How it All Began

Recreation is at the heart of The Tuolumne River Trust's origin story TRT came into being after the fight to save the Stanislaus River from being dammed was lost Since the late 1960s, the Tuolumne had been similarly targeted for dams by the City of San Francisco A group of rafters, kayakers, anglers, family camp supporters and other advocates knew that the Tuolumne was worth saving, so they began to build a broad coalition of support that would ultimately end up with 83 miles of the River designated as Wild & Scenic by Congress on September 28, 1984.

What is a “Wild & Scenic River”?

Congress enacted the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (WSRA) in 1968, declaring it the “policy of the United States that certain selected rivers of the Nation which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural, or other similar values, shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.” The Act is notable for encouraging river management that crosses political boundaries and promotes public participation in developing goals for river protection. California has approximately 189,454 miles of river, of which, 2,000 miles are designated as Wild & Scenic 1% of the state’s river miles.