What (and who) is Friends of the River Banks?
It all started with a group of neighbors talking about our joy in living near the American River and our wish that we could share that love of nature with others. Richard Louv's book, Last Child in the Woods, had recently come out and alerted people to "nature deficit disorder." This is a fancy way of saying that children, and their parents, are suffering from the absence of nature in their lives. Many people are uncomfortable in wild areas. We decided to help our neighbors and others in Sacramento see the treasure that is our stretch of the American River.
Robert, Stella, and Laurie called ourselves Friends of the River Banks (not to be confused with Friends of the River)--or FORB for short--and made plans to invite people to the river with us each month. We were fortunate to receive a small grant from First 5 Sacramento that first year that allowed us to buy insect nets, binoculars, and a spotting scope to use at our gatherings.
We are now in our 15th+ year of monthly activities. We've gone on mushroom hunts, dragonfly walks, worked on restoration and cleanup of the area, we've looked for animal tracks, followed our neighborhood Swainson's Hawks from courtship to fledging, seen our cottonwood forest suffer a major fire...each visit is an adventure. The little ones play in the sand and mud, get wet and dirty, find insects, and roll down the hill. The parents have just as much fun but don't usually roll.
Robert Sewell is a retired professional photographer, newly minted as a wildlife photographer. He keeps the neighborhood apprised of what is happening with the birds at the river.
Stella Levy is a lawyer with a passion for Restorative Justice. She celebrates her birthday each year at the river.
Laurie Litman is a technical writer/graphic designer who wants to see her grandchildren grow up with a healthy natural world. To that end she is working on issues of climate change and peace and justice.
Robert, Stella, and Laurie called ourselves Friends of the River Banks (not to be confused with Friends of the River)--or FORB for short--and made plans to invite people to the river with us each month. We were fortunate to receive a small grant from First 5 Sacramento that first year that allowed us to buy insect nets, binoculars, and a spotting scope to use at our gatherings.
We are now in our 15th+ year of monthly activities. We've gone on mushroom hunts, dragonfly walks, worked on restoration and cleanup of the area, we've looked for animal tracks, followed our neighborhood Swainson's Hawks from courtship to fledging, seen our cottonwood forest suffer a major fire...each visit is an adventure. The little ones play in the sand and mud, get wet and dirty, find insects, and roll down the hill. The parents have just as much fun but don't usually roll.
Robert Sewell is a retired professional photographer, newly minted as a wildlife photographer. He keeps the neighborhood apprised of what is happening with the birds at the river.
Stella Levy is a lawyer with a passion for Restorative Justice. She celebrates her birthday each year at the river.
Laurie Litman is a technical writer/graphic designer who wants to see her grandchildren grow up with a healthy natural world. To that end she is working on issues of climate change and peace and justice.
