An Environmental Charity’s Year-End Appeal

Dear <<Salutation>>,

California is the river state. Nearly 200,000 miles of rivers and the water they provide fuel the 8^th largest economy in the world and sustain our population of over 37 million people. Many years ago these rivers ran wild and free, teeming with salmon and steelhead. Now, most of the fish are gone and all but a few rivers have multiple dams or diversions which move the water far from the river banks.

The call for more water development has NOT slackened and if not met with opposition, our few remaining free-flowing rivers are in real danger. FOR’s main goal is to protect these remaining free-flowing rivers and to restore any river where such an opportunity presents itself. We partner, collaborate, and sometimes cajole individuals and groups to do what is right and necessary. FOR is the only group watching over ALL of California’s rivers.

I want to give you a quick overview of our projects from 2010 and look towards 2011. This year, FOR aggressively opposed the Army corps of Engineers’ directive to remove every tree from all federally-funded levees in California. Our members and volunteers generated nearly 1,000 handwritten letters in opposition and we recruited the help of the California Natural Resources Agency and many levee and flood control districts throughout the state to oppose this unwise, unneeded, and destructive policy. We will continue to push for the Corps to revoke this policy in California and other states where it will do more harm than good.

Our work to build public support for the protection of Wild & Scenic Rivers in key regions of the state continues and will redouble in 2011. These efforts will lead to the introduction or reintroduction of legislation next year to protect more than 160 miles of Wild & Scenic Rivers in California. Getting bills passed in a divided congress may be difficult, but fortunately our primary statewide champion – Senator Boxer remained in office and will partner with Senator Feinstein to protect California’s wild rivers and places. To date, FOR has led efforts to protect more than 2,100 miles of Wild & Scenic Rivers in California. Our goal is to add another 4,000 miles within the next decade or so.

FOR staff continue to work on a number of major river restoration projects that will improve flows for fish, wildlife, and recreation, as well as fish passage, in a number of key rivers, including the Merced, Tuolumne, American, and Yuba. Our goal is to convince the federal agency that oversees federal hydroelectric dams to require the operators to provide adequate flow releases, and by pushing for fish passage around dams or removal of dams that block migratory fish. These complex, long term efforts require special expertise and experience to insure maximum restoration success. FOR and our partners excel at this work and will continue to do it – with your help.

Finally, a brief statement about the recent election. I always look at the results from an “impact on rivers” perspective. The change in leadership of the House of Representatives is particularly troubling. As a result of the election, Representative McClintock (R-CA, 4^th District) will likely become the chair of the House Water and Power Subcommittee – the entity which has the ability to give the “go ahead” to major dams and he has already indicated his desire to revive the Auburn Dam project on the American River. Needless to say, FOR and our allies are and will continue to work harder than ever to make sure that Auburn Dam does not return from the dead! We are a leader in a strong regional effort to permanently protect the American River Canyons so that the million people who visit and enjoy it every year can continue to do so!

Another interesting aspect of the November election was something that wasn’t on the ballot. FOR and other conservationists were able to convince a number of newspaper editorial boards to come out against the Water Bond over the summer in the hope that it would go down in defeat come fall. Maybe we did our job too well because when faced with a nearly certain “no” vote in the November general election, the state leadership moved the controversial and budget-busting bond to the November 2012 ballot.

Friends of the River is good at what we do. Our senior conservation staff has more than 50 years experience between them and that level of knowledge, especially knowing and understanding the operations of our rivers, is invaluable in this age of ever increasing pressure to develop more and more of our free-flowing rivers.

We know it is our job to deliver on river issues we all care about. It takes a lot of friends to protect a river. Friends like you. Be assured your support is even more critical this coming year. We need your help now more than ever.