Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley lies underwater. Our mission is to relocate the reservoir so we can return the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park to its natural splendor ─ while continuing to meet the water and power needs of all communities that depend on the Tuolumne River.
The legacy of Hetch Hetchy has not diminished over time. New generations are learning of the historic and singular insult that was the damming of Hetch Hetchy in the wake of the Raker Act. Last week’s blog highlighted Edward Ring’s essay and Jessie Dickson’s passionate and epithet-laced viral video.
This week we are sharing America’s Lost National Park by Aidin Robbins, a film that has received more than 400,000 views since it was posted just 2 weeks ago. Robbins describes Hetch Hetchy as what “just might be the most important landscape in the United States”.
Robbins expertly weaves the story of Hetch Hetchy – its damming and the aftermath (the National Park Service Act and rejections of proposed dams in Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Canyon). The Hetch Hetchy experience helped our nation to take our parks seriously and to avoid further such damage. Please check out Robbins’ film.
And, as of Saturday evening, there is good news.
Senator Mike Lee of Utah, the chief proponent for the sale of public lands as part of President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”, has withdrawn his proposal!
Montana Congressman and former Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke led a group of 5 Republican members of the House of Representatives who committed to voting against the bill if it included any sale of public lands. Zinke’s op ed in the Washington Examiner is here (subscription required).
While the Big Beautiful Bill did not threaten our national parks per se, Restore Hetch Hetchy agrees with Rep Zinke – once lands are gone, they are gone forever. They should not be sold.