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Hetch Hetchy Valley Analysis

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Throughout a long history, California’s land has been exploited, preserved, and conserved-all for the sustainability of its people. Opposed to the Preservationists’ idea of simply letting the Hetch Hetchy Valley be, the Conservationist’s idea of flooding the Hetch Hetchy valley and the construction of the Hetch Hetchy dam overall provided a win-win situation, beneficial to both the people of San Francisco and to the government of the United States. Several sources, including John Muir’s The Yosemite, Gifford Pinchot and John Raker’s testimony before the House Committee on the Public Lands, a telegram written by the San Francisco District of the California Federation of Women’s Clubs, John Freeman’s still image, “Photo of the Proposed Hetch Hetchy Reservoir,” and an article written by the San Francisco Examiner display …show more content…

But in the views of the majority, The beauty of the Hetch Hetchy will be preserved despite the construction of the Hetch Hetchy dam. In his testimony before the House Committee on the Public Lands, Pinchot states, "You might say from the standpoint of enjoyment of beauty and the greatest good to the greatest number, they will be conserved by the passage of the bill, and there will be a great deal more use of the beauty of the park then there is now” (Pinchot 2). Simply said, the construction of the many roads and trails will lead to even more accessible beauty of the Yosemite. In addition, John Freeman’s still image, “Photo of the Proposed Hetch Hetchy Reservoir,” displays both a clear, crystalline body of water, and beautiful green trees on the faces of the mountains that cave out. The Hetch Hetchy dam would still be as naturally beautiful as it was before when it was preserved, and along with that, the construction of the dam will benefit the greatest number of

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