In Memory of David “Chicken” Nesmith
Barry Nelson’s Talk in Memory of Chicken at California River Awards, April 25, 2025
“I’m Barry Nelson, and I’m honored to be able to speak in memory of – and in celebration of – David Nesmith – universally known as Chicken. Chicken was born in 1944 – and we lost him a month ago tomorrow.
I can’t imagine a more appropriate place to remember Chicken than here tonight with you. Friends of the River recognized Chicken with the Mark Dubois award in 2013. If there was a hall of fame for the greatest ever friends of rivers – Chicken would be in it.
Chicken’s accomplishments – both as volunteer and professional – are remarkable. His work started in 1965 registering voters in Mississippi and encountering the KKK. During the Vietnam war, Chicken was a contentious objector and was sent to Vietnam during the war to raise chickens. It was during training for that assignment that he came to be known as Chicken.
Some maintain that his nickname was awarded because – when faced with a challenging rapid with multiple lines through - our friend invariably chose the chicken line. Although the behavior was true, I’m pretty sure that’s not where the nickname came from.
I’d like to move next to a lightning round of Chicken’s work:
He served as the Sierra Club Bay Chapter Conservation Director for nearly 20 years.
He helped persuade EBMUD to give up on Buckhorn Dam, a dam on the Mokelumne River, as well as a diversion on the American River.
He worked for Save The Bay and the Environmental Water Caucus.
He volunteered with Healing Adventures to help people living with cancer experience the natural world.
He was a volunteer whitewater rafting guide instructor for FOR and helped to teach hundreds of guides – including me, in 1994.
He was a dedicated volunteer guide for the Sierra Club’s Inner City Outings. Program.
With his partner Annie Prutzman, Chicken was deeply involved in Bishop O’Dowd High School’s Living Lab, a former quarry, now with restored ecosystems, outdoor classrooms, and an environmental studies center.
Nearly 50 years after his first advocacy work, his last advocacy effort – after his stroke in 2012 -was speaking to the EBMUD Board to encourage them to support Wild and Scenic River status for the Mokelumne. Not only did the Board support Wild and Scenic designation, they gave him a standing ovation.
That response shows the remarkable advocate he was. It’s worth noting that EBMUD’s former lobbyist, Randy Kanouse - who Chicken fought with for years - became one of his closest friends.
I think winning Wild and Scenic status for the Mokelumne is the accomplishment he was most proud of. Perhaps not least because he and Annie met on the Moke – on a trip for teachers that he organized.
His family also includes his son Chris and daughters Ilona and Kristie - as well as five grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren.
Chicken’s father and grandfather were Methodist ministers. And I always thought of Chicken as a river evangelist, and that rivers were his church.
Chicken’s river trips were too many to mention. But I will highlight one. His regular Green River float trips were his favorites - usually in Utah’s hottest days in July and August. That scheduling showed what my heat-hating wife Jill always felt was rare example of poor judgement on Chicken’s part.
I’ve never met anyone with more friends. Chicken played an important - and sometimes a central role - in the lives of thousands of people, especially young people. He was devoted to helping people experience rivers and nature, inspiring them to advocate for nature and gently encouraging them to push the boundaries of their comfort zones.
Chicken accomplished a great deal and touched everyone around him with his unique combination of grace, joy, love, endless energy and fierce determination. Those are all attributes we all need in the difficult world we live in today.
He left a remarkable legacy of service, accomplishments, and a generation of inspired people who will miss him deeply. None of us can ask for more.
Please join me in a round of applause for Chicken – one of the greatest friends of rivers. “
