A Threat to Sierra Lakes and Rivers!
Massive Proposed Hydro Project
Foothill Conservancy needs your help to oppose the massive GreenGen proposal. Why? Campgrounds, roads and boat ramps at Lower Bear and Salt Springs Reservoirs would be closed for four and a half years while a huge tunnel is blasted to connect the two lakes. Water pumped from Salt Springs up to Bear daily would flood more than 70 feet of shoreline, only to be lowered later that day when the water is returned to Salt Springs to generate power and profits for the developers. Boating, fishing, picnicking, and camping would never be the same!
Over one million yards of rock would be blasted, excavated, piled up next to the dams causing noise, dust, vibration and air pollution for years. Our treasured Wild and Scenic Mo
kelumne River below Salt Springs would become a construction zone for roads, bridges, power lines and substations species.
Access to the Mokelumne Wilderness and River by hikers, campers, fishermen and rafters would be impaired, all where archaeological remains and endangered species are a concern.
We at Foothill have reviewed studies and registered our objections and you can read them all at foothillconservancy.org/GG. Please join our letter writing campaign to get the word out to local media, communities and elected officials by emailing craig@foothillconservancy.org.
Foothill Conservancy Members Pitch In
The Conservancy’s volunteers have been busy all year getting after trash and waste that threaten our region’s waterways. Working with the Watershed Protection Alliance (WPA) we pulled a staggering amount of material from illegal dumping grounds off Highway 26 in Pioneer and Rancheria Creek outside Amador City. Plus we’ve cleaned up Sutter Creek after the Great Sutter Creek Duck Race. Sign up now for the Electra Run cleanup in September!
Mark Your Calendar!
We are bustling with preparations for our annual fundraising dinner on Sunday, June 22. If you are a seasoned veteran of our Foothill Conservancy annual dinner and are planning to attend this year, you know it is more than just dinner. It is a reunion with old friends and a great platform to make new ones while enjoying good food, live music, cold beer and local wines.
This year we are thrilled to host our annual dinner at the Historic Kennedy Gold Mine in Jackson. This extraordinary venue, with its historic headframe, original outbuildings including a museum and mine tunnel, has been the heart of our annual dinner for many years. Live music will be provided by Herb Boxhorn with Michael Zisman & Joe Bellamy. Please be ready to bid on our silent auction items and purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win some amazing prizes.
The dinner also serves as our annual general membership meeting, where we elect members to the Board of Directors and conduct Conservancy business.
The event kicks off at 4:30 pm with dinner provided by Up Country Catering. Secure your tickets by calling us at 209.223.3508, visitwww.foothillconservancy.org, or scan the QR code.
Tickets are $75 for adults and $20 for kids under 12. We can’t wait to welcome you into our community!
Member’s Appreciation Event a Success!
Thanks to the Foothill Conservancy members who joined us on February 22 for our First Annual Member Appreciation Event. Held at the lovely Stone Barn in Plymouth,
it was a chance for us to express gratitude to our members for the support they have provided throughout the years. Our board members prepared a variety of
homemade soups, salad and dessert and also featured fresh bread from the Blue Door Bakery. The Amador High School Environmental Club helped out with parking
and logistics and the Stone Barn Winery donated the venue. Thank you to all who contributed to an enjoyable afternoon!
Local Land Use Advocacy
Martell is located at the crossroads of Amador County, where several significant developments are proposed. The Wicklow Way Specific Plan includes the addition of 280 houses and commercial development southeast of Walmart. Traffic may be impacted by the High School consolidation proposal, while the revised Gold Rush subdivision plans to add 150 units west of the bowling alley in its first phase. In addition, part of the existing water supply and sewage treatment capacity will be utilized by the recently approved 95 unit four-story hotel at Jackson Gate Road and Highway 49.
While these proposals would be located near employment and shopping which is good, unless upgrades are made to existing systems, they would exceed the capacity of the existing water supply
and sewage treatment systems to serve the new homeowners and congest traffic flows.
Foothill Conservancy has reviewed these proposals and asked decision-makers to require developers to pay for these upgrades as a condition of any decision so that current residents are not stuck with them. Additionally, we requested more open space in the plans to preserve our rural character and for more affordable housing for working families.
These impact mitigation fees should be developed transparently, made readily available, and consistently applied so both developers and residents know what to expect.
If you too are interested in the future of Martell, you can read our letters on these proposals to City of Sutter Creek and Amador County at https://foothillconservancy.org/programs/land-use/, and join our volunteers on our Land Use Committee by emailing our Executive Director Craig Baracco at Craig@foothillconservancy.org.
Remembering David ‘Chicken’ Nesmith
He kept water flowing down Mokelumne River for outdoor recreation.
A friend to environmental water issues, the Foothill Conservancy remembers David “Chicken” Nesmith, the former director of the Sierra Club’s San Francisco Bay Chapter, passed away on April 19, 2025. He was also a leader in the effort to stop EBMUD from building a new dam on the popular Electra whitewater run on the Mokelumne River.
Want to help us with our work?
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About the Foothill Conservancy
The Foothill Conservancy was launched with potluck dinners on Amador and Calaveras County residents’ back decks in 1989. We held our first public meeting in October 1989 and incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1990.
Since then, our community-based, grassroots, regional conservation group has successfully worked for more than 33 years to protect, restore, and sustain the natural and human environment in the Central Sierra for the benefit of current and future generations. What began as a small group of concerned citizens has grown into a resilient, award-winning organization with a strong record of accomplishment. Join the Conservancy today for just $40 a year for an individual or $50 for a family.
Board of Directors: Staff:
Brian Jobson, President Susan Bragstad Craig Baracco, Executive Director
Susan Conn, Vice President Leslie Smith Carolyn Schooley, Administrative Assistant
Marty Smith, Treasurer Gretchen Weiner
Toby Salk, Secretary Mel Welsh
Phone: 209-223-3508 Email: fhc@foothillconservancy.org Website: foothillconservancy.org