Nicholas Wong Mr Kaczorowski Ms Jeong RST 242 4 3 22 Week 4 Packback Discussion Regarding the statement that the damming of Hetch Hetchy was the best decision for the American people based on this week s learning materials I agree with it A lot of controversy and debate This decision brought about much debate and controversy among individuals concerned between people worried with preserving wilderness in the Yosemite region Even though a lot of environmental damage was caused by building the dam it also had positive suggestions for the San Francisco region There was a universal worry regarding water levels in San Francisco an earthquake and fire devastated San Francisco and added urgency and public sympathy to the search for an adequate water supply Nash 2014 161 This issue was solved by the Hetch Hetchy and also permitted more national attention towards the Yosemite park There were basically two groups of people debating for differing purposes of nature Conservationists thought of using the environment in a method to improve society John Muir was concerned with conserving nature as it is He thought nature should be preserved as it was formed and respected in that aspect Muir was part of the other group of people preservationists To preserve nature Muir used public expression The defenders of wilderness discovered their political muscles and how to flex them by arousing an expression of the public opinion Preservationists lost the battle over the Hetch Hetchy despite Muir s efforts However this decision had to be made In San Francisco there was a clear problem and at the time it was noticeable that damming the Hetch Hetchy was the only logical option Hetch Hetchy was the only practical solution to San Francisco s problem Nash 2014 163 It can be seen how a major source of clean fresh water for San Francisco is the Hetch Hetchy The Hetch Hetchy also has a significant objective of providing hydroelectricity which benefits the environment and supplies clean energy Therefore despite the arguments and conflicts from the problem I think the Hetch Hetchy was a good decision for Americans Reply Post To Meena Deshpande Hi Meena Regarding your stance on the topic of Hetch Hetchy I also think damming Hetch Hetchy was an excellent option for Americans and benefited them Arguing that Americans needed the water for San Francisco seemed like a very strong claim to me as at that point Americans did not have many options left It would have been tough for San Francisco to recover if they did not use the water from the dam since it would have caused significant problems A weak argument I thought you had was your claim regarding how transforming Hetch Hetchy to a dam would form scenic routes that Americans could enjoy Since preservationists were already able to enjoy the Valley s natural beauty they were angered by that claim and the idea of enjoying the natural world would be ruined by turning it into a man made lake according to Nash 2014 However someone could easily argue that the reason Americans started to change their views regarding nature would not be Hetch Hetchy but would instead be the construction of another national park like Yosemite National Park Americans could be argued to appreciate nature regardless of damming Hetch Hetchy because there was other preserved land in the United States Overall your post does a pretty good job of addressing the question you came up with Nicholas Wong
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