ConservationNEXT

American Rivers

Website
http://www.americanrivers.org
Contact Name
Bonnie Rice
Contact Email
brice@antispamamericanrivers.org
Location
Washington, DC

American Rivers is the only national organization fighting for healthy rivers so our communities can thrive. Through national advocacy, innovative solutions and our growing network of strategic partners, we protect and promote our rivers as valuable assets that are vital to our health, safety and quality of life. Founded in 1973, American Rivers has more than 65,000 members and supporters nationwide, with offices in Washington, DC and the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, California and Northwest regions.


Current Work with the Conservation Alliance
Washington State currently only has six designated Wild and Scenic Rivers but more than 100 are eligible for designation, according to the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service. Half of these eligible rivers are in the North Cascades, a spectacular mountain region between I-90 near Seattle north to the Canadian border, known for its world-class scenery and recreation opportunities and pristine forests and rivers.  

American Rivers is working to protect hundreds of miles of wild rivers through Wild and Scenic River designation in the North Cascades including reaches of Illabot Creek in the Skagit basin, the Nooksack River, and the Middle Fork Snoqualmie and Pratt Rivers in the Alpine Lakes region. Many North Cascades headwaters streams are being targeted for hydropower development; Wild and Scenic River designation would permanently protect these streams from hydropower projects and other harmful water development.  

Project Update

Washington State Closing in on New Wild and Scenic River Designations

In partnership with the Conservation Alliance, American Rivers is working to protect hundreds of miles of wild rivers through Wild and Scenic River designation in the North Cascades.

Here are just some of the rivers we are working on and why they are so deserving of Wild and Scenic protection:

The Middle Fork Snoqualmie River is only 45 minutes from Seattle and provides outstanding hiking, fishing, camping, paddling, and mountain biking for thousands of people virtually in their backyard.


The Pratt River is truly unique because it is one of the very few low-elevation valleys near Seattle that still retains much of its wild character.  It offers remote hiking experiences with a high degree of solitude, and critical low-elevation winter habitat for wildlife.


Illabot Creek, a key tributary to the Skagit River, is one of the most important producers of salmon and bull trout in Puget Sound and home to the largest colony of roosting bald eagles in the lower 48 United States.


The upper Nooksack River is a recreational paradise and home to an incredible array of fish and wildlife species. Unfortunately, with only the uppermost few miles of each of the Nooksack’s three forks protected in wilderness or North Cascades National Park, the upper Nooksack remains very vulnerable to hydropower projects and other threats.

Hopefully, success is just around the corner for some rivers. Representative Rick Larsen and Senator Patty Murray recently introduced legislation to designate Illabot Creek as Washington State's newest Wild and Scenic River. The legislation unanimously passed the House Natural Resources Committee this summer and is now headed to a vote of the full House of Representatives. We expect a hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in October.   

An Alpine Lakes bill was also introduced in both the House and Senate in March by Representative Dave Reichert and Senator Patty M urray. This legislation would designate the entire 11-mile Pratt River and over 30 miles of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River as Wild and Scenic, and add 22,000 acres of new wilderness to the existing Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area.

To learn more about American Rivers and our Wild and Scenic Rivers work, please visit www.americanrivers.org.