In celebration of the recent 50th Anniversary of the national Wild and Scenic Rivers System we urge you to defend and protect our nation’s Wild and Scenic Rivers, and join us to protect 5,000 new miles of the nation’s outstanding rivers.

October 2, 2018 marked the 50th Anniversary of the passage of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The Act spawned the idea that we should balance the development of our rivers protecting our nation’s best. Today over 600,000 miles, or about 17%, of American rivers have been modified by dams while only about 13,000 miles or one-quarter of one percent of rivers have been protected as Wild and Scenic.

We are thrilled that on August 2nd, 2018, East Rosebud Creek in Montana, became the nation’s newest wild and scenic river with strong bi-partisan support—and the first Montana river to receive the designation in 42 years. But we have more to do to strike the balance that the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act envisions.

We call on you to pass into law new Wild and Scenic River designations pending in Congress in eight states that would protect:
• Oregon Wildlands in Oregon;
• Green River in Utah;
• Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook in Connecticut;
• Nashua, Nissitissit, Squannacook Rivers in Maine and New Hampshire;
• Wood-Pawcatuck and its tributaries in Connecticut and Rhode Island;
• California Desert, Central Coast, San Gabriel Mountains Foothills and Rivers, and Northwest California Mountains        and Rivers in California;
• Wild Olympics in Washington State;
• York River and tributaries in Maine.

Together, these bills would preserve over 1,700 miles of rivers and nearly 475,000 acres of riverside land.

In addition to these bills, there are also emerging community-led efforts across the country to protect more Wild and Scenic Rivers including for the headwaters of the Crown of the Continent and Greater Yellowstone in Montana, Deep Creek in Colorado, the Nooksack River in Washington State, the Nolichucky River in North Carolina and Tennessee, and the Gila and San Francisco Rivers in New Mexico.  

Conservation of Wild and Scenic Rivers and the public lands that they often flow through are important to our bottom line and to outdoor industry related jobs in your state. According to the Outdoor Industry Association recreation contributes $887 billion to the economy annually supporting 7.6 million jobs. Close to 75 percent of the nation’s outdoor recreation takes place within one-half mile of streams or other water bodies and river-related recreation alone contributes over $97 billion annually to the U.S. economy.  

Without action to conserve these potential Wild and Scenic rivers we will not be able to ensure the preservation of the recreational and economic benefits they provide for future generations. Please join us in celebrating 50 years of river conservation and this powerful and uniquely American idea they represent by supporting protection of new Wild and Scenic Rivers.  

Sincerely,

YOUR BRAND,

Industry Partners: REI, KEEN Inc.,The Conservation Alliance, OARS, NRS, Superfeet Worldwide, Werner Paddles, Ruffwear, Yakima Racks...

Non-Profit Partners: American Whitewater, American Rivers, Pacific Rivers and Idaho Rivers United