Teddy Roosevelt and Hetch Hetchy

In today's newspapers, both the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle carry reviews of "The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America" by Douglas Brinkley.

One difference in the reviews is that the New Tork Times reminds us of Roosevelt's opposition to damming Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, while the Chronicle omits the subject.

Perhaps the difference merely reflects the perspectives of the reviewers, and not that of the newspapers. But the New York Times editorialized against damming the valley four times in 1913 and opined in 2002 that restoration should be considered. The Chronicle, a newspaper that is normally environmentally progressive, has opposed restoration.

Restore Hetch Hetchy's principal focus in 2009 is to explain to the public in San Francisco, as well as opinion leaders like the Chronicle, that restoration will not diminish the reliable delivery of high-quality water supplies from the Tuolumne River to the Bay Area. We hope the Chronicle will reconsider its position.