"And that's why I love this stuff," says the raft's guide, Dolly Sandoval. The Cupertino councilwoman might use her hometown as a jumping-off point for her brand of environmental politics, but this river in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, along with composting toilets and no cell-phone service, is her natural habitat.

On a warm Friday in late July, Sandoval rafted one of her last rivers for the summer—a popular 10-mile stretch of the South Fork of the American River between Chili Bar and Camp Lotus, just north of Placerville. This rafting expedition is part of a mini-vacation for Sandoval: the seventh annual trip to Camp Lotus she's taken with an extensive group of friends and family.

Sandoval's niece Katherine regularly brings up a group of her friends, who in turn bring along their siblings and parents. They take over a large area of Camp Lotus. When the camp guides come around at 10 p.m. to remind campers that it's quiet hour, Sandoval says they've come to know her group well. "Oh no, it's Dolly," she mimics.

But the composition of the group doesn't change Sandoval's river routine.

Years of guiding have refined her technique, which always starts with a lesson in river safety. Because there are several teens on this three-raft trip who have just graduated from the "kiddie run" to the adult rapids, she goes over everything from staying hydrated to what to do if you fall out of the raft.

Sandoval's come across more than a few hair-raising situations, including broken limbs and the knowledge that deaths had occurred on the same day on the runs they were rafting. "Talk about stressful," she says. "There are so many aspects you have to expect."

For all of her expertise, one expects that Sandoval is a natural water baby. But she didn't discover the joys of river rafting until she was a student at De Anza College and began dating her future husband, Ed Hoffman. With her family's background in farming, she had never associated outdoor activities with leisure. "Ed was leaving me every weekend," she says with a laugh. "I kept bugging him to take me with him. Even though I had never camped or rafted, I fell in love with the river."

At the same time she began rafting with Hoffman, there was a huge political fight brewing over the potential construction of the Auburn Dam. Congressman John Doolittle (R-Rocklin) was proposing an additional dam on the American River to prevent potential flooding in Sacramento—a project Sandoval says environmental lobbyists are still fighting because of its financial burdens, structural problems and impact on the environment. "They want to build it on an earthquake fault," she says.

From there, Sandoval's concern for conservation and recycling blossomed into a passionate interest in environmental politics, one she's pursued in the various elected positions she's held since then. As a member of both the board of directors of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District and the Cupertino City Council, she's fought for the use of alternative fuel vehicles, which Cupertino has been using since 1998.

"They initially cost more because of the research and development costs," Sandoval explains, "but the alternative vehicles are costing pennies now."

The other major way her love for the environment has manifested itself is through river rafting. For almost 20 years Sandoval has been a member of Friends of the River (FOR), a volunteer organization that lobbies politicians to protect rivers and streams from the effects of damming.

"I've done a lot of hopping up and down the capitol steps," Sandoval says. She was a member of the board of directors from 1992-99, helping the organization recruit more volunteers and find creative fundraising methods.

Additionally, Sandoval has served as a volunteer rafting guide for FOR since 1986, taking community and legislative groups out on various California rivers to educate them on the area's ecology and history.

On this day, there are few boats on the river and the flow is ideal, allowing the raft to take a leisurely pace. Sandoval calls attention to the walls snaking along the riverbanks, built by Chinese immigrants during the Gold Rush. When it comes time to navigate the class III rapids, the personality of the Los Gatos High School teacher, dormant for the summer, reawakens.

Firm but encouraging, she calls attention to inappropriate grips. She calls out "right turn" or "easy forward" commands in a single breath. Between rapids, she asks a mind-boggling question: Which part of your body is most like the river? "It connects people," she says. "I want them to think about the river when they're not there."

Even with her hand swollen by a bee sting, Sandoval leads the raft through the run, which is dotted with ominous-sounding rapids named Triple Threat and the Troublemaker, in about 2¹/2 hours. One of the group's rafts gets stuck and later jettisons a few of its occupants mid-rapid, but everyone arrives at the picnic grounds in one piece.

Sandoval's politics apparently don't vacation with her, even among family and friends. Over a lunch of chicken-salad sandwiches, she jokingly withholds cookies until everyone has written a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, asking the senator to cosponsor the California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act, which was introduced by Rep. Mike Thompson (D—Napa Valley) and Sen. Barbara Boxer. Among other projects, the legislation will give the East Fork of the Carson River "Wild and Scenic" status, protecting it from damming and development.

"As politicians, we both read letters from our constituents," Sandoval says, "so she needs to know how we feel about keeping these rivers in their natural states." Sandoval darts around, collecting letters and answering questions with a smile even as her reluctant students grumble about the unexpected assignment.

After lunch, it's time for the kiddie run, and even though the beesting has swollen Sandoval's hand to the point where she can't hold a paddle, all the kids want to be in her boat. No worries; there's plenty of room in her husband's boat, and with few accompanying paddlers, there's time for conversation as well.

A fellow guide with FOR, Hoffman points out one-legged Canadian geese congregating on riverbanks and the swallows nesting under the Hwy. 49 bridge. Like Sandoval, he takes environmental issues very seriously. He attributes recent inertia on the legislative front, including the ongoing fight against the Auburn Dam, to the Bush administration's conservative attitudes on environmentalism.

Even so, his wife continues to include environmental projects on her agenda for the city of Cupertino. She's looking to stop the use of pesticides on Blackberry Farm and on the city's median strips, as well as convince Hewlett-Packard to help unleash Calabazas Creek from its concrete home underneath property the company is looking to develop.

Sandoval says that environmentally sound practices are more expensive but says the long term is more beneficial. "With toxins in the ground and air causing health problems, you can't take in all the indirect costs," she says.

Sandoval is encouraged by the success of an electric waste program the city is co-sponsoring with Apple Computer, Inc. Residents can turn in old computers to a special recycling facility on Bubb Road that removes items such as the CRT tube and more precious materials and then melts the rest down for reuse. She says she receives letters from many residents who take advantage of the service. "There are 2.3 computers per household in Cupertino, and they become obsolete very quickly," she explains.

Sandoval is finding Cupertino receptive to her earth-friendly consciousness, but the rugged atmosphere of the river fits her perfectly. She's spent vacations on some of the great rivers of the West. Last summer, she and Hoffman spent 18 days on the Colorado River and rafted through the Grand Canyon. They try to hit more local rivers like the Tuolomne and Merced twice a year. They have their own well-worn raft and oarboat ready at a moment's notice.

However, Sandoval's teaching schedule and community commitments make time for rafting scarce. But during the summer she can be up guiding tours for Friends of the River several times a week. The experience is volunteering in the true sense of the word. "If we get lunch, it's a good day," she says with a smile.

But her natural enthusiasm for the experience shines through. At the raft take-out at the end of the day, she beams and asks, "Did you like it?" Even after all of her years of river advocacy, it's obvious that she's here not because she has to be, but because she wants to be. "Rafting is a really fun way to educate people. I love that adrenaline rush coming up to the rapids," she says. "It's like heaven."