What values are you seeking to restore in Hetch Hetchy Valley?
John Muir, the Father of our National Parks, called Hetch Hetchy “a grand landscape garden, one of Nature’s rarest and most precious mountain temples.” Hetch Hetchy Valley is a virtual twin of Yosemite Valley, complete with huge waterfalls (Tueeulala and Wapama) and massive granite cliffs nearly 2,000 feet high. Wildlife will be abundant in the restored valley, including deer, bears, mountain lions, coyotes, falcons, owls, and many other Sierra species. Hetch Hetchy would provide wonderful recreational opportunities for the American people, a cultural interpretive venue for Native Americans, and a unique gateway to Tuolumne Meadows via the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. • How did the dam come to be built? After the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco claimed that Hetch Hetchy was the only good damsite to provide water to the city and the San Francisco peninsula. Other equally appropriate dam sites outside Yosemite National Park were rejected. President Wilson signed the Raker Act in
