The Tuolumne River Conservancy (TRC) works for the benefit of the Lower Tuolumne River, its wildlife, and those who enjoy the river and its riparian habitat.
The TRC was initially organized in 1993 to join the mediation of the Don Pedro Dam license review. The mediation resulted in the 1995 Settlement Agreement which increased the minimum flows based on the water year type. The Tuolumne River Conservancy (formerly Friends of the Tuolumne) lobbied for and received $500,000 from the City and County of San Francisco.
The TRC has used that settlement to leverage purchases of land parcels along the Lower Tuolumne from the La Grange Dam to the San Joaquin River. As of 2019, the TRC owns almost 400 acres along nearly 2.5 miles of the river.
The land is being restored to functional salmon and trout spawning and rearing habitat. Projects to date have been Bobcat Flat Phase I, Bobcat Flat Phase II, and Duck Slough. Bobcat Flat Phase III is currently being planned and permitted.
In addition to the property owned by the TRC, it initiated and implemented two other restorations. These projects are now complete. Grayson River Ranch was completed in 2006 and the Waterford Percolation Ponds restoration was completed in 2005.
The TRC also advocates for a healthy river in the Technical Advisory Committee formed as part of the 1995 Settlement Agreement, and various other government processes. As part of the community, the TRC works to restore the river and its adjacent habitat for native fish, birds, and mammals for the present and the future.