[env-trinity] Trinity River loses a friend: Friends of Trinity River founder Byron Leydecker dies at age 83

[Tom Stokely]

Trinity River loses a friend: Friends of Trinity River founder Byron Leydecker dies at age 83

http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_18063728 
Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard
Posted: 05/14/2011 02:10:23 AM PDT

Click photo to enlarge

The Trinity River has lost a giant advocate, but those who knew Byron Leydecker say his legacy will live on in its waters and the salmon that swim through them.
Leydecker -- who found himself frustrated at the river's muddy flows on a fishing trip almost 20 years ago and went on to found Friends of the Trinity River, becoming a force in the effort to restore the river's struggling salmon stocks -- died late Thursday surrounded by his family after a brief illness. He was 83.
”Byron Leydecker was a true giant of his time,” said North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson in a statement issued Friday, noting Mill Valley resident's successful banking career before he turned his “considerable intellect” and connections to conservation. “His contributions to the state and to the Trinity River cannot be overstated.”
After graduating from Stanford University with an economics degree in 1950, Leydecker went on to start Redwood Bancorp and Redwood Bank in 1952 and, later, to serve on the Marin County Board of Supervisors. Retirement in the early 1980s left Leydecker with more time to pursue one of his great passions -- fly-fishing on the Trinity River.
But it was a 1992 fishing trip on the river in particular that changed Leydecker's life, and the fate of the river.
Fishing downstream from a recently completed Trinity River Restoration Program channel modification project, Leydecker noticed the water was greatly muddied. Soon, his

feet were stuck. Eventually, a friend and guide managed to get a raft to Leydecker to pull him from the river.

Then-Trinity County planner Tom Stokely recalls getting a call a short time later from Leydecker, who was very mad at having gotten stuck in the middle of something called a river restoration project but was pumping large amounts of mud into a clean river.
”He basically yelled at me for a half an hour,” Stokely recalled with a laugh, adding that the conversation led to Leydecker getting a cease and desist order against the program and, ultimately, led to the hatching of Friends of the Trinity River, which grew to include 1,700 members before closing last year.
Over nearly two decades, Stokely said, Leydecker became an indispensable voice in the effort to restore the fishery and get higher flows for the Trinity River.
Tom Weseloh, who was the regional manager of California Trout in 1992, said he also received a call from Leydecker after the banker's mud-spoiled fishing trip, but didn't think much of it at the time.
”I would get calls all the time,” he said. “But very few of (the callers) went on to form a nonprofit and spend 19 years of their life trying to change the way things were and trying to restore a river below a federally financed dam.”
Over the coming years, Weseloh came to know Leydecker better than most, serving next to him on the Friends of the Trinity River board of directors.
Weseloh said Leydecker -- known for wearing jeans, a button down shirt and sunglasses, whether at meetings or fishing -- was a thoughtful gentleman, valued his friends and family and was extremely polite, though he “didn't suffer fools easily.” Weseloh said his friend, a former competitive race car driver, was a devoted San Francisco Giants fan, and said he was thankful Leydecker lived to see the team win the World Series last year.
Leydecker never had much of an ego, Weseloh said, pointing out that instead of calling himself founder, chairman or president of Friends of the Trinity River, Leydecker preferred the title “junior clerk trainee.”
”It was never about him,” Weseloh said. “It was always about restoring the river.”
In a debate too often dominated by personal interests and people with axes to grind, Stokely said Leydecker was a man who spoke with passion and without a financial interest or a paycheck. Stokely said that won Leydecker the respect and affection of folks on all sides of the issue -- from conservationists to water and power customers.
”That's pretty unique,” Stokely said. “He simply did it because he really cared and that gave him tremendous strength. ... People on all sides had the utmost respect for him and when he talked, they listened.”
Yurok Tribe policy analyst Troy Fletcher said he didn't always see eye to eye with Leydecker, but always respected him and never questioned his motives.
”He put a lot of time and effort into the Trinity River,” Fletcher said. “There was one thing that was never in doubt and that was his commitment and his dedication to the Trinity River.”
While all agreed Leydecker made a huge impact on the fate of the Trinity River, Stokely said there is more work to be done, noting that Leydecker became very disappointed in the direction the restoration program has taken in recent years, noting he even penned a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar registering that disappointment a couple of years back.
Many said that's Leydecker's legacy -- he was a man who saw something he felt was wrong, and then did everything in his power to right it.
”The world's definitely a better place because Byron was here,” Weseloh said. “He is definitely one of those people who made a difference.”

Thadeus Greenson can be reached at 441-0509 or tgreenson at times-standard.com.
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