December 8, 2025In 2022, River Partners created a new conservation leadership award, the Forrest Legacy Award. Named in honor of Kim Forrest, retired San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex Manager, the award honors her decades of bold leadership restoring San Joaquin Valley floodplains and exemplifying River Partners core values of collaboration, determination against all odds, and partnerships built on trust to achieve big wins for California’s environment and communities for future generations.
This year, River Partners is proudly presents the Forrest Legacy Award to four outstanding champions of riverway and community renewal.
“We’re trying to understand how nature works so we can move forward in a way that’s nature-centric.”
– Dr. Rosemary Knight
Dr. Rosemary Knight, Stanford University
Advancing Innovative Science and Research for a New Water Future
Dr. Rosemary Knight, the George L. Harrington Professor of
Earth Sciences at Stanford, is recognized as the founding figure of hydrogeophysics, which applies geophysical methods like ground-penetrating radar to hydrology. For nearly a decade, she and her student teams have worked with River Partners to study how restored floodplains recharge groundwater to inform sustainable water management across California. With boundless curiosity and energy, Dr. Knight has secured major research investments, led world-class teams, and applied advanced technologies to map the San Joaquin Valley’s subsurface and clarify the river–groundwater connection. Her blend of scientific expertise and collaboration ensures research translates into solutions. For her, solving California’s water crisis is not abstract but a local responsibility—one that requires putting rivers and nature at the center.
“Water brings life. Putting that water back on the land will benefit everybody and everything.”
– Robert Jeff
Robert Jeff, Vice Chairman, Santa Rosa Rancheria Tachi Yokut Tribe
Restoring Pa’ashi (Tulare Lake) and Cultural Resilience
As Vice Chairman of the Santa Rosa Rancheria Tachi Yokut Tribe, Robert Jeff has emerged as a visible and inspiring leader in efforts to restore Pa’ashi, meaning “big water” or Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater body west of the Mississippi. With generosity, respect, vision, and courage, Jeff has championed a future where ecological renewal and cultural revitalization go hand in hand. He has been an essential ally to River Partners, lending his voice to statewide policy initiatives, sharing the story of Pa’ashi, and building momentum for the revitalization of the Kings River. Whether testifying in Sacramento or sharing songs about beaver, Jeff reminds us we are all in this together to bring life back to the landscape.
“I decided long ago—I’m not going to accept things I don’t like in my community.”
—Carolyn Belli
Carolyn and Joe Belli, Kern River Corridor Endowment and Holding Company & Panorama Vista Preserve
Grassroots Champions of Kern River Restoration
When development threatened the riverside land in Bakersfield where Carolyn Belli loved to ride her horse, she mobilized, rallied partners, and raised funds to purchase it. With her husband Joe, she has stewarded the nearly 1,000-acre Panorama Vista Preserve along the Kern River, bringing new life to the region. They ensured the preserve is permanently protected, improved access with trails, and partnered with local schools to provide a living classroom for thousands of students who otherwise couldn’t experience nature close to home. In partnership with River Partners, Belli helped secure millions of dollars for habitat restoration, creating vital green space amid oil fields and urban growth. A quiet but formidable leader, she listens deeply, speaks with authority, and inspires by example—leaving a legacy of resilience, access, and restored beauty. And she did it all as a volunteer while working full time.
Gordon and Betty Moore established the foundation to create positive outcomes for future generations. In pursuit of that vision, the Foundation advances scientific discovery, environmental conservation, and the special character of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Championing Innovative Conservation Finance for Ecosystem Restoration
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, through the leadership of Program Officer Dan Winterson, has been a steadfast partner advancing bold new approaches to conservation finance. Through both programmatic grant support and a timely program-related investment in River Partners’ Heritage Growers native seed farm, the Moore Foundation is helping break California’s “native seed bottleneck,” accelerating biodiversity protection, nature-based climate solutions, and ecosystem restoration. Beyond working capital, Winterson and his team bring invaluable business acumen and steady encouragement, sitting side by side with farmers and nonprofit leaders to help ensure success. This spirit of deep partnership is at the heart of our shared work to create positive outcomes for future generations of people and wildlife.
The 2025 Forrest Legacy Awards are featured in:
River Partners’ 2025 Impact Report: Hope In Action
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