Honoring the Canyon Keepers: Remembering Jim Ferris and Sheila Toner
Two early champions of the American River canyons, Jim Ferris and Sheila Toner, are being remembered for the volunteer legacy they helped build. Their work still shapes how people experience the Confluence today.
American River Canyon Alliance
The people who first fought for these canyons left trails, books, and volunteer groups that we still lean on today. Two of them passed in 2025.
Protect American River Canyons (PARC) reports that Jim Ferris (1936-2025) and Sheila Toner (1941-2025) have died. Both were early advocates for the American River canyons. PARC honored them together as members of a founding generation of local conservation.
Ferris left a deep mark on how visitors explore the Confluence. In 1998 he co-founded the Canyon Keepers alongside ASRA Superintendent Jill Dampier and PARC board member Frank Olrich. The group has supported the canyons through volunteer stewardship ever since.
His contributions did not stop at organizing. Ferris co-authored the self-published book "American River Canyon Hikes," a resource for anyone wanting to know these ridgelines and river bends up close. He also helped create the self-guided Confluence Historic Bridges and Nature Walk, a route marked by 10 trail markers that connects walkers to the area's history and natural setting.
Sheila Toner was recognized in the same tribute as an early advocate for the canyons.
Work like theirs is why the Confluence still welcomes hikers and history seekers today. You can read the full tribute from Protect American River Canyons here.
Cover photo: Shannon1, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.