stewardship that we share with Native Americans.
Chuck
Charles F. Sams III Director, National Park Service
Representative Connie Conway has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to increase visitor access and recreation in the Hetch Hetchy area of Yosemite Park and to increase San Francisco’s “rent” for use of the national park. The Yosemite National Park Equal Access and Fairness Act (a quick read, check it out) is cosponsored by Representatives David Valadao and Tom McClintock. See the Valley Voicefor quotes from the sponsors.
Provisions of the bill would allow swimming, non-motorized watercraft, camping & picnicking at Hetch Hetchy and Lake Eleanor. (Restore Hetch Hetchy has been advocating for these improvements, except swimming which is banned by current law.)
Restore Hetch Hetchy has had no direct contact with the Congressional sponsors, but many of the recommendations from our Keeping Promises report are embodied in the bill.
The bill would also increase San Francisco’s “rent” immediately from $30,000 per year to $2,000,000 per year. A subsequent increase would be much greater as the proposal directs the Department of Interior to increase the rent by the value of foregone recreation had the valley never been flooded.
(In addition to $30,000 in rent, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission currently pays Yosemite National Park about $8,000,000 per year in watershed protection and security costs out of its $1,300,000,000 operating budget.)
While the proposed legislation reflects many of our priorities, Restore Hetch Hetchy has had no direct contact with the bill’s sponsors. We have, however, sent materials to all members of the House Interior Committee, including:
The Representatives may also have read The Dam Rent Is Too Low, a report published by the Property and Environmental Research Center, which recommends a substantial rent increase.
Restore Hetch Hetchy is pleased to see the proposed legislation. We hope a robust discussion of the merits will ensue and that we will be able to play a helpful and meaningful role in the months ahead.
Restore Hetch Hetchy is not naïve. We understand that this proposed legislation will be embroiled in a larger political debate. We will, as we always have, stay focused on the merits. Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite, and all our national parks, are too important to do otherwise.
Our vision – returning to the people Yosemite Valley’s lost twin, Hetch Hetchy – a majestic glacier-carved valley with towering cliffs and waterfalls, an untamed place where river and wildlife run free, a new kind of national park – remains the same. Increasing access and recreation is an important and necessary step toward restoration.
Take Action Now
If you have not already done so, please sign our letter to Yosemite Superintendent Cicely Muldoon asking the National Park Service to improve access at Hetch Hetchy.
Becky McCall visited Yosemite several times as a child, but never realized Hetch Hetchy existed until she stumbled onto an article in high school. In Old Hetch Hetchy is the product of years of impressive research.
McCall’s lush paintings provide backdrops to detailed descriptions of Hetch Hetchy’s many separate meadows, waterfalls, and rock formations, as well as its flora and fauna. They welcome the reader into the historic valley and stir the imagination. There is a lot to see and explore on page after page.
Turning to Hetch Hetchy’s human history, McCall’s research begins with the Indigenous peoples who used Hetch Hetchy before California’s gold rush brought an influx of Americans into the Sierra. Apangasse Chief Nomasu, and Enyeto, son of Aplache Chief Hoho, were born there. For a time in the 1850’s, after the Mariposa War, different bands of Native Americans found refuge in the more remote and lesser-known Hetch Hetchy Valley.
McCall recants tales of the Screech Brothers, who found Hetch Hetchy to be an ideal place for sheep grazing and blazed a crude road to the valley. John Muir visited four times in the 1870s and subsequently lobbied Congress to create Yosemite National Park, including Hetch Hetchy Valley. McCall also unearthed the story of four women, Berkeleyans Helen and Lulu Gompertz and San Franciscans Belle and Estelle Miller, who took a two-month “unchaperoned” camping trip to Hetch Hetchy in August 1895, tramping about the valley in their bloomers.
McCall is no fan of the Raker Act but provides an honest accounting of the politics as well as the engineering challenges of building the O’Shaughnessy Dam. She speaks to the City’s sudden change of attitude toward visitors once the Raker Act was passed, including conflicts with Stephen Mather, the National Park Service’s first Director.
McCall concedes that Hetch Hetchy Reservoir provides benefits to the Bay Area, as we do at Restore Hetch Hetchy, and is inspired by new ideas, including returning the valley to its natural splendor.
Buy the book. Or better yet, buy two copies – keep one and give one to a friend.
When the Raker Act was passed allowing Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to be constructed, San Francisco promised and Congress expected that the Hetch Hetchy area would be used for park purposes and water supply purposes, Unfortunately, Hetch Hetchy is not treated like the rest of the park. The gates close daily. Camping is not allowed, unless you are leaving for or returning from a backpacking trip. There are few trails. And, in spite of repeated assurances made during the Congressional hearings, boats are not allowed on the water.
A trail to the tops of Tueeulala and Wapama Falls would be a wonderful and stunning day hike. (Photo: Chris Burkard, click to enlarge)
People need to go to Hetch Hetchy to see its beauty and learn its story. Experiencing the Hetch Hetchy canyon will bring substantial visitor benefits in the short run and increase support for restoration of the valley in the long run.
Thanks very much.
Spreck Rosekrans, Executive Director
P.S. Yosemite’s Opportunity: Options For Replacing Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, will be released soon. This report updates past research and explains how recent investments made by California’s cities, and presently available to San Francisco, would replace Hetch Hetchy Reservoir more than 15 times over.
The vision of Restore Hetch Hetchy is to return to the people Yosemite Valley’s lost twin, Hetch Hetchy – a majestic glacier-carved valley with towering cliffs and waterfalls, an untamed place where river and wildlife run free, a new kind of national park.
Have you ever wanted to spend the night at Hetch Hetchy? Watch the sun set down the Tuolumne River canyon? Or watch it rise over Kolana Rock while you’re sipping your morning coffee?
Restore Hetch Hetchy is working with the National Park Service on improving access of all kinds. We believe visitors should be able to spend the night at Hetch Hetchy – as Congress expected when it allowed San Francisco to build a dam in the valley.
There are three ways for visitors to spend the night at Hetch Hetchy. For most people, however, none are very practical.
There is a campground at Hetch Hetchy. But you can only stay there if you are leaving for or returning from a backpacking trip. If you simply want to camp overnight, you are out of luck. Also, the campground is very hot in summer as there is no shade. Restore Hetch Hetchy believes the campsite should be improved and open all all visitors.
Bivouac on the side of a cliff? Another option is to climb 1000 feet up a granite wall, perhaps Hetch Hetchy Dome, as Timmy O’Neill and Lucho Rivera did while filming Finding Hetch Hetchy (full video available online soon). You can’t beat the view. Some of us, however, might find it a bit hard to relax up there.
The third option (if you’re ‘connected”) is to stay in San Francisco’s Chalet or nearby cabins. There’s room for 30 or so. The facilities are rustic but functional. They look great. But there is a catch. The cabins are run by San Francisco, and the City’s website states “All registrants are subject to confirmation of eligibility by San Francisco Public Utilities Commission staff.” The list of categories of eligible visitors may not include anyone who overtly supports restoration. We do, however, know of a few supporters who have stayed at the Chalet and cabins.
Seriously, it’s an affront to the purpose of a national park that basic camping is not allowed but friends of San Francisco City Hall can book a cabin. We are asking the National Park Service to improve access at Hetch Hetchy to everyone.
NEW signs direct visitors to Hetch Hetchy – Yippee!
We’re pleased as punch to see the new signs on highway 120 which highlight Yosemite National Park’s Hetch Hetchy Entrance. After Restore Hetch Hetchy encouraged National Park Service to OK the design, Caltrans was happy to install the signs.
The signs are on both the eastbound and westbound lanes of Highway 120, both located just outside Yosemite’s Big Oak Flat entrance. The eastbound sign instructs visitors that Yosemite Valley can be reached by traveling 25 miles straight ahead on Highway 120 or the Hetch Hetchy Entrance can be reached by turning left and traveling 9 miles on the Evergreen Road.
Perhaps some travelers waiting in the long lines that often form at the Big Oak Flat Entrance will decide to make that left hand turn and explore Hetch Hetchy – we hope they do.
Photos: Peter Van Kuran
The westbound sign will catch the attention of visitors leaving the national park through the Big Oak Flat gate and show them that the Evergreen Road leads to another park entrance. The sign will encourage some people to take a side trip, either on the spur of the moment or at a later date.
We’re pleased. We want people to travel to Hetch Hetchy – to see its beauty, to learn its story, and to advocate for restoration.
