Two Beginnings, One Network

Two Beginnings ..

In the late 1980s, Phil Wallin, who was working for the Trust for Public Land in New Mexico, was witnessing problems along the Rio Chama. When he looked for a local group to help find some solutions, there was none. And the few people who wanted to do something didn't know how or where to turn for help in starting up a new organization to protect the river they and their families cherished.

So Phil had an idea--create an organization to assist local citizens working to protect and restore their rivers and watersheds. Phil packed up his family, moved to Portland, Oregon and hired Lindy Walsh. The two of them worked out of Phil's basement, going without pay for months as they struggled to put River Network together. Jim Compton provided the young group with some initial start-up money and became founding president.

At nearly the same time, across the country in Vermont, Henry "Tom" Bourne, Jack Byrne, and E. William Stetson, III. came together to create River Watch Network, based on a successful 20-year program on Vermont's Ottauquechee River that engaged citizens and students in monitoring water quality and galvanizing community support to successfully clean up the grossly polluted river. RWN's goal was to establish a network of programs based on this citizen-participation model.

With start-up support from Laurence S. Rockefeller, Jack Byrne bravely took on the job of Executive Director. Tom Bourne served as Founding Chair until his death in January 1998 at the age of 97. Tom had the pioneering notion that local citizens around the world could, with the right tools, clean and restore their rivers. Over the years, he became much more than Chairman of the Board. He was RWN's philosopher, surrogate father, humorist, grouch, fund-raiser and resident dreamer!

Throughout the 1990s, both organizations flourished.

River Watch Network extended its work from New England to the watersheds of the Hudson, the Mississippi, the Rio Grande, and even the Danube, forming partnerships with citizens, schools, businesses, service clubs, tribes, state and local government, and conservation groups, and giving them the tools needed to understand and solve river problems in their communities through workshops, technical support and consultation, publications, and other tools. Data gathered by these volunteers was used by state water quality agencies, regional planning commissions, local planning commissions, departments of public works, conservation districts, the U.S. Forest Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and non-profit conservation agencies. By the end of the decade, RWN was supporting 67 projects on over 107 rivers. Its services had reached over 15,000 volunteers.

Meanwhile, River Network also rapidly expanded its original focus in the Pacific Northwest to the Midwest and beyond. In 1995, it brought together approximately a dozen leaders of river conservation groups throughout the U.S. to share strategies and identify common needs. In 1998, it launched a new Clean Water Act training program. 1999, the first National River Rally was held in Minnesota with 125 participants from 28 states.

One Network

As the new millennium neared, the staffs of River Network and River Watch Network met to discuss ways that we could strengthen our work through joint projects. It became clear that there was great synergy between the missions and programs of the two organizations. The mission, programs and culture of the two organizations matched well. River Watch Network provided river activists with tools to measure the health of their river, and River Network's programs help activists turn concern and information into action.

It also became clear that river protection could be better served if we did more than joint projects. Merger discussions began. In September 1999, in a rare merger of non-profit organizations, the trustees of both groups voted to merge into one.

Since 2000, River Network has grown, our programs and reach have expanded and evolved, and we now directly serve over 600 nonprofit organizations across the US, Canada and beyond.
But the watershed protection community is still quite young. Few watershed groups are much more than ten years old. A great many are still less than five years old. As these groups mature, we can expect the next decade to be one of unprecedented accomplishment for watershed protection.

And, it must be, because the time for action is now. Mounting population pressures, climate change, and a host of other pressures could easily do irreparable harm to rivers and their watersheds in the next generation. By working together as never before, and with the help of everyone who cares about rivers and water quality, we have a real chance to rise to the challenges in the years ahead.