Dan's Outside

Muir Woods vs. Hetch Hetchy

After posting earlier this morning on the subject of the 100th anniversary of Muir Woods, an irony occurred to me. As the SFGate article in my earlier post reminded us, there had been a plan to construct a reservoir where the Muir Woods monument is today.

It was close to this same time early in the 1900’s that John Muir led – and ultimately lost – the fight of his life against the plan to damn Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley (the more northern twin of Yosemite Valley) to ensure cheap water for San Francisco.

A century later it seems obvious that the decision to not dam Muir Woods but instead protect if for future generations was far wiser and more admirable than the decision to flood a treasure like Hetch Hetchy. Something tells me that there won’t be any proud public celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the flooding of Hetch Hetchy.

December 17, 2007 - Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary