Tribute to Bob Center
Robert M. Center, better known as Bob or BC, passed away on Saturday August 1, 2026. Bob served as Executive Director of Friends of the River from 2012 to 2014, generously stepping in as a transitional leader at a time the organization needed deep engineering and water policy expertise. During his tenure at FOR, Bob fought off threats to the Merced Wild and Scenic status and was “the” expert on the complex Yuba-Bear River plumbing and hydrology.
A Relentless Advocate for Rivers
Patricia Schifferle, a long-time river advocate, friend and colleague of Bob’s writes:
“Many of us relied on his self-published geology and interpretive guide to the Stanislaus River. It helped lay the groundwork for the case before Congress to protect the river under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.”
Bob did not suffer fools lightly. He brought rare fortitude, rigor, and perseverance to everything he did. As an individual and as executive director of Friends of the River, he played a crucial role in protecting flows in the Yuba and Bear rivers during the long, tortuous Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing processes.
Engineering the Case for Healthy Rivers
Trained as an engineer, Bob systematically analyzed hydrologic models and documented their failure to predict the river flows and water temperatures needed to protect endangered fish in the Yuba River and its tributaries. He took federal biologists near the Drum Forebay so they could see firsthand how reality diverged from the promises on paper. He warned that hydropower operations would allow river temperatures to rise beyond safe levels for fish and would damage floodplain habitat, aquatic species, and recreation.
His sharp clarity came through in a quote he gave to the newspaper:
“Basically, the Corps is saying that Englebright’s adverse impacts on threatened fish species have never been its concern,” said Bob Center, executive director of Friends of the River. “The Corps would have us believe that its only responsibilities are emptying the trash cans, cleaning up the occasional oil spill and pumping out porta-potties at Englebright Reservoir campground.”
Executive Director Bob Center standing on top of the emergency “spillway” at New Exchequer Dam illustrating the height of water that might flow down over the spillway that might erode like the Oroville Dam spillway incident.
A Life on and Alongside the Rivers
Crew of the first paddle boat decent of Cherry Creek. Bob Center in the red helmet top right. Photo by Rick Byars
BC lived a lifetime devoted to both enjoying and protecting rivers. Bob (and his brother Bill Center) worked for the American River Touring Association (ARTA) in the 1970s, often sharing communal living at the old Vallecito ARTA house where continuous rafting and kayaking was the order of business. In the winter, Bob was a formidable back country skier, reveling in the snows before they became the rivers he loved.
While serving enthusiastically in the ranks of the early army-surplus era California rafters and fiberglass kayakers, Bob also became involved in the fight to save the Stanislaus, beginning a lifetime of river advocacy. Trained as a sanitary engineer at Stanford, he had an exceptional ability to make sense of complex plumbing and hydrology, within the relevant political and economic contexts driving the projects.
A Formidable Mind, on and off the River
Bob and Wanda on the river. Photo by Charlie Center
Later in the 70s, Bob began working in telecommunications. For almost 30 years, he was at the technological forefront of designing the operations enabling the transition to deregulated long distance. In 1993, Bob married Wanda, also a formidable kayaker. Together they spent many happy years, living in Grass Valley and kayaking rivers throughout the West. It is said they kayaked Cherry Creek, the class 5 section of the Tuolumne, 20 times in one year.
When Bob retired in the late 2000’s, he turned his formidable intellect to Sierra water issues, particularly on the Yuba-Bear system near his home in Grass Valley.
Friends of the River Executive Director Jann Dorman:
“I first met Bob back in the mid-70s at the ARTA house, where I was also a guide on the Stanislaus. Over the years, we have shared many deep conversations, mostly at the intersections of technology, greed and the environment. He was a valued friend and great mentor. He is the reason I am at FOR now, recruiting me to the Board of Directors when he became ED, and encouraging me to assume the ED role when my time came.
Bob’s deep blue eyes could always see through the many distracting complexities to the core of a problem, and therefore the solutions. He found joy in exploring both the intellectual and physical worlds.
California rivers and the rest of us are better for his attention. He will be profoundly missed.”
