Jerry Meral: Champion of River Conservation for 50 Years

A lifetime devoted to paddling and river conservation

November marks the 50th anniversary of the vote on California Proposition 17, a citizen-initiated measure aimed at preventing the construction of a dam on the Stanislaus River. The dam would flood a popular section of the river known as Camp-9. Although the vote was close, the dam was ultimately built, destroying this pristine section of the river.

Despite this defeat, a significant victory emerged: the failed effort to stop the dam inspired a generation of kayakers and rafters to become activists, united by the conviction that “never again” should a dam be allowed to destroy a wild river.

At the time, the idea of using a popular vote to change state law was a new one, at least in the context of designating the river as “Wild and Scenic” to block the dam. Heading the signature collection needed to put Prop. 17 on the ballot was the newly-formed Friends of the River (FOR).  FOR lives on and over the years has extended its attention to issues on numerous California rivers and creeks including the  the North Fork of the American, the Kings, the Merced and the Upper Klamath.

 

A number of individuals share credit as FOR co-founders. But only one of them has a namesake river feature — Merals Pool on the Tuolumne.

Jerry Meral was born in Detroit, and came to California in 1967 to get a PhD in zoology at UC Berkeley.  He had attended Penn State and planned for the bigger rivers of the west by trading his metal canoe for a lighter and nimbler fiberglass vessel called the C-1.

“I had run up to Class IV in my decked canoe, but I knew no one in California did that,” he said. “There were just a few other C-1 paddlers at that time.

Meral made the C-1 by hand, along with the rest of his gear. “Early on, many people believed life jackets were dangerous, since they might trap you in a hole,” he said. “We made our own Naugahyde spray decks, fiberglass canoes, life jackets, and even paddles. If it was cold we wore full wetsuits.”

Moving to the fiberglass and low-volume vessel made it possible for Meral to join others in taking on challenging and uncharted runs like the Tuolumne River’s Class IV section below Lumsden Campground and the Class V Cherry Creek  run above it — Merals Pool linking the two runs is named after Meral’s highwater swim there.

“Many of the rapids on the Tuolumne — Meral, Sunderland, Ram’s Head — are named after swims or flips,” he said. “Other names are for Hackamack and Gray, who fought to save the river.Very few features are named after people who made successful runs.”

Meral paddled a C-1 until 2002, through many improvements in kayak design and construction. Only the discomfort of paddling on his knees finally got him into a kayak.

Meral was also part of the crew that took then-gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown down the Stanislaus in 1974. And he  went on to serve in both Jerry Brown administrations as a conservationist and scientist. He was Deputy Director of the California Department of Water Resources from 1975 to 1983. In 1980, he and his team prepared the documents that led to the Carter administration designating sections of the Smith, Eel, Klamath, Trinity and American rivers as Wild and Scenic — granting them federal protection, the highest possible. Meral returned to Sacramento in 2011 to serve as Deputy Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency until 2013.  Given another shot in Sacramento, he said he’d want to be Resource Secretary given the department’s ability to influence environmental policy.

Meral thinks the California Department of Parks needs to do more for rivers, and to promote whitewater and flatwater boating — not just powerboating. He was a recent guest on the Department’s co-sponsored podcast Dockside that should bring attention to that issue.

On the podcast, he also shared his concern over the shrinking number of younger paddlers he sees on the water.  He says it’s neither good for the sport nor the future of river conservation.

“River runners then and now fall into one of two groups.  Those who simply enjoy doing it, and those who take conservation action,” he said.  “Unfortunately, both groups are a lot smaller than 50 years ago.  Friends of the River has not solved the problem of continued engagement, nor has the Tuolumne Trust, though they keep trying.”

Meral credits the Sierra Club’s now-inactive Bay Area Kayak Touring section for helping him connect to the wider paddling community when he moved to California — and for kicking off his activism with a trip to the Stanislaus. He also met his wife through the club. He noted that the decline of these kinds of organized paddling groups may be a barrier to entry for newer paddlers today. He added, “I think people just find their own small groups, and go out together. Perhaps they meet in kayak schools?”

He does see hope in clubs like Chico Paddleheads and Gold Country Paddlers, who are carrying on the tradition.

At 80, Meral’s doing what he can to help, organizing multi-generational paddles on Northern California rivers — at the time of this writing a run on the Class 4 section of the Tuolumne. He’ll paddle a two-person raft for that one, though he often still uses a kayak. “I try to stick to safe runs, but I still go because I love river running and seeing the rivers themselves.”

Today Meral is Director of Water Programs for the Natural Heritage Institute. Meral also serves on several boards, hikes, and removes invasive weeds in Inverness where he lives. The Tuolumne Trust website may say it best:  “His blend of creativity, kindness, and dedication makes him not just a leader but a valued mentor and friend in the environmental community.”

To find out more about today’s efforts to restore the Stanislaus check out restoringthestanislaus.org

MAIN IMAGE: Jerry Meral paddling a closed deck canoe on the North Fork Feather in 1970. Photo by Dick Sunderland

Read other articles by Anthea Raymond here.