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Friends of the River Foundation Records
BANC MSS 88/25
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Friends of the River Foundation records
creator:
Friends of the River Foundation
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 88/25
Physical Description:
38 linear feet
(24 cartons, 3 oversize boxes, 9 oversize folders, 2 tubes)
Date (inclusive): 1960-1996
Date (bulk): 1974-1981
Abstract: This collection contains documentation collected during the campaigns to preserve the Stanislaus River, stop construction
of the New Melones Dam and protect other creeks and rivers through grassroots public awareness campaigns and water policy
legislation.
Physical Description: Contains evidence of termite infestation throughout the papers which includes minor damage to some documents. While care was
taken to remove as much of the animal detritus as possible, there is a small amount of remaining debris in some folders.
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Friends of the River Foundation records were donated to the Bancroft Library by Mark Dubois.
Friends of the River (F.O.R.) was founded as a grassroots conservation organization in 1973 and their headquarters are located
in Sacramento, California. F.O.R.'s founders are Gerald "Jerry" H. Meral, Rob Caughlan, David Oke and David Kay, who established
F.O.R. as an outgrowth of the signature gathering campaign to stop the construction of the New Melones Dam on the Stanislaus
River near Jamestown, California. In 1975, under the leadership of Mark Dubois and Jennifer Jennings, the Friends of the River
Foundation was incorporated as a non-profit membership based organization dedicated to river protection. The group's primary
activities are grassroots organizing, public outreach and education and working on behalf of water policy legislation throughout
California.
The New Melones Dam was authorized in 1944 as a component of the Central Valley Project. In 1966, the work commenced to replace
the existing, much smaller, Melones Dam with the new, much larger earth and rock embankment structure. Although the citizen
effort to halt the New Melones Dam project had launched by the late 1960s, major ballot campaigns to stop the construction
to protect a 13 mile unimpeded stretch of the river from Camp Nine to the town of New Melones commenced with 1974's Proposition
17. This 13 mile stretch of the Stanislaus was considered particularly valuable to conservationists and outdoor enthusiasts
in part due to its historic cultural resources and accessibility for white water rafters and kayakers. Opposition to the New
Melones Dam also alleged "pork barrel" spending of taxpayer money for an unnecessary government project. Supporters of the
dam argued that the dam construction by the United States Department of the Army, Corp of Engineers would create jobs, help
with flood control, hydroelectric power generation and increase the state's water supply.
The campaign to save the Stanislaus River was fueled by the momentum of the environmental movement which was picking up steam
in the early 1970s and remains one of the greatest examples of citizen involvement in American history to stop a dam from
being built. One of its most illustrious moments came on May 22, 1979, when Mark Dubois alerted authorities of the project
to his plan to hide out in the river’s canyon and then chained himself to a rock for nearly a week to prevent the filling
of the New Melones Reservoir.
Following the failure of the Proposition 17 initiative to pass in 1974, F.O.R. backed a number of other policy proposals to
protect the river, including Senate Bill 1482 (1976), House Resolution 4223 (1979) and Proposition 13 (1982), or the Stanislaus
Campaign Initiative. Although the New Melones Dam was eventually built and the lake filled in 1982, one of the campaign's
most influential achievements was to crack open the debate about the cost effectiveness and benefits to society of large dam
projects around the globe. No other dams of this magnitude have been built in the United States since the completion of the
New Melones Dam.
[Identification of item], Friends of the River Foundation records, BANC MSS 88/25, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley.
Arranged to the folder level.
Processed by Lisa Marie Monhoff in 2019.
The Mark Dubois Papers (BANC MSS 2003.314), Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
This collection contains documentation collected during the campaigns to preserve the Stanislaus River, stop construction
of the New Melones Dam and protect other creeks and rivers through grassroots public awareness campaigns and water policy
legislation. Materials include correspondence, notes, administrative files, grassroots, organizing and outreach materials,
testimony and statements, lobbying, legal cases, studies, research, reports, maps, news articles and clippings. Researchers
should note that this collection contains many reused documents such as hand written notes penned onto the verso of printed
materials and letters, as well as many small and irregular sized scraps of paper and envelopes with hand written notes.
Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
For additional information about the University of California, Berkeley Library's permissions policy please see: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Friends of the River Foundation
Water resources development--California--Stanislaus River
Water resources development -- California
Water resources development--Law and legislation
Stream conservation--California--Stanislaus River
Stanislaus River (Calif.)
New Melones Dam (Calif.)
Environmentalism -- California.