1988 - Beginnings

River Network was founded in 1988 to help people save rivers and their watersheds. At the time, there were about 200 state and local watershed protection groups around the US, but thousands of watersheds where there was no group at all. We saw both a great need for more groups and the enormous potential of their collective impact. We saw two roles to play: citizen organizing and land acquisition. 

 

“When you looked at well cared for rivers, it was because people were deeply involved. If there wasn’t a constituency using and enjoying the river, they were dredged, channeled… The fundamental intuition of River Network was that you can’t have quality without a dedicated constituency. River protection wouldn’t go anywhere unless valley by valley there were local groups that cared.”

-Phil Wallin, River Network Founder