ARTA guide and Friends of the River activist Carol Nelson at the oars

Carol was an incredible force in the saga of the Stanislaus River. Born in nearby Sonora in January, 1948, she became an ARTA river guide in the mid 1970s.  In 1979, she prepared a ground-breaking, mile by mile study of the Stanislaus River, which was incorporated into FOR’s widely-selling Guide to Three Rivers book . She then plunged into campaigns to save the Stanislaus and became a prominent editor and contributor for the Stanislaus Campaign News from 1978-1980, a monthly update that was essential for the hundreds of activists working at that time to save the Stanislaus.

Carol married Eddie Warren and they made their home near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho in the early 1990s. Carol died there after a battle with cancer in July 2014 after many happy years, many trips to reunions and family gatherings in California, and raising their son Ry.