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From the Hetch Hetchy newsletter, February 2009
Greetings!
I'm pleased to inform you that our Board of Directors adopted a series of strategic objectives at our January 30th board meeting that puts us on course to win congressional approval for removal of the reservoir by December, 2014. December 24, 2014 will mark the 100th anniversary of John Muir's death.
Additionally, we have adopted a series of measurable goals that focus on:
1) Increasing Organizational Capacity
2) Expanding our Funding Base
3) Generating Media Attention
4) Building Bi-Partisan Political Support
We can't accomplish these critical objectives without your support. In order to implement the strategies required to achieve these goals we need to produce updated printed materials, hire a grant writer and update our database software. And we need help editing newsletters, stuffing envelopes and organizing meetings. Please contribute and/or volunteer today!
February 12, 2009
Restore Hetch Hetchy group moves from Sonora to SF
by James Damschroder
The Union Democrat
Restore Hetch Hetchy is looking to revitalize its cause, to drain the reservoir and restore the valley, by moving the group’s headquarters from Sonora to San Francisco and hiring a political strategist.
Mike Marshall, a former consultant to the Democratic National Committee, was hired to lead the campaign.
“Mike knows how to build a campaign from the ground up,” said Sprek Rosekrans, Restore Hetch Hetchy Board of Directors chair. “He’s the right person at the right time, and we are excited to have him on board.”
Among feverish controversy a few years ago — including a bumper sticker war, where Restore Hetch Hetchy and Raise Hetch Hetchy stickers were widespread — a study by the California Department of Water Resources found that restoring the valley was possible, but would cost between $3 billion and $10 billion.
The idea of restoring the valley was first proposed about 20 years ago by President Ronald Reagan’s administration. The idea, however, has never found footing in Congress, which approved damming the Tuolumne River inside Yosemite National Park about a century ago. More ...
January 21, 2009
Tactical Change for Restore Hetch Hetchy
An Oakland nonprofit has a new game plan for convincing Californians to restore the valley called Yosemite's twin.
by Robert Gammon
East Bay Express
Over the years, environmentalists have repeatedly vilified Los Angeles for raiding the beautiful Owens Valley to satiate its unquenchable thirst for water. Eventually, court orders forced LA to curtail its Sierra water grab to save Mono Lake. But there is still one major California city that takes far more water than Los Angeles ever did from a once pristine, magnificent valley in the high country. And yet for nearly a century, the City of San Francisco has managed to avoid the same sort of scorn heaped on its neighbor to the south — despite the continued environmental destruction it wreaks in what is arguably the nation's grandest national park. More ...
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