We all hold the Stanislaus River deep in our hearts. As we begin, most of us were part of the campaign to save the river. We welcome everyone to join us in our efforts:
Mission
To restore and steward the Stanislaus River for the benefit of humans and nature throughout its watershed.
Goals
In our first three years, we will:
• Educate about the river, its history, and future through film, online media, excursions, and presentations;
• Determine and begin the necessary steps for reducing the size of New Melones Dam and permanently restoring the river above Highway 49; and
• Establish the restoration process for the Stanislaus watershed including above Highway 49 as well as the flood plains and groundwater basins downstream of New Melones to improve the reliability of water supplies to farms, communities, fish, and wildlife.
History
Founded in April 2022, we’ve had a brief history, but it does reach back to the beginnings of the film, Reclaiming Estanislao, in March 2019 when Sue Knaup promised Mark Dubois that she would write a screenplay and create a film that tells the story of the Stanislaus campaign.
Originally, the film was meant to inspire the reduction of New Melones Dam and the restoration of the river. But as time dragged through the process of bringing the film to production, we chose to flip this plan.
Now, Restoring the Stanislaus River will begin this process in reality as we support the production of the fictional film. If we do a good job, reality and fiction will meld into one.
Bylaws
Click on the above link to view or download
Stanislaus River - Parrotts Ferry
During Campaign
Board Members
Nowadays
Kevin Wolf, President
While a student in Evolution and Ecology at UC Davis in the late 1970s, Kevin became a river guide and fell in love with the Stanislaus River. He was inspired by Mark Dubois' belief that anyone can cause change as long as we have a few friends to help. During the campaign, he learned the art of consensus based facilitation, which he has used throughout his career. He began working full time for Friends of the River in 1983 as Director of Organizing helping save other rivers and improving the effectiveness of local river organizations. In 1990, he founded his own consulting firm and has been a leader of Wind Harvest since 2006. Kevin has been an environmental and political activist in Davis, CA since his student days, where he and his wife also helped to found N Street Cohousing where they live today. Kevin works full time as the CEO of Wind Harvest, a company he co-founded that is bringing H-type turbines to the understories of existing wind farms.
Mark Dubois, Vice-President
In 1972, Mark Dubois co-founded Environmental Traveling Companions (ETC) to offer environmental education trips to disabled people and disadvantaged youth, especially river trips on the Stanislaus. In 1973, he co-founded Friends of the River to save the Stanislaus. In May 1979, Mark drew national attention when he chained himself to bedrock at the edge of the Stanislaus, which temporarily stopped the reservoir from drowning more of the river. After his beloved Stanislaus was flooded, he discovered his calling: to serve life and tap human potential through love and connectedness. Mark co-founded International Rivers in 1984 and served as the International Coordinator of Earth Day 1990 and 2000 working with thousands of groups in 184 countries. He moved on to the Pachamama Alliance coordinating their global awakening initiatives. Mark lives in Nevada City, CA with his wife Clare (TreeSisters) and continues as an activist for rivers and human emergence. He joins the founding board of Restoring the Stanislaus River with pride and hope for our river’s future as part of humanity’s Great Awakening.
Roy Tennant, Secretary
Roy Tennant trained to be a commercial river guide with OARS on the Stanislaus River in 1978. He informed his passengers about the threat of New Melones Dam and encouraged them to write letters to Congress. Roy met his wife of now 39 years when she moved up to the Stanislaus River to run the letter writing table at the river takeout for Friends of the River. Roy immersed himself into the struggle as a river guide. He then found work at the nearby Columbia College Library. Becoming a professional librarian led him away from the Stanislaus after it was flooded, but also gave him the experience to start the online archive at StanislausRiver.org as a key resource for remembering the Stanislaus as well as supporting the making of a movie about the fight to save it. Now he brings that experience to Restoring the Stanislaus River. Roy lives in Sonoma, CA and continues his river adventures, including two recent Grand Canyon trips (October 2021 and May 2022).
Paul Barth, Treasurer
Bio and photos coming soon.
Advisors
Martha Ham
Sue Knaup
Melinda Wright
Connect With Us
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Supporters
We welcome all donations of funding, resources, and volunteer time. Since so many are helping, we’ll list here the particularly special ones, such as those who donate $100 or more, or contribute significant time to our efforts.
