Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-05-25
YOSEMITE VALLEY.
HOW TO PRESERVE FROM DETACHMENT
AND PROMOTE ITS USE.

lODuMl VAIL ii
HOW TO PRESERVE FROM DETACHMENT
AND PROMOTE ITS USE.
Report of VIM. Ham Hall, State Engineer
to the Board Of Yosemite Trustees
Interesting suggestions.
In June, 1881, State Engineer Hall. at the
request of the Board of Trustees of the YO.
semitic Valley, made an examination Of that
State property. His report has just come
from the press of the State Printing office.
We present its salient points. He would
net, he says, improve the valley in the sense
in which We speak of park. This trans
cendently beautiful reserve dwarfs all man
can accomplish. To attempt improvement
would be preposterous. But the property
may be preserved from DETACHMENT and its
usefulness as promotive Of pleasure may be
enhanced.
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE.
tributary to the valley streams should be con-
trolled to prevent destruction of the timber
and vegetation. There should be regulation
| of the use of the floor of the valley and its
surroundings that the veIdure be not tram
pied out, or useful vegetation supplanted by
| that less desirable. There should be an fort
| to counteract natural deteTiorative action to
| be found in the movement Of the waters !:
l fha % of lee
are the three things 10 be accomplished
First, to preserve the water shed. The grant
does not cover all of it, as it embraces the
territory but one mile from the valley, while
the real mountain basins from which drain
the waters are outside the grant.
THE WATERSHED AREA OF THE MERGED
| Is al out 358 square miles, or 229 600 acres,
while but 1913, 800 acres, which drain into the
valley, are within the grant, and there is the
liability, therefore, that the most of the water.
shed will pass into private hands for lumber
| ing and grazing. The grant should embrace
all the wa 'eI-shed. Unless this can be, he
! thinks that the effect of forest cutting and
grazing will, within few years, prove disas-
| trous il a material and deplcrable degree to
the attractions of the valley. III railroad
penetrstes the region, the ak will be set IN
motion. Already thousands of sheep devas-
tate the glades and loosen the soil of the
mountain sides annually. To protect this
region will not withhold valuable lumber
| body from use, nor cause waste of pastur-
| age; on the contrary, under wise and inde-
pendent management the reservation could
| furnish
GooDLY SUPPLY OF TIMBER
| In years to come without detriment, but with
! advantage to its forests and the grazing
privilege could be utilized after the first few
| years to the full extent of the actual food
supply above ground. BY this means the
| State will have a magnificent mountain prop
erty with an income equal to all necessary
outlay, and the irrigators on the dry plains Of
Merced county below be blessed with a water
supply for irrigation. Strip the water. shed
of timber and the supply of water will fail
much earlier, while if sheep overrun it muddy
water will displace the beautifully clear, and
sand and gravel will obstruct the river chan
nel causing the cutting away and overflow
and obliteration of the beautiful meadows
which now form an essential feature of the
landscape.
! USE OF THE VALLEY.
The use of the valley already tells upon its
vegetable productions. The finer forage
grasses sre bsipg thinned out, and the coarser
are coming on. This change is very marked
| and it is the result of the failure to burn off
tbickets and make cleaiings, but more the
effect of continued cropping of the grass and
the trampling of the ground by horses. The
remedy is to prevent overcropping of the
meadows clear these lands (perhaps plow,
reform and resow); clear other suitable
lands, and bring them under cultivation by
irrigation to supply the forage deficiency.
The streams must be cleared out, trained and
regulated to add to the enjoyment of the use
of the valley. Rivers are constantly demol
ishing their banks in some places aud building
up in Others, and it Is false economy to
postpone the training of the streams.
AS TO PRESERVATION AND USE.
The occupation and use of the watershed
above the valley, the visiting and enjoyment
of the valley itself, and the operations de-
signed to prepare for these are all calculated
to destroy its attractions. The immediate
| interest of every landowner in the water
shed, of every visitor TO the valley. are mimi
cal to the preservation of the property. One
of the greatest living writers on physical
geography, Elisee Reclus, speaking of the
valleys Of southern Europe, says: "And has
it come to this, that msn must rid the
mountains of his odious presence in order
that nature, by her healing balms, through
the lapse of time. may cure the wounds he
has made, and re6t these spots for the occu-
| patton of future generations"
To promote the use of the valley it must
be made accessible to greater number, and
more accessible to each, and the scenery must
| be viewed with less fatigue and outlay
| Yosemite is collection of almost number
less sights, each Niagara-like in the extent
of its effect, and every one to be dwelt on
| and reflected upon, In order that 1t may be
appreciated. Yosemite cannot be seen in q
| few days. Visitors should stay at least a
| month The valley is difficult of access,
comparatively, and the trip one Of fatigue,
and life in the valley must be, to most peo-
pie, one on horseback or in carriage.
DRIVES AND APPROACHES.
| There can be made in the valley series Of
| drives, safe, on easy gradients, suitable for
| comparatively light and well-fnished vehi.
| cles, and from points on which very many
magnificent views and charming spots may
| be had, or be easily reached. Suppose these
drives are built that more ample, comfort
| able and less expensive hotel accommodations
are at command. Yet the facts will still ex-
4 ist That the valley will not naturally supply
forage enough for the animals that will be
| required the existing roads will not admit
of the delivery of supplisE from the nearest
agricultural lands at cheap rates; they will
not admit of private teams being driven into
! the valley with reasonable loads behind them !;
and they will not admit of an easy stage ride
to it, One of the chief ends to be attained is
the construction of Grst-class wagon road to
the valley. The present roads are not what
they should be to insure the success of the
valley as health and pleasure resort, and
the fault is not so much with the roads built
for Y Yosemite travel as with the country roads
to be travelled in getting to the Yosemite
roads. The valley ought to be reached in
two days drive, with an ordinary pair of car
riage horses and a light wagon, with four per-
sons, without danger to the horses. Even il
railroad comes within three or four hours
drive, still there should be good wagon road
from the San joaquin valley, constructed on
slight grades and with a smooth surface.
INSIDE DRIVES.
There should be one drive in the valley fol.
lowing approximately the outline Of its floor !;
also several correcting drives across the val
ley limited number of side drives from the
main road up and over some Of the lower
shelving points OF fallen rock at the base of
the cliffs, and branch roads up the principal
canyons to points as near the lower fall in
each as can be reached on moderate grades
The main drive and cross-vslley connections
would he practically level carrisge-ways at
least IA feet in clear width at all poirta, and
generally from 16 to 20 feet wide. The side
| drives and branch roads should be located on
grades not exceeding at any point II feet in
100. and generally at 6 or s feet in 100, and
should be at least IL feet. and generally IA to
l6 feet in clear width. For landscaps effect
the upper ground should not be intersected
by drive ways, but. as a rule, follow the edges
Of the smaller glades. The other extreme
would be to locate in the shelter of over
shadowing trees, but this idea should not be
followed too closely. The unnecessary OBJ
struction of bare macadamized surfaces and
lines of artificial construction should be
avoided. Were it possible, it would be bet
ter, from the point of view of the admirer of
nature. to see the valley without the aid Of
roads. X.
THE MAIN DRIVE
Should follow the general alignment of the
edge of the rocky slope that lies between the
walls OF the valley and the plain, leaving it