Petey Brucker is pictured collecting otolith bones for fisheries researchers from spawned-out spring chinook salmon in the Trinity Alps Wilderness, Upper South Fork Salmon River in 2004. (Photo by Felice Pace)
The Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) has presented Petey Brucker with the 2023 Sempervirens Lifetime Achievement Award for lifelong environmental activism advocating for the forests, rivers, wildlife, people and salmon of the Klamath and Salmon River watersheds.
EPIC will celebrate and honor Brucker at its 2023 Summer Celebration on Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Arcata Veterans Hall. Tickets and information are available at www.wildcalifornia.org or epic.salsalabs.org/epic-2023-summer-celebration-july-15th
The gathering will feature dinner catered by Humbrews, dessert by Raised Gluten Free, local beer and wine from Lost Coast Brewery, Frey Vineyards and Moonstone Crossing Winery, live music by Superfines and a silent auction supporting EPIC’s forest advocacy work.
Born in Nyack, New York, in 1952, Brucker followed his older brother, Phil, to Northern California. Arriving 50 years ago, Petey Brucker met his life partner, Geba Greenberg, and never left.
Living in the remote community of Forks of Salmon, nestled along the Salmon River, he vowed to protect this wilderness. Brucker was tenacious in his pursuit of ways to repair the damage that resulted from mining and logging, including the use of toxic herbicides.
Working with longtime local residents, Brucker shepherded the community to come together to restore the health of the forests and rivers. In 1989, he founded the Klamath Forest Alliance (KFA) with half a dozen others to mitigate the effects of forest management practices like clear-cut logging and old growth liquidation.
Brucker led by developing science-based analysis of adverse ecological effects, reworking proposed timber sales through dialogue, litigation and appeals. In the following years, along with harm reduction, he devised creative stewarding solutions, co-founding the Salmon River Restoration Council (SRRC) in 1992 with Jim Villeponteaux.
SRRC programs include fisheries restoration, monitoring and habitat restoration; noxious weed management; water quality monitoring; fire and fuels management, including prescribed burning; watershed education; and river cleanup. By promoting sustainable practices, fostering community engagement and educating residents, it continues to thrive.
One of Brucker’s goals has been dam removal along the Klamath River to revive the salmon that for millennia depended on its natural flows. He joined with the local Karuk, Yurok and Hoopa tribes to lobby for dam removal to bring salmon back, and after several decades of struggle, the salmon will return.
Brucker leads with the belief that stewardship is everyone’s responsibility, and that working together is the only path to achieve lasting change.
He has also […]
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