Remembering President Jimmy Carter, friend of the Stanislaus River

Former President Jimmy Carter passed away today, December 29, 2024. He was a devoted fan of whitewater rivers and a supporter of keeping the Stanislaus River flowing free.

Rob Caughlan remembers: In 1974, during the Proposition 17 campaign, we arranged a big Hollywood event at the home of television star Lorne Greene, as a fundraiser for the initiative. We worked backchannels and got then (Georgia) Governor Carter to keynote the event. He really uncorked on the Army Corps that night, as he had lots of experience with boondoggle dams destroying wild rivers in Georgia. I was impressed! I had never heard any politician be so critical of the Army Corps. In Washington, the sacred cow is really the sacred pork. Carter’s speech gave us a great boost, but I couldn’t ignore all the money the pro-dam-forces were spending. I was concerned that we were getting overwhelmed. When I told Carter that I was worried, he said, “It doesn’t matter if you are losing – rivers are important. Fighting boondoggle dams is important. You have to keep on trying.”

Alexander Gaguine remembers: In the July of 1980 a headline in the Stockton Record took up most of page, with a photo of Carter speaking and campaigning in Stockton, with a backdrop of 30 American flags. The headline read:  Carter: “Save Stanislaus River”.  In the story they quoted him: “The Stanislaus is one of the most beautiful rivers in the country, and if the bill to protect it comes to my desk, I will sign it.”   See this post on a meeting Carter had in Merced in 1980. and this one by FOR describing the event.

Brad Welton remembers:  FOR ran the precinct canvassing operation for the Carter Campaign in downtown Sacramento for the 1976 Presidential Election, with FOR Volunteers from the Sacramento area walking door to door for Carter because by then we all knew he was a river lover.

Mark Dubois remembers being at a Carter event in the State Capital, as he handshakes through a line of 100s of who came to see the President. Tall Mark reached out from one side of Carter, grabbed his hand and wouldn’t let go. Annoyed, Carter turned to face whoever had his hand. Mark said, “Thank you for trying to save the Stanislaus River”; Carter broke into a big smile, and Mark let go of his hand.

President Carter’s greatest contribution to FOR and its mission was  when he defunded Auburn Dam in the late 1970s as a part of his nationwide plan to stop boondoggle dam projects. FOR engineered its greatest Dam Fighting Victory of that time period. Rep Doolittle tried to resurrect the dam for many years, but Pres. Carter’s action put FOR (and other local groups) in the driver’s seat to permanently stop the Dam.

The Auburn backstory, per Brad Welton: FOR got a tip from a ‘deep throat” at Menlo Park USGS indicating that a new study of the Auburn dam site found an active earthquake fault under it. The Army Corps was going to hide the information. We contacted Rob Caughlan (FOR cofounder) who was working in Washington DC at EPA for President Carter. Rob found a way to get the administration to inform Menlo Park USGS to give FOR a copy of the report. Suddenly, we found we could pick up the report, and John Cassidy retrieved it from the USGS and brought it to Sacramento. At the same time, the Department of Interior Committee on Defunding Boondoggle Dams was scheduled to hold a Public Hearing in Sacramento on the Auburn Dam. We gave the report obtained from USGS to a reporter for the Sacramento Bee. On the day that the Washington officials on this Committee arrived in Sacramento for the public hearing, the morning edition of the Bee printed a front page story about the report under the headline FAULT UNDER AUBURN DAM. FOR organized over 20 experts in various disciplines to testify against the Dam’s construction and a large contingent of folks to support FOR’s position. The Committee recommended Auburn Dam be defunded and President Carter followed through.

Here’s a nice 2017 perspective on Carter, from Northwest River Supplies.