Environmental Case Study: Hetch Hetchy Valley

Between 1908 and 1913, Congress debated whether to make a water resource available or preserve a wilderness when the growing city of San Francisco, California, proposed building a dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley to provide a steady water supply. The Hetch Hetchy Valley was within Yosemite National Park and protected by the Federal Government, leaving it up to Congress to decide the valley’s fate. National opinion divided between giving San Francisco the right to dam the valley and preserving the valley from development.

Hundreds of individuals and organizations from across the country submitted petitions to Congress regarding the valley. These petitions, some of which are included below, bear witness to the birth of environmental activism as citizens weighed in, expressing multiple opinions about the proper use of National Park land and the relationship between local interests and national values.

Read and analyze the following petitions, resolutions, and telegrams sent to the United States Senate related to the issue. Pay attention to the message and the messengers, particularly the difference between the opinions of residents of San Francisco and other groups. Analyze each document and move it to to the scale according to how strongly you think it supports one side or the other.