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 Posted - 06/10/2006 : 11:23:07 PM
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NATURIST ACTION COMMITTEE
ACTION ALERT
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http://www.naturistaction.org
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Copyright 2005 by the Naturist Action Committee, which is responsible
for its content. Permission is granted for the posting, forwarding or
redistribution of this message, provided that it is reproduced in its
entirety and without alteration.
DATE : June 10, 2006
SUBJECT: California: American River
TO : Naturists and other concerned citizens
Dear Naturist,
This is an Action Alert from the Naturist Action Committee concerning an
important situation in the state of California.
NAC has learned of a plan by California Park managers to force an abrupt end to traditional clothing-optional use along a portion of the American River near Auburn, California. NAC is asking for your immediate action in the form of:
1) your letters to key California Parks personnel, and
2) your attendance at an important public workshop on June 15.
WHAT'S THE SPECIFIC THREAT?
Rangers from the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation have indicated that nudity will no longer be permitted on the river near Auburn, and that signs banning nudity will be posted in the area on or about August 1, 2006.
HISTORY AND DISCUSSION
Skinny-dipping and nude sunbathing are a decades-old tradition on the American River. The clothing-optional sites most directly affected by the proposed action are located northeast of the town of Auburn, below the confluence of the North and Middle branches of the River and above the site of the indefinitely delayed Auburn Dam on the American River.
THE DAM The dam plays a key role in this situation. As designed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the enormous 685-foot high structure would be the largest concrete dam of its kind, larger than Hoover Dam. The water it would impound would inundate more than 35,000 acres. Congress authorized the dam in 1965, and preliminary site preparation began in 1967. That included construction of a diversion tunnel to take the river's water around the dam site. River rafters were forced to remove their craft at the Highway 49 bridge, near the confluence of the river branches, more than 3 miles upstream from the dam site.
Excavation of the dam foundation began in 1974. In 1975, however, an earthquake of magnitude 5.7 struck just 45 miles away. Geologists determined that the quake involved the same fault system that runs under the dam site. Engineers who designed the dam admitted that it had not been designed to withstand such a quake. The authorization for the project remained, but funding for the dam was withdrawn and construction was stopped.
The dam project remains in limbo. The American River area it would affect remains funded by the Bureau of Reclamation, and under a 1977 contract, it has been operated by California State Parks as the Auburn State Recreation Area (SRA). Meanwhile, since 1977, generations of Californians and others have continued the tradition of nude recreation along the river.
THE LAW Section 314.1 of State Penal Code is the portion of general state law used to charge indecent exposure, but California courts have said that absent any lewd content, benign nudity like skinny-dipping is not prohibited under 314.1. Title 14, Section 4322 of the California Administrative Code bans nudity in State Park units. However, well established State Parks policy and court decisions have limited restrictions on nudity in traditional areas of clothing-optional use, and Section 4322 itself allows for the creation of areas within state parks to be set aside officially for clothing-optional use. Historically, California Parks personnel have not hassled people for mere nudity along the American River, unless a specific complaint has forced them to respon
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NAC Action Alert: California: American River
