SB 1482 – Sen. Peter Behr’s 1976 Wild & Scenic bill for the Stanislaus (PDF)

One year after Proposition 17 failed to pass in a statewide election, Friends of the River launched a campaign that generated thousands of letters aimed at moving the newly elected Governor, Jerry Brown (who had endorsed Prop. 17), to act on saving the Stanislaus River. Tired of waiting, State Senator Peter Behr (R), the author of the California Wild & Scenic Rivers Act, authored SB 1482 in early 1976 to try to add the Stanislaus River to the state’s Wild & Scenic system. This document is the full text of that bill, taken from the Friends of the River  documents archive in 2025. FOR undertook major efforts to try to pass the bill but it did not make it out of committee, after strong opposition from pro-dam interests.  (click green download icon to see all pages of the bill)