Number: 2004-07
WHEREAS, Yosemite National Park is a national treasure, and one of the most important features of our nation’s natural heritage; and
WHEREAS, the Tuolumne River, rising on Mounts Dana and Lyell in Yosemite National Park, is a key component of the National Wild and Scenic River System; and
WHEREAS, Hetch Hetchy Valley on the Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park is comparable to Yosemite Valley, and was praised by John Muir as “a grand landscape garden, one of Nature’s rarest and most precious mountain temples”; and
WHEREAS, the City and County of San Francisco constructed O’Shaughnessy Dam on the Tuolumne River pursuant to the 1913 Raker Act, and inundated Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley; and
WHEREAS, San Francisco has reaped the water and power benefits from this dam for more than 70 years, while paying only a small annual fee to the National Park Service; and
WHEREAS, the restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley would bring back one of the most spectacular places on earth, providing spiritual and recreational benefits to visitors, and tremendous economic benefits to surrounding communities; and
WHEREAS, fishing opportunities in Hetch Hetchy Valley would be spectacular, and diverse plants and wildlife such as bobcats, deer, coyotes, mountain lions, black bears would quickly repopulate the Valley once the dam is removed; and
WHEREAS, the Tuolumne Me-Wuk Tribal Council has expressed its willingness to support a study of the restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley; and
WHEREAS, San Francisco and its water and power customers have legitimate water and power needs which are met by the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir; and
WHEREAS, many practical alternative methods of meeting those water and power needs exist,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, at its annual meeting assembled March 11-13, 2004, in St. Louis, Missouri, hereby supports in concept the removal of the reservoir from Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park if the water and power supplied by the reservoir is replaced before the reservoir is removed, and a plan is developed to identify replacement power and water supplies and restoration of the Valley; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the water and power options chosen to replace the supplies provided by the reservoir should have the least impact possible on other natural and cultural resources; that the highest priority should be given to water conservation, wastewater recycling, and renewable energy sources; and that off stream storage, groundwater storage, and other benign sources of water should also be considered; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Hetch Hetchy Valley should be managed as an integral part of Yosemite National Park, protecting and restoring natural and cultural resources, including the many archaeological sites found in the Valley; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, while user fees can pay for part of the costs of water and power supply replacements and Valley restoration, public funding is also justified to restore this priceless national resource, and to assure that replacement water and power supplies are selected which have the fewest environmental and social impacts; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Park Service should be an advocate for the removal of the reservoir, and should begin to plan now for restoration of the Valley, including development of a public use plan which would not damage the future ecological and cultural values of the Valley.