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 Voice for 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:
- Keeping Promises: Providing Public Access to Hetch Hetchy Valley, Yosemite National Park, a report detailing the unrealized commitment to access and recreation that San Francisco made and Congress expected when it passed the Raker Act in 1913; and
- Valuing Hetch Hetchy: Economic Benefits of Restoration in Yosemite National Park, an independent report by ECONorthwest, which provides estimates of the values of foregone recreation.
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.
