Keeping Promises: Providing Public Access to Hetch Hetchy Valley, Yosemite National Park
April 20, 2021
Coincident with the National Park Service’s “Transformation Tuesday”, Restore Hetch Hetchy has released a new report: Keeping Promises: Providing Public Access to Hetch Hetchy Valley, Yosemite National Park.
We ask that all readers, including both supporters and skeptics of restoration, review Keeping Promises carefully and consider its merits. Let us know if you’d like a hard copy (510-893-3400 or admin@hetchhetchy.org).
As Keeping Promises shows, when Congress passed the Raker Act allowing San Francisco to build a dam in Hetch Hetchy Valley, it expected the area would still be fully available to park visitors. Unfortunately, for the past century public access to Hetch Hetchy has been limited and few recreational opportunities have been made available.
Camping, lodging, boating and fishing are not available at Hetch Hetchy. There are few trails (and the most popular trail must be closed for safety when Hetch Hetchy’s waterfalls are at their most spectacular). The entrance gate is open only during limited daylight hours, so it’s the rare visitor who sees a sunrise or sunset at Hetch Hetchy. As a result, Hetch Hetchy is the least-visited and most under-appreciated area of Yosemite, receiving barely 1% of the park’s visitors.
We want people to visit Hetch Hetchy and learn its story. While the valley floor lies underwater, the surrounding area is still one of earth’s most spectacular landscapes. We believe improved access will both provide public benefits to today’s park visitors AND build support to empty the reservoir and return Hetch Hetchy Valley to its natural splendor.
It’s time for a change. Keeping Promises documents an incontrovertible history that has been ignored for far too long. Restore Hetch Hetchy has asked the National Park Service to initiate a public dialogue to review and modify how it manages the Hetch Hetchy area. There are ways to improve the visitor experience, consistent with both the letter and spirit of the Raker Act, that would retain the wild character of the Hetch Hetchy canyon and, of course, the water quality in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.