SYRCL’s 2025 State of the Yuba: Community, Advocacy, Education, Inspiration, and Successes

SYRCL held its annual State of the Yuba event on Thursday, April 23^rd at the Gold Vibe Kombuchary. At the event, attendees had the opportunity to interact directly with SYRCL staff and ask questions about all our programs.  

SYRCL also honored our Volunteer of the Year, Richard Kaiser, our Sponsor of the Year, The Lee & Dunn Group Baird Private Wealth Management, and our Partner of the Year, the Wildlife Conservation Board.  

Additionally, SYRCL’s Education Department announced this year’s Environmentalist of the Year Scholarship Award Winner, Devon Giardini. 

Finally, SYRCL’s Executive Director, Aaron Zettler-Mann spoke about some of SYRCL’s successes this year, including NID’s decision not to move forward with Centennial Dam, the amazing results of our Upper Rose Bar habitat restoration project, the joy on the faces of students participating in our Salmon Expeditions, and the sense of community felt at this year’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival. 

Rorie Lin Gotham Volunteer of the Year

Richard Kaiser was awarded our 2025 Rorie Lin Gotham Volunteer of the Year. Richard moved to the watershed in 2021 with his wife Diana and became involved with SYRCL almost immediately, participating in self-guided clean ups at Purdon Crossing and serving as a River Ambassador for the past three years. During the 2024 season, Richard fulfilled eight shifts, meaning he spent every other Saturday of his summer not lounging by his lovely pool or swimming in the Yuba’s gorgeous waters, but educating visitors to the river about safety and stewardship. Ambassador shifts launched on a Friday in March this year. By the following Monday, Richard had already signed up for another eight shifts for the 2025 season. When you love something, you take care of it and Richard, just like Rorie Gotham for whom this award is named, truly exemplifies this. Richard, thank you for being a River Ambassador and true steward of the Yuba. 

Sponsor of the Year

SYRCL was proud to honor our Sponsor of the Year, The Lee & Dunn Group at Baird Private Wealth Management. Jon Lee and Janice Dunn are ardent supporters of the arts in this community. So, we were deeply honored when the Lee and Dunn Group started sponsoring the Wild and Scenic Film Festival in 2017. In addition to this support, for the past 8-9 years, the Lee & Dunn Group has been providing complimentary brokerage services for SYRCL. This extremely generous service has saved us thousands of dollars, allowing more of our donors’ contributions to go towards conservation work and environmental education programs. So, in gratitude for their support of film, the arts and the environment, for rallying behind our education and outreach programs, and for being a professional conduit for our generous contributors, we’re honoring the Lee & Dunn Group at Baird Wealth Management as our Sponsor of the Year. 

Yuba River Partner of the Year

SYRCL was honored to present our award for Partner of the Year to The Wildlife Conservation Board. The Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) is a state agency dedicated to safeguarding California’s spectacular biological diversity and wild spaces for the benefit of present and future generations. WCB is known as a grant-making agency within California, which means that they are responsible for stewarding a variety of sources of state funding, making them available for non-profits like SYRCL through their various grant programs. SYRCL is honored to have been the recipient of several WCB funded grants to date, supporting our integral restoration work across the watershed. Notably, WCB has funded SYRCL to complete large projects such as Upper Rose Bar and Upper Long Bar focusing on Salmonid habitat restoration on the lower Yuba River and Van Norden Meadow and the Haskell Peak Meadows Restoration Project at the headwaters of both the South and the North Yuba Rivers. WCB has also funded SYRCL to assess aspen stands across the Yuba to prioritize them for restoration. All together – WCB has funded SYRCL to complete10million dollars’ worth of restoration work in the last 5 years! This crucial funding has supported over 1200 acres of restoration within the Yuba, resulting in more rearing and nesting habitat for salmon, improved carbon storage and flood attenuation in meadows, and enhanced climate resilient habitat for countless species. Because of this and so much more, SYRCL was honored to present WCB with our Partner of the Year Award. 

Environmentalist of the Year Scholarship

SYRCL was honored to present the 2025 Environmentalist of the Year Scholarship to Devon Giardini. Devon is graduating from Marysville Charter Academy for the Arts with an astounding 4.55 GPA. She plans to pursue a degree in Biology with a focus on plant science or study environmental studies. Not only is Devon a scientist, she is also an artist, actress, musician, writer, and activist. In her application, Devon captivated the scholarship committee with her storytelling while conveying her passion for the environment and making a difference in her community. Through her pursuit of a degree in the environmental field, Devon hopes to blend her environmental activism into her work, whether that be her drawing, music, or acting. Her art is often centered around the climate crisis, and she finds that she can tell important stories and connect to new audiences through her art. Devon is also a strong environmental advocate and strives to become a catalyst for broader change within our nation and help protect the outdoor spaces so many of us love. When speaking about the importance of taking action to address the climate crisis, Devon wrote, “Optimistic inaction in the face of catastrophe is an immature privilege of the wealthy and comfortable. On this wild, precious, and dying planet, complacency is a sin society can no longer—or, in all honesty, never could—afford. Our world is in dire need of rhythm breakers, disrupters, and those of us unwilling to simply shut our eyes and walk away.” SYRCL is proud to be able to help Devon achieve her dreams with our Environmentalist of the Year scholarship. 

Video of the Award Presentations

The State of the Yuba: Executive Director Aaron Zettler-Mann

Photos of the Event:

by Jason Scallin

by Trenton Branson

by Daniel Elkin

by Alex Eckart