🚨LAST CHANCE: CALIFORNIA RIVER AWARD TICKETS

Ticket sales have been extended one last time to 4 PM TODAY.

Don’t miss your chance to join us this Friday, April 25, for an inspiring evening celebrating river champions, including Bring Back the Kern. Enjoy dinner, cocktails, a lively auction, and powerful stories at the Verdi Club in SF. Secure your spot now before tickets are gone!

Be with community amidst the chaos. Grab your tickets now!

🌊Flowing to the Future🌊

The poppies are blooming on the hillsides above the South Fork of the American. The news is worse than ever. But paradoxically, I feel like I am starting to get my sea legs under me in this storm of attacks on everything I value coming from Washington DC. I spent April 5 with thousands of other cardboard carrying, witty citizens in downtown Sacramento. Clearly many others are starting to feel greater agency. I hope you are too.

There is no better place than FOR to put your money, your time or your hopes if you want to change the future. The fight for rivers and the mission of Friends of the River is central and strategic to our future, to both the immediate fight for our democracy, and our ongoing fight for rivers and the environment.

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✨Welcoming Spencer Nicholas✨

FOR is SO excited to announce that we have hired Spencer Nicholas for the role of River Operations Coordinator!

Spencer is a passionate outdoorsperson, and recently graduated with an undergrad degree in Environmental Policy. His love for rivers, adventure, and writing make him a great cultural fit at FOR. Read more about him in his own words.

We are excited to bring you this month’s Currents articles, which highlight key news about California's rivers, and what FOR is doing to protect them.

Salmon Fishery Closed For Third Year In A Row

On April 15, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to close the commercial salmon fishery for the third year in a row, and restricted sportfishing for salmon to a very brief window. While these measures are necessary to protect salmon stocks, the impacts are mostly felt by fishing communities and the seafood industries they support... Read more.

FEDERAL WATCH: This inaugural Federal Watch article tracks the Trump Administration’s sweeping efforts to weaken core environmental protections, starting with proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act that would gut habitat safeguards for species like salmon, steelhead, and Delta smelt. The article highlights how these rollbacks—paired with massive federal workforce reductions and quiet executive actions—threaten not only California’s rivers and wildlife, but also public safety and environmental oversight. Federal Watch will monitor and unpack federal developments with far-reaching impacts on California’s rivers and communities. Read More.

Delta Smelt. Credit: CA Dept. of Water Resources (DWR).

News from the Wild & Scenic River Desk: Yes, we have national wild & scenic rivers in California — from the iconic Yosemite rivers to the little-known gems scattered about the state. We are pretty proud of that. Fortunately, facing the chaos of the Trump Administration and a hostile Congress, there is something that the California legislature can do… Read More.

Raising Dams News: Despite the fact that the McCloud River has been protected by the California Wild & Scenic Rivers Act since 1989, the first Trump administration made the $2-billion Shasta Dam raise – which would inundate much of the river – a priority. Fortunately it ran out of time to finish the required paperwork in early 2021.They also got mired on the shoals of a non-compliant Congress. The second Trump administration has more time and the prospects of a compliant Congress… read on for updates on proposed dam projects throughout the state… Read More

RIVER FAVORITES: Fog, Frost, and Chrome--A Morning on the Middle Klamath

As I wade into the river, a wispy fog rises from the burbling waters gently pushing against my knees. A deer breaks a branch while getting a drink. A bald eagle screeches overhead looking for fish too. It is cold— frost outlines the yellow and red leaves fallen to the ground and a faint band of snow caps the tops of the steep hills. My tranquility is rudely interrupted… Read More.

Remembering Hap Dunning

Friends of the River mourns the passing of one of the giants of California water law, Harrison C. Dunning, known as “Hap” since childhood, on March 31, at the age of 86.

Hap was one of the foremost scholars of water law in the state. A long-time professor of law at the University of California at Davis, he started a course in water law there and taught many of the state’s leading water attorneys. The results of his efforts to highlight the uses and importance of the public trust doctrine were cited in the California Supreme Court’s historic Mono Lake decision… Read More.

Richard Chamberlain’s passing – and some reflections on star power

Some of you may have noticed the passing of the actor Richard Chamberlain at age 90. Perhaps the older among you will remember his role as Doctor Kildare in the TV series Dr. Kildare and various other TV and movie roles during his career. What perhaps fewer will remember was his 1984 starring role in the Interior (now Natural Resources) Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives’ hearing on the proposed wild & scenic river designation of the Tuolumne River. I was there and can retell some of the drama of that May day in our nation’s capital… Read More

Headwaters - Seeking River Stories

Friends of the River's Headwaters Magazine is a beautiful repository of articles about rivers and river recreation, opinion pieces, policy analysis, river news, art, photographs, and more. Right now, we are looking for stories about your favorite rivers, or favorite river experiences.

We also welcome submissions of articles that speak to the six areas in which we work for the protection of California's rivers: hydropower reform, saving and storing water, restoring flows, flood management, legal and regulatory protections, and inspiring citizen action. We also welcome submissions of visual art, creative writing, poetry, and photos that are centered around rivers and nature more broadly.

Not sure what to submit? Let's work together. More info here. Please email keiko@friendsoftheriver.org to discuss a submission.

Please consider a generous gift to help FOR fight the Triple Threat to Rivers. This will be a critical year to stop Sites Reservoir, the Delta Tunnel and the Voluntary Agreements.