[env-trinity] Trinity River loses a friend: Friends of TrinityRiver founder Byron Leydecker dies at age 83
caltrout
caltrout at sbcglobal.net
Sat May 14 11:06:26 PDT 2011
With all the photos...
---------------------------------------
The Times-Standard pg. 1
Trinity River loses a friend: Friends of Trinity River founder Byron
Leydecker dies at age 83
<http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_18063728>
http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_18063728
Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard
Posted: 05/14/2011 02:10:23 AM PDT
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 him-self 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, be-coming a force in the effort to re-store the river's struggling
salmon stocks - died late Thursday night surrounded by his family after a
brief illness. He was 83.
"Byron Ley-decker was a true giant of his time," North Coast Con-gressman
Mike Thompson said in a statement Fri-day, noting Mill Valley resident's
successful banking career before he turned his "considerable intel-lect" and
connections to conser-vation. "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.
| See LEYDECKER /A8
_____
<http://eurekatimesstandard.ca.newsmemory.com/newsmemvol2/california/eurekat
imesstandard/20110514/a1_05_14_11.pdf.0/img/Image_7.jpg>
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Byron Leydecker, right, stands with Herb Burton at a surprise party thrown
in Leydecker's honor on the banks of the Trinity River in July 2006.
_____
<http://eurekatimesstandard.ca.newsmemory.com/newsmemvol2/california/eurekat
imesstandard/20110514/a1_05_14_11.pdf.0/img/Image_8.jpg>
Leydecker
LEYDECKER: 'It was never about him. It was always about restoring the river'
FROM <javascript:parent.contents.gotoPage(> A1
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 plan-ner Tom Stokely recalls get-ting a call a short
time later from Leydecker, who was very mad at having gotten stuck in the
middle of some-thing called a river restora-tion project but was pump-ing
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 pro-gram 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 Califor-nia Trout in 1992, said
he also received a call from Leydeck-er 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 try-ing to restore a river below a federally
financed dam." Over the coming years, Weseloh came to know Ley-decker better
than most, serv-ing 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
sun-glasses, whether at meetings or fishing - was a thought-ful gentleman,
valued his friends and family and was extremely polite, though he "didn't
suffer fools easily." Weseloh said his friend, a for-mer competitive race
car driver, was a devoted San Francisco Giants fan, and said he was thankful
Ley-decker 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 domi-nated by personal interests and people with axes to grind,
Stokely said Leydecker was a man who spoke with passion and without a
financial inter-est 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 commit-ment
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 disap-pointed 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
disappoint-ment 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 every-thing 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 peo-ple who made a difference."
Thadeus Greenson can be reached at 441-0509 or tgreenson at times-standard.com.
_____
<http://eurekatimesstandard.ca.newsmemory.com/newsmemvol2/california/eurekat
imesstandard/20110514/a8_05_14_11.pdf.0/img/Image_19.jpg>
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Then-Marin County Board of Supervisors Chairman Byron Leydecker speaks at a
Civic Center groundbreaking on May 25, 1966, as then-Gov. Edmond G. Brown
stands to his right. Leydecker went on to spend much of the last 20 years of
his life fighting to restore the Trinity River. He died late Thursday at the
age of 83.
_____
<http://eurekatimesstandard.ca.newsmemory.com/newsmemvol2/california/eurekat
imesstandard/20110514/a8_05_14_11.pdf.0/img/Image_20.jpg>
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Byron Leydecker holds a chrome bright steelhead caught on the Trinity River
in September 2005.
<http://eurekatimesstandard.ca.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/check.5990/ini
t/pics/none.gif>
Powered by <http://www.newsmemory.com/> TECNAVIA
Copyright (c)2011 Times-Standard <http://www.times-standard.com/>
05/14/2011
_____
From: env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
[mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Tom
Stokely
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2011 8:11 AM
To: env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River loses a friend: Friends of TrinityRiver
founder Byron Leydecker dies at age 83
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
<http://www.times-standard.com/portlet/article/html/render_gallery.jsp?artic
leId=18063728&siteId=127&startImage=1>
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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