Mark Dubois (born February 24, 1949) began as an environmental activist, initially focusing on saving rivers and has worked to mobilize and engage citizens globally for a vibrant future. In 1972 he co-founded Environmental Traveling Companions (E.T.C.) to offer environmental education and Outward Bound-type trips to disabled persons and disadvantaged youth. In 1973, he co-founded

Friends of the River Friends of the River was founded in 1973 by Mark Dubois and Jerry Meral during the struggle to save the Stanislaus River from New Melones Dam. Some believe that the campaign to save the Stanislaus River marked the end of massive dam building i ...

to fight the flooding of the

Stanislaus River The Stanislaus River is a tributary of the San Joaquin River in north-central California in the United States. The main stem of the river is long, and measured to its furthest headwaters it is about long. Originating as three forks in the high ...

and canyon by the

New Melones Dam New Melones Dam is an earth and rock filled embankment dam on the Stanislaus River, about west of Jamestown, California, United States, on the border of Calaveras County and Tuolumne County. The water impounded by the dam forms New Melones ...

. He reached national fame when he chained himself to a rock on the banks of the river to prevent the flooding of the river. He also co-founded International Rivers in 1984, and served as the International Coordinator of

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...

1990 and 2000. His personal papers from these organizations and other work from 1970–2002 are held by the

Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

Biography

Early life

Mark Dubois was born in Sacramento February 24, 1949, and in his teen and adult years rafted and explored the Stanislaus River canyon. Being a canyon made of limestone, exploring caves was a significant part of his initial experiences there. At the time, he was only dimly aware that the US Army Corps of Engineers was working on a dam that would eventually flood the river canyon he was falling in love with.

Environmental Traveling Companions (ETC)

In 1972, Dubois co-founded (with Fred Dennis) Environmental Traveling Companions (ETC or "etcetera") to introduce inner city kids to nature through rafting. The organization continues today with the same mission.

Friends of the River

Friends of the River was born in 1973 from the effort to put an initiative on the California ballot to save the river, led by Jerry Meral and Mark Dubois, among others. Although the initiative failed, the act of working to pass it brought together enough individual effort to create the foundation of an organization (some 30,000 volunteers gathered half a million signatures to qualify the initiative). By 1980 FOR had 3,000 members.

International Rivers Network

In 1984, Dubois co-founded the International Rivers Network (now called "International Rivers") after a year-long trip around the world. The group aims to encourage grassroots organizing against large dam projects, and redirecting international funding away from such projects.

Earth Day 1990

Dubois and Teresa McGlashan were the International Coordinators for Earth Day’s global efforts, coordinating with grassroots groups along with some government and business organizations in the 143 participating countries outside the US. An estimated 200 million citizens participated in Earth Day and Earth Week events around the world. 200 million people in 140 countries participated in the event that year.

Philosophical and/or political views

Dubois advocates “heart politics.” Similar to Gandhi’s appeal to our better nature, Dubois notes that individuals respond better to encouragement and appeals to their conscience. He tries to help transform anger into constructive action, and believes that by having fun doing it means that success is more likely. A good background on his philosophy and its roots can be found in his essa
"Dancing with the River"
in the book ''Consciousness in Action'' by Andrew Beath.

Honors, decorations, awards and distinctions

Dubois gained national attention when he chained himself to a rock beside the rising reservoir behind New Melones Dam in May 1979 to force the Army Corps of Engineers to stop the filling or kill him. He was at least temporarily successful, as they stopped filling the dam and he came out of hiding.

References/Notes and references

External links

Environmental Traveling Companions

''Mark Dubois Papers, 1970-2002''
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. *
Wild and Scenic Rivers. Stanislaus Protection Act of 1974
'.
Stanislaus River ArchiveRestoring the Stanislaus River
*A short Earth Day 2021 film:
The Voice of a River
' *
The Voice of a River: An Intimate Conversation with Mark Dubois
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dubois, Mark 1949 births American environmentalists Living people