Bear PARC
Bear Protection And Restoration Collaborative
Event: Enjoy a Fun Day at the Bear River
Saturday, May 23
Join us for a casual outing at the Bear River Day Use area (“Bear River Fishing Access“) where we will host an information table from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.
At 2:30 pm we plan a short hike on the potential Accessible Riverside Trail.
Meet at the upstream parking lot at Milk Ranch Road and Campground Road.
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Rest in Peace, William Wauters
Our close friend and activist recently passed away. William was active in many local organizations, including:
- Board member of American River Watershed Institute (ARWI)
- Elected to the Board of Auburn Area Parks and Recreation District (ARD)
- Active in BearPARC, actively planning the Accessible Trail
- Board member of Save Auburn Ravine Salmon and Steelhead (SARSAS)
- Involved in educational and recreation activities of Protect American River Canyons (PARC)
- Scheduled speakers and served as a docent with Canyon Keepers
- Long time member of the Placer County Historical Society
- Board member of the Placer-Sierra Railroad Heritage Society
- Active in Placer Group, Mother Lode Chapter of the Sierra Club
- …and many more community organizations!
His energy and enthusiasm will be sorely missed. A Celebration of Life is scheduled for late May.
Many changes are coming to the Bear River
- Public Access to Bear River Fishing Access needs to be preserved (Placer County has a short term lease with Calif. Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, who owns the land) – Find out more
- What’s the future of the Dog Bar crossing now that the new bridge changes access to the river? Follow this issue
- NID (Nevada Irrigation District) has plans to sell off their Dam Lands along the river – Explore the Issues
- PG&E is planning to divest their huge water storage, hydropower, and water delivery system – that’s an opportunity for collaboration…Stay informed!
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BearPARC encourages community dialogue to explore the most beneficial next steps to achieve common goals that embrace our highest community interests and values. Let’s fall in love with this stretch of the river, and work together to fashion its future.
Management of the land should support community needs, our values and long range sustainability, with emphasis on:
- Green Space that enriches riparian and forest health improving our quality of life,
- Fire ecosystem management to protect our communities from wildfire,,
- Fisheries and wildlife habitat to protect our diverse environment,
- Watershed ecological education uplifting our appreciation of where we live,
- Scenic and recreational management that enrich our highest and best social, economic and environmental values.
- Honoring the Nisenan heritage of fire ecosystem management and support integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
Our lives and our communities will prosper built on those principles.
A Brief Introduction
The Bear River has historically been the most traveled, utilized and industrialized river in the Sierra Nevada. Today, one little section at a time, the Bear is being transformed yet again.
Learn more at bearriver.us
- The Bear River watershed was the first to catch the European wave of immigrants to California.
- The transcontinental railroad wound its way on the ridge above the Bear, as does the busy Union Pacific line today.
- Old Hwy 40 started the first stream of cars, I-80 turned the stream into a river of traffic.
- Hydraulic gold mining started on the Bear River and washed more soils into the valley and Delta, proportionately, than any other river in the Sierra Nevada.
- The first hydroelectric generating systems were built on the Bear. One of the first long distance telephone lines in the country was strung in Dutch Flat to serve mining operations.
- Miners needed wood for construction and fuel. Miles of logging railroads were built to serve their needs in the Bear watershed.
- Thanks to a lawsuit by valley farmers hydraulic mining ended.
- Canals and waterways built to bring water to the mines were able to support agriculture throughout the foothills. Bear River water diversions irrigated extensive orchards.
- The farming market shifted from the foothills to the valley, where warmer weather gave valley growers the early-market sales.
- In the 1950s and ’60s, local timber harvest supplied California’s post-war growth. By the 1970s, timber harvest was in decline.
- Tourism soon became the economic engine and the older sections of regional towns were restored to lure more visitors.
- Entering this century, growth became the main economic engine for the region. People live near the Bear River because they love this place. And the river is again becoming a significant theme in people’s lives.