Saturday morning started a bit chilly on October 21, but with a bright sun that shined down on 26 volunteers who showed up to clean the Waccamaw River. This was a blessing as this was the rescheduled annual South Carolina River Sweep clean-up that was previously moved due to Hurricane Irma. We gathered at Peachtree Landing in Myrtle Beach, one of many access points on the Waccamaw River Blue Trail, to clean the landing and then loaded into kayaks and on to paddle boards to head out to paddle 4 miles to Enterprise Landing.

Led by hosts Gator Bait Adventure tours, a local kayak outfitter owned by Chris and Jane Ochsenbein, we started our trek down river. A rainbow of kayaks spanned the width of the river, combing the black water for trash. Our group included teenage international exchange students, laughing college students, families, local river lovers, and even some visitors from Texas.

It was a pleasant surprise to find very little trash in the water. It became a celebration to find even one can or plastic bag. Luckily, the day was beautiful and the river was as smooth as glass- good news for our first-time kayakers. We found substantially more trash at each landing with a common item being cigarette butts- just because they are small doesn’t mean they aren’t litter. It is worth the extra effort to make sure all trash and recycling ends up where it belongs- travel with a trash bag, walk the extra steps to a trash can, and make sure that you pack out whatever you pack in on a boat day.

Thank you to our 26 volunteers and awesome hosts. American Rivers is thrilled to partner with such great people who always leave our landings and water cleaner than we started. We can’t wait to see you on the river next time!

It all began 13 years ago. Keurig Green Mountain’s (Keurig’s) support of National River Cleanup® started in 2004 with a single cleanup event in Vermont, and, since then, has grown to a multi-month program of cleanup events taking place in Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, Vermont, and Massachusetts. This year in Vermont, more than 155 employees volunteered their time over the course of the week, covering 18 miles of the river and collecting a whopping 9,730lbs. of trash. Over the years, hundreds of our Vermont employees have collectively spent thousands of hours cleaning up the Winooski River, which adds up to quite a bit of trash!

Despite foul weather warnings this summer, the majority of volunteer shifts ended up having the perfect weather to go down the river on a canoe. Volunteers were eager for the “tire challenge”, an informal competition between canoes to see who could collect the most tires from the bottom of the river. Fortunately, the competition wasn’t that strong this year as there was significantly fewer tires in the river this year as in previous years. In total, Keurig’s Vermont volunteers collected only 154 tires this year v. last year’s 345

In addition to the tire competition, volunteers also worked together to find the most unique trash items along the river. The top finalists included a vintage wagon wheel, an old water canister, and a very wet teddy bear. Though items like the wagon wheel and water canister weren’t easy to remove, teams worked together to uncover the items from the mud and load them onto their boats for removal. In the end, everyone collected their fair share of interesting trash and left with some great stories and shared experiences with their co-workers.

Volunteering opportunities are a great way to connect with your team and meet new people within the company. Whether volunteers came down as individuals or as part of a team, everyone shared the fun going down the river. By the end of the shift, everyone had made a new friend, learned something new, and did their part to make the Winooski River just a little bit cleaner! Until next year…

---

Author: Sarah Shutt, a Northeastern student majoring in Human Services on a six month Sustainability Co-Op with Keurig.

Time is running out for what were once the largest salmon and steelhead runs on the planet – the magnificent runs of the Columbia River Basin in the Pacific Northwest.  And now politicians are attempting to stand in the way of science and salmon recovery.

Historically, over ten million Columbia River Basin salmon and steelhead existed, but the number plummeted to fewer than 1 million in 1995, precipitating into the listing of 13 different species or populations of Columbia and Snake river salmonids as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Salmon and steelhead have a complex and fascinating lifecycle, one that begins in freshwater streams, segues into the ocean for a period of time, and ends in the same stream in which it was born, where the ones who survive their often long and daunting migration return to spawn and die. These salmonids are a remarkable, resilient keystone species but they are vulnerable at every stage of that life cycle.

From the 1930s to the 1970s, a system of dams was constructed by the federal government on the Columbia and Snake rivers transforming the rivers into a series of slow-moving reservoirs. The dams impede salmon and steelhead from reaching prime headwaters habitat and injure or kill the migrating fish as they travel through fish passage facilities. The reservoirs now inundate previous river habitat precious to the survival of these salmonids.

Over the past 25 years, scientific research, tribal treaty rights, and environmental advocates along with over $10 billion in federal investment have helped keep these populations from becoming extinct, but they are hanging on by a thread. 

American Rivers along with our partners have been tireless advocates for managing the federal dams in the Columbia Basin in a more fish friendly manner, which includes considering the removal of the four lower Snake River dams – Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and Ice Harbor dams. Part of this advocacy required employing a legal strategy, which over the past two years successfully resulted in two carefully-considered decisions by the U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon.

The first of these legal victories occurred in May 2016, when the court found the most recent plan for managing the federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers violated the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act and would not protect wild salmon and steelhead from extinction. The court’s decision means that the managing federal agencies need to develop a new plan that carefully considers all reasonable dam management alternatives, including removal of four lower Snake River dams. It also requires the federal agencies to examine the effects of climate change on wild salmonids and the federal hydro-system. As proposed by the federal agencies, the court gave the agencies until 2021 to complete this analysis and plan. This planning process is currently underway.

This past April, a second court decision found that current dam operations based on the illegal 2014 plan – would cause “irreparable harm” to salmon and steelhead already facing extinction. The court required federal, state, and tribal fishery scientists to work together to develop a near-term dam operations plan that would release more water over the dams’ spillways to improve juvenile salmon survival. That work among the fishery experts is underway and the new annual operations are scheduled to begin in spring 2018. These new “spill” operations will comply with all state water quality standards and are widely considered the most effective near-term measure available to bring immediate benefits to salmon.

Despite federal agencies and fishery scientists being underway with these processes, politicians have decided to stand in the way of science and salmon recovery.

In June 2017, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and four other members of Congress introduced H.R. 3144 asserting that this legislation would “support the Federal Columbia River Power System and the benefits it brings to our region . . . ” In fact, the bill would do just the opposite: It would thwart efforts to protect endangered wild salmon and steelhead, hinder development of a more efficient and reliable power system, and risk raising power rates.

How? The bill seeks to lock-in status quo hydropower operations on the Columbia and Snake rivers that primarily benefit taxpayer subsidized barge transportation and continued capital investments in four expensive and unnecessary federal dams on the lower Snake River that should be removed to help save wild salmon and steelhead and the public’s money. Five different times over the past 16 years, the federal courts have rejected plans as illegal that would continue these business-as-usual operations.

H.R. 3144 is legislative overreach.

The actual purpose of H.R. 3144 is never stated or acknowledged in the bill: to overturn these two carefully-considered court decisions. Without ever mentioning them, H.R. 3144 would block both judicial decisions by requiring that, until 2022, dam operations must follow the illegal dam management plan rejected by the Court in 2016.

In addition, H.R. 3144 would seek to prevent any study, analysis, or consideration of dam management alternatives, such as additional increases in spill or breaching of the four lower Snake River dams. This legislative effort to circumvent the courts and the requirements of our nation’s environmental laws is contrary to the way the rule of law is intended to work in a democracy. Sadly, it would also protect a failed and costly status quo while blocking the opportunity to create a new plan that both reflects regional stakeholder input and works to achieve salmon and steelhead recovery.

American Rivers and our partners will work hard to prevent H.R. 3144 from becoming law. Please join us by contacting your U.S. Representative and requesting that he or she opposes H.R. 3144. 

[su_button url=”https://act.americanrivers.org/page/5125/action/1″ background=”#ef8c2d” size=”4″ center=”yes”]Take Action »[/su_button]

Millions of pounds of trash end up in our rivers and streams every year. It’s more than just an eyesore. It can contaminate your drinking water and threaten the life of all who depend on it- human and nature. But in Conway, South Carolina, our volunteers are doing something about it.

American Rivers partnered with Winyah Rivers Foundation and the Waccamaw Riverkeeper to clean up the Waccamaw River Blue Trail. The Waccamaw River is over 140 miles of gorgeous blackwater that is the color of tea on a sunny day or dark coffee when the clouds pass through. With more extreme weather events occurring in the region, the Waccamaw River has experienced some historical flooding in recent years. While flooding is scary in its own right, it also increases the amount of trash in the river as waters flow over typically dry areas picking up all trash and bringing it to the rivers, streams, and swamps.

On September 2, 2017, we held a clean-up event in downtown Conway. 77 people of all ages showed up to scour the land and water to leave out river pristine. With over 300 volunteer hours at this one event, 92 bags were collected and sorted into 57 bags of recycling and 35 bags of trash. Every clean-up always finds some odd items from rocking horses to patio furniture. The most unusual item this time was an above ground pool hauled in by the Burge family. Including the pool, almost 2000 pounds of waste was collected in a half day.

These are astounding numbers and we are so proud of these amazing volunteers. This effort also shines a light on a bigger problem of pollution in our society. You may not think twice about that fast food trash or drink can you toss out your window or flies out of the bed of your truck, but there is a good chance that its journey will end in our waterways. And a good rule of thumb for when you are spending a day on the river is to always pack out what you have packed in – this means take all your trash with you. It takes little effort and benefits our rivers and communities.

[metaslider id=40082]

** Editors note — this post was updated on 10/3/2018 with new information post-Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence brought its full force to bear on the Carolinas. Winds of 100+ miles per hour caused wide-ranging damage, but the biggest impacts of this slow-moving storm were from rainfall – up to 3 feet in some areas. Record flooding occurred in southeast North Carolina and northeast South Carolina, flooding which persists in some areas almost 3 weeks after the storm.

The loss of human life, damage to infrastructure and displacement of whole communities are staggering:

• 48 lives lost – 39 in North Carolina and 9 in South Carolina
• 840 road closures including portions of Interstate 40, Interstate 95 and other major highways
• All-time record flooding of the Black, Cape Fear, Lumber, Neuse and Waccamaw rivers
• 61,000 people requesting disaster relief according to the NC Department of Public Safety
• $1.2 billion in federal disaster funds requested by South Carolina’s governor
• Several breaches of Lake Sutton Dam that resulted in coal ash being spilled into the Cape Fear River
• 11 dam failures in South Carolina including 5 significant hazard dams

This makes the fourth year in a row that the region has been walloped by tropical cyclones. Will 2019 be the fifth? Unfortunately, the blog’s message is just as relevant today as it was a year ago or the year before that. Hurricanes are more frequent, getting stronger and lasting longer according data from NOAA’s Earth Systems Research Center and reported by The Guardian. We have endured 15 above normal hurricane seasons during the past 24 years – a record. State elected officials in the Carolinas must take immediate and substantial steps to better prepare for the future hurricanes that climate change will bring.

 

—Original Blog from 10/6/2017 below —

Harvey. Irma. Jose. Maria. Is there an end to the alphabet soup of 2017 hurricanes affecting the Southeast and our citizens in the Caribbean islands? Most of the focus has been on other states and territories – Texas, Florida, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico – and deservedly so as those areas have suffered devastation of historic proportions. We are somewhat fortunate in the Carolinas to have been spared the worst of the cyclones’ wrath this year and that no “rain bombs” caused dams to fail as with Hurricane Juaquin and Matthew. Yet often overlooked is that five people died in South Carolina due to Hurricane Irma, homes and businesses flooded, and life is not back to normal for many people along the Carolina coast.

This makes the third year in a row that hurricanes have blown past the Carolinas.

Final damage and economic impact estimates from Irma are still not known. We do know that 2015 and 2016 hurricanes and resulting floods combined damaged more than a quarter million homes, caused 93 dams to fail and, most tragically, resulted in the loss of 52 lives. The 2015 floods are South Carolina’s second most costly environmental disaster causing more than $12 billion of damage and economic impacts. Hurricane Matthew and its floods rank among North Carolina’s top environmental disasters with an estimated $2.8 billion dollars of property damage and $2 billion in economic impacts.

For decades scientists have been warning us that a warmer climate will bring more frequent and more violent storms to the Southeast. While the models are complex the concept is simple. Warmer temperatures evaporate more water adding more moisture to the atmosphere. This leads to more precipitation and more large storms.

That is exactly what has impacted the Carolinas for three years in a row. Will 2018 be the fourth?

There is no doubt that flooding is becoming more frequent and more severe.

The impacts of floods out rank all other natural hazards and predictions indicate that the size of nation’s floodplains will grow by 40 to 45% by the end of the century putting even more communities in harm’s way. We must adapt to changing conditions to ensure the safety of our citizens, their homes and our roadways from increasing storms and floods.

The political leaders of the Carolinas have largely ignored decades of warnings from scientists relying instead on a business-as-usual approach to floodplain development, poorly planned growth and dam safety. North Carolina actually outlawed the use of climate science for evaluating future sea level rise.

Will the lives lost, property damaged and dams failed be enough to convince the states’ leaders that we cannot continue business as usual?

Here are commonsense solutions to adapt to increasing floods that both states should put in place to save lives and protect property.

• Protect and restore floodplains: Naturally functioning floodplains store floodwaters and reduce downstream flooding. We need to take advantage of these natural defenses.
• Get people out of harm’s way: Poorly planned growth has allowed development in flood prone areas, putting people in harm’s way. We need to replace developed areas with green spaces that can absorb floodwaters and buffer communities from damages. Charlotte, Milwaukee and Davenport, Iowa have been leaders in taking 21st century approaches for water and flood management.
• Strengthen state dam safety laws and programs: Ninety-three failed dams make it clear that our current standards, especially for earthen dams which are by far the most likely to fail, do not provide safety with the reality of today’s extreme flooding.
• Remove dams that do not meet safety requirements: We cannot wait until dams fail to take action. Poorly maintained and improperly designed dams need to be removed to protect downstream communities and infrastructure before they fail.

The leaders of the Carolinas must learn from the hurricanes and disastrous floods of the past three years, and enact 21st century solutions that protect families from future floods. We must adapt to changing conditions and cannot continue business as usual while lives are lost and our communities are devastated.

This guest blog by Ben Long is a part of our America’s Most Endangered Rivers® series on the Middle Fork Flathead River.

It says a lot about just how difficult conservation is when you consider that the Middle Fork of the Flathead River in Montana is simultaneously one of the most protected rivers in America, and one of the most threatened.

The Middle Fork is the only place where I’ve ever caught a fish by accident, with my teeth.

I was knee deep in the Middle Fork in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. My two companions and I hired a local pilot to ferry us and our gear in to a wilderness airstrip in his Cessna. From there, we rafted 30 miles in three days to US Highway 2.

The evening rise of cutthroat trout was popping all around. The forested slopes and peaks were aglow in the sunset. To take my camera out of my pocket, I held my rod sideways in my mouth, like a pirate biting a cutlass.

Suddenly, I felt a jolt through the roots of my teeth. The line with a golden stonefly pattern had been drifting downstream and a trout hit it hard. I jerked my chin to set the hook, spit out the rod, and landed the pan-sized westslope cutthroat trout.

This is truly wild, native fishery. The ancestors of these trout pioneered these waters as the glaciers melted 10,000 years ago. They have been hungry all the while. I caught and released 24 cutties in less than 90 minutes.

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed in 1968. Today, the law protects more than 12,000 miles of 208 rivers in 40 states. One of the very first rivers recognized under the law was the Middle Fork Flathead.

The Fork is 92 miles long. The uppermost 45 miles or so flows through a formal Wilderness Area, where all commercial and industrial development and even motorized machinery are prohibited by an act of Congress. Wilderness is the gold standard of preservation for our public lands.

The lower 45 miles of the Middle Fork, its northern flank is Glacier National Park – again a landscape with gold-standard habitat protection.

But that same 45 miles – from Bear Creek to Blankenship Bridge, the Middle Fork is also flanked by a railroad track on its south bank. The Great Northern Route is one of the busiest freight routes crossing the West. It crosses treacherous and rugged country, steep forests prone to landslides, avalanches, blizzards, floods, and forest fires.

And there’s the rub.

The Great Northern Route has been subject to dozens of train derailments over the years, some of them overturning dozens of rail cars. It’s just dumb luck that so far those trains have been carrying mostly inert materials. (Most notoriously, the trains spilled tons upon tons of corn, which was buried, fermented, and was feasted upon by bears who got drunk on the sour mash.)

Now, the Great Northern Route is being used to haul crude oil from the Bakken oil patch to coastal ports. The contents of these trains is toxic, explosive, and carcinogenic. Rotten corn is nothing in comparison.

To be fair, the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad has taken steps to improve safety on the Great Northern Route. Derailments, after all, are costly problems.

At the same time, as someone who loves the Middle Fork dearly and cherishes clean water, the idea of an oil spill seems like playing a forced game of Russian roulette. So far the firing pin has clicked on empty chambers. Next time?

The Middle Fork is one of America’s finest, most pure bodies of water. It is a special place that deserves special attention and a special plan to keep it pristine.

Please join us in urging the Federal Railroad Administration to protect the Middle Fork Flathead by developing a safety agreement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe that helps prevent train derailments.

[su_button url=”https://act.americanrivers.org/page/705/action/1″ background=”#ef8c2d” size=”5″ center=”yes”]Take action »[/su_button]

---

Author:  Ben Long

Ben Long is a conservationist, father, and outdoorsman in Kalispell, Montana. He is senior program director for Resource Media. You can follow him on Twitter: @BenLong1967.

Over a week ago, an algal bloom crept into the Maumee River. The Maumee River flows into Lake Erie, running through downtown Toledo on its way, and right now it is slick with green slime. Due to unseasonably warm temperatures and low water flow, algae has flourished and left the water stagnant, putrid, and fluorescent. Fed by the excess nutrients found in agricultural and urban water run-off, the green scum releases harmful toxins into the water as it grows, sometimes poisoning the water. Officials have assured residents that their water is still safe to drink, but residents remain skeptical because they have experienced these blooms before. In fact, for Toledo, algal blooms have become the new normal.

In 2014, another algal bloom swept through Lake Erie. That bloom led to a do not drink advisory in Toledo and left thousands of residents standing in lines for bottled water. To this day, many Toledoans are still using bottled water because they do not trust the water infrastructure system. This week, as they closely monitored the city’s water quality dashboard, residents were panicked by fluctuations in ratings. Some even rushed to grocery stores to buy bottled water, leaving behind ominous empty shelves.

The City of Toledo is working hard to remind citizens that their water is safe to drink right now, but officials also realize that they need long-term solutions to end these recurring algal invasions. On Tuesday the Mayor of Toledo, Paula Hicks-Hudson, finally announced her support for an effort to have Lake Erie’s western basin declared “impaired.” If achieved, such a declaration would require the federal government to create a water quality improvement plan, but it would not be a silver bullet. Solving the Toledo water problem will require many different solutions, in different sectors, and at different levels.

To stop algal blooms like the one in the Maumee, we have to develop an effective strategy for eliminating the pollutants that feed these blooms. One crucial first step is stopping the repeal of the Clean Water Rule. Among many other benefits, this rule protects the streams and wetlands that are natural sinks for excess nutrients. They keep chemicals out of our water supplies, which prevents algal blooms. Protections like that are why American Rivers is fighting for the Clean Water Rule and against the current administration and the special interests that prioritize profits over public health.

On a local level in Toledo, American Rivers has been promoting green stormwater infrastructure solutions that reduce the flow of pollution into local streams. Green stormwater infrastructure can take many forms and has many benefits, like flood mitigation and fewer combined sewer overflows, but for the Maumee River one benefit is particularly relevant: by creating more green spaces and natural structures that organically process harmful chemicals, we can minimize the number of pollutants that reach our water system in the first place.

However, this work is not just about infrastructure. We know that these problems are more than physical problems; they are community problems. Environmental crises and water supply issues disproportionately affect marginalized and low-income communities. It is impossible to carry out our work without understanding that context. American Rivers is partnering with the University of Toledo to research water equity and affordability in central city communities. We have been hosting focus groups, surveying residents at local churches, and speaking with city officials to understand how to make access to clean water more equitable and affordable. It is our hope that the knowledge we gain will help us redesign systems so that they do not benefit a privileged few, but fortify entire communities.

The greenness of the Maumee River may fade over the next few weeks, but the underlying problems will remain. We must investigate these issues holistically and tackle them collaboratively. American Rivers stands ready to work together and push forward innovative solutions in Toledo. We believe the only thing that should be green about our water is the way we manage it.

This guest blog by Jack Stanford is a part of our America’s Most Endangered Rivers® series on the Middle Fork Flathead River.

When I came to the Flathead in 1971 to begin work at the University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station, I was stunned by the clarity and purity of Flathead Lake. All these years later, water quality in the lake remains largely pristine; indeed, it is the cleanest large lake in the world with significant human population in the watershed. That is largely because almost all of the inflowing water comes from Glacier National Park and surrounding wilderness, and people have taken care to minimize pollution through adherence to forestry best management guidelines, floodplain protection, and effective treatment of urban sewage.

However, one thing that has stayed the same for years is the presence of the railroad and highway corridor along the Middle Fork Flathead River and on past Whitefish Lake. In the early years, most of the commercial hauling involved materials that were fairly innocuous if spilled into the rivers. Wrecks inevitably occurred. I’ve seen several over the years: lumber, grain, TV,s and other goods floating down the river from train derailments and a couple of small petroleum spills from truck wrecks.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) says the rail line is as modern and safe as it can be given the terrain it follows through this mountainous river corridor. However, a good share of the rail traffic these days involves long trains composed of 80 to 100 or more tank cars full of petroleum products, including crude oil. Actually, BNSF does not say exactly what’s in the tankers because they are not required to do so. Nor do they have a publicized, robust plan for prevention, much less, what to do if a huge spill does occur.

Let’s say a derailment happens in Nyack, Montana — several huge tankers brake open and thousands of gallons of crude oil spill into the river. It would be a toxic mess beyond comprehension, going rapidly downstream and penetrating into the alluvial aquifers killing everything in its path that cannot somehow get out of the way.

Oil would be in Flathead Lake within hours. 

Even if soaker booms were deployed in time to be ahead of the plume, they would only capture some of the heavy stuff, while the volatile and soluble pollution would escape into our environment where it will persist for decades (think Prince William Sound – the Exxon Valdez spill impacts remain prevalent in that ecosystem 28 years later).

Crude oil and processed fuels contain a wide variety of pollutants including, for example, benzene and PCBs that are extremely toxic in high doses and cause cancer and other health issues, even in extremely low doses. Scientists at the Biological Station have monitored small truck spills around the lake in the past, and the pollution was measurable for years even though enormously expensive restoration was implemented. Suffice to say that our lives in the Flathead will never be the same if a major railroad oil spill occurs in our ecosystem.

What can be done to prevent a disaster?

Well, it has to start with BNSF recognizing that a major spill simply cannot happen. Our water, our national park, our rivers, and our lake are priceless.

No amount of post-spill payoffs or restorations will repair the damage. I and others have repeatedly called for serious, comprehensive consultations with BNSF, civil authorities, land and water management agencies, and the public on preventive measures. It starts with complete transparency on track and train monitoring, along with complete clarity on what is in the tankers for every train that passes through our watershed (the same should apply to tank trucks on the highways).

Next, stringent safety measures must be developed and implemented, such as speed limits and additional snow sheds to protect the track from avalanches. Of course, planned and practiced actions for response if a derailment does occur are also important, but effective safety measures to make a worst case scenario derailment, spill, explosion, and fire as unlikely as possible are absolutely essential. Response actions have to take into account the wide array of chemicals involved and detailed knowledge on how those chemicals mobilize in the environment. Consultation will raise other issues.

The bottom line is to think the unthinkable. It could happen. We need to minimize the chance and be ready if and when it does occur so that the impact is minimized. Thousands of people just found out what “worst case scenario” means in Houston. Let’s not let a worst case scenario happen here.

Please join us in urging the Federal Railroad Administration to protect the Middle Fork Flathead by developing a safety agreement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe that helps prevent train derailments.

[su_button url=”https://act.americanrivers.org/page/705/action/1″ background=”#ef8c2d” size=”5″ center=”yes”]Take action »[/su_button]

---

Author: Jack Stanford

Jack Stanford is Director Emeritus of the University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station.

This is a guest blog by Kelly Richardson, Public Relations Specialist, Nite Ize

It was called the “100-year flood.” In September 2013, the Colorado Front Range saw an uncharacteristic downpour that drenched, damaged, and devastated communities across roughly 150 miles – a scene reminiscent to the ones in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico this past month. Almost overnight, the rising waters of the St. Vrain Creek – a tributary of the South Platte River that flows through Longmont, Colorado – overflowed, turning asphalt roadways into raging rivers that quickly saturated homes, leveled businesses, totaled vehicles, and claimed victims.

Four years later, the effects are still felt by the Longmont community and surrounding areas. Many employees at Nite Ize, a Boulder-based manufacturer, are among those that call Longmont home and the grim memories of this unprecedented event still linger.

“Because a large percentage of our employee base lives in Longmont, deciding to work with American Rivers on a company cleanup event in our backyard was important,” Nite Ize Director of Marketing Brenda Isaac said. “We believe in the mission of American Rivers and, as an official supporter of the organization, we were excited to celebrate our partnership with an event that really meant something to our employees and their families.”

Last year, Nite Ize launched a new corporate giving initiative called The Brite Side and chose American Rivers as the first official program partner. “The Brite Side is about focusing on what we want to see in the world around us and working together with organizations that support that vision,” Nite Ize Founder and CEO Rick Case says. “It’s about doing good things, with good people, and always looking for The Brite Side.”

With that mission in mind, 55 volunteers collected 1,500 pounds of trash from roughly 1.5 miles along the St. Vrain Creek and Golden Ponds Park area this past August. Some of the more unusual debris found included a horse from a children’s rocking horse toy set, a University of Colorado letterman jacket, couch cushions, and a silver bracelet with a love note.

These items have a story that many will never know – but more than likely they were washed upon the shores of the St. Vrain during the flood and have remained half hidden and forever forgotten. American Rivers works hard to restore damaged rivers like the St. Vrain to conserve clean water for people and nature. Removing trash and debris from waterways and disposing of it properly is an important part of ongoing flood restoration for the City of Longmont and a task that both Nite Ize and American Rivers were not only dedicated to, but enthusiastic about.

Clearly, it takes many years and many hands to help restore and heal a community after a disaster like this. For all those affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria hang in there. There is a long road ahead, but with the help of friends, family, neighbors, and millions of others around the country, you will endure this.

Mining. Outdated water management. New dams and diversions. Water pollution.

We regularly see these and other threats every year as we work on compiling our annual report on America’s Most Endangered Rivers®.

Right now is your opportunity to let us know what rivers you think are threatened. Do you think that your favorite river is facing a critical decision in the coming year? Have you been wondering… “Why isn’t my river on the list when it faces so many threats?” Let us know!

Hopefully, you have seen our blog posts in recent months talking about threats facing the 2017 listed rivers. We are spreading the word about threats to these special places, thanks to you! Since April, our America’s Most Endangered Rivers blog series (scroll to the bottom of each river page for links) has covered the Lower Colorado River, Bear River, Mobile Bay Basin, Green-Toutle Rivers, Neuse and Cape Fear Rivers, Menominee River and currently the Middle Fork Flathead River. Still to come will be Rappahannock River, South Fork Skykomish River and Buffalo National River!

We are excited to announce that we are now accepting nominations for our 2018 report. Nominations are welcomed from any interested groups throughout the United States.

Rivers are selected based upon the following criteria:

• A major decision (that the public can help influence) in the coming year on the proposed action
• The significance of the river to human and natural communities
• The magnitude of the threat to the river and associated communities, especially in light of a changing climate

The report highlights ten rivers whose fate will be decided in the coming year, and encourages decision-makers to do the right thing for the rivers and the communities they support.  The report is not a list of the nation’s “worst” or most polluted rivers, but rather it highlights rivers confronted by critical decisions that will determine their future.  The report presents alternatives to proposals that would damage rivers, identifies those who make the crucial decisions, and points out opportunities for the public to take action on behalf of each listed river.

Please help us make the most of this great opportunity in 2018 by nominating a river you think deserves to be included on our list. Deadline for nominations is Tuesday, October 31, 2017. Contact Jessie Thomas-Blate for more information.

This guest blog by Hilary Hutcheson is a part of our America’s Most Endangered Rivers® series on the Middle Fork Flathead River.

When the community and government agencies prepare for the worst, it’s hard to ignore. And when the worst refers to what can happen to your fishery, it’s impossible not to worry.

“In every stage of life, I’ve lived near railroad tracks. The haunting sounds of night trains with their short-blast-long-howl whistles and steady rumble have always been grounding and comforting to me. I used to love watching gritty, graffiti-clad train cars pushing forward to get an important job done somewhere to my east or west. The history of the Great Northern Railway is fascinating, and as a river guide on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, I’ve chronicled to guests how John F. Stevens found a route for the railway over Marias Pass and along the beautiful river in 1889. But now, with the fracking boom in Eastern Montana and North Dakota, the haunting feeling I get when a train sounds its whistle isn’t comforting at all. It’s a dark, foreboding moan with a connotation that keeps me up at night.”

The passage above is from an article I wrote three and a half years ago for The Fly Fish Journal about the threat of an oil spill on the pristine Middle Fork of the Flathead River. Back then, locals and tourists could see the mile-long chain of jet-black cars snaking through the canyon. But they might not have known that the antiquated DOT-111 cars from the 1960s, deemed “an unacceptable safety risk” by the National Transportation Safety Board, carried unrefined crude — a mixture of oil and natural gas liquids — propane, methane, and butane. Inside the cars, the gases separate from the liquid, causing a blanket of gas sitting on top of the oil. So, if the railcar cracks open, and the outside air comes in contact with the blanket of gas on top of the oil, a mega explosion will ensue. That’s what happened in the fiery oil train disaster in Quebec that vaporized 47 people in 2013, and in at least 11 additional crashes across the country since then.

Three years ago, the sight of the oil cars winding along the endangered Middle Fork of the Flathead jarred me. I wondered why a mile-long string of crude should be allowed to roll along without any buffer cars in between. If one goes, they all go, I thought. As I researched and asked questions, I was told that would change. I was told that buffer cars are indeed required. But from my front-row seat on the river, I never saw the change. Still today, it’s just black tanker after black tanker. Every day.

Something that has changed in the last three years is that the Middle Fork of the Flathead has received international attention, albeit negative. This year, American Rivers listed it as one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers®.  The designation backs me up as I tell my fishing clients that the gin-clear, soul-inspiring water on which we drift is at risk.

The multi-agency and community emergency response plans that formed in the last three years are designed to help execute a fast and effective cleanup in the case of an oil spill. These precautions suggest that unless something changes, it’s not whether there will be a derailment at the river on Glacier National Park’s southern boundary, but when. Which tells me, it’s not a whether the lifeblood that pumps millions into the local economy will suddenly be expunged, but when.

Less than one-quarter of one percent of our nation’s rivers are protected as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The Middle Fork is one of those special few. With its federal designation as a Wild and Scenic River, this delicate home water should not be faced with an elevated risk of ruin.

It’s been three and a half years since my daughter, Ella, now a freshman in high school, earned a blue ribbon at her school’s science fair for her project about oil cleanup methods. She experimented with tactics like containment booms, skimmers and dispersants. Ella was never able to remove all of the motor oil from her water pans. Today, I’m reminded that what we’re faced with on the Middle Fork isn’t child’s play, and no blue ribbons will be handed out for demonstrating the cleanup of a toxic spill. Next summer, Ella is hoping to get a job at the same rafting and fishing company I joined when I was her age. Maybe she’ll end up being a doctor or lawyer or President, but just in case she wants to be a successful fly fishing guide, she’ll need the resource to be there the way it’s been there for me.

Please join us in urging the Federal Railroad Administration to protect the Middle Fork Flathead by developing a safety agreement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe that helps prevent train derailments. 

[su_button url=”https://act.americanrivers.org/page/705/action/1″ background=”#ef8c2d” size=”5″ center=”yes”]Take action »[/su_button]

---

Author:  Hilary Hutcheson

Hilary Hutcheson is from Columbia Falls, Montana. She is a professional fly-fishing guide on the Flathead River and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, and owns a fly shop in Columbia Falls called Lary’s Fly & Supply. In the off-season, Hilary writes for fly fishing publications, works with a number of industry brands on multi-media projects and travels to lobby congressional delegates on behalf of climate action and public lands.

Without notifying the public, the Trump Administration has moved to allow oil exploration in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the first time in 30 years. In a series of memos the Department of the Interior has proposed to permit seismic studies – that were previously deemed unlawful – to assess the available oil within the Refuge, the first step toward full blown drilling that would destroy the ecological integrity of this pristine area.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a vast 30,000 square mile patchwork of wild rivers, wilderness, and coastal plains that serve as a sanctuary for polar bears, caribou, and wolves. It contains one of the best collections of Wild and Scenic Rivers in Alaska, and therefore the country.

The Ivishak, upper Sheenjek, and Wind Rivers were designated as Wild and Scenic Rivers in December 1980 when Congress enacted the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. These rivers play an integral part in supporting the web of life within the Arctic Refuge. The rivers support salmon and arctic char and the grizzly bears that feed on them. The river valleys provide wintering habitat to the famed Porcupine Caribou herd, some 120,000 strong, and support migratory birds from all over the planet.

The refuge is also fed by over 800 miles of eligible Wild and Scenic Rivers, meaning they have been found by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be free-flowing and have truly outstanding values. The agency completed a robust analysis of the river resources on the refuge and found exceptional remote recreational opportunities and abundant historical, cultural, and archaeological values worth protecting.

These rivers, including the Porcupine, Canning, Kongakut, and the Hulahula, are truly wild, home to all kinds of wildlife – polar bears, caribou, Dall Sheep, wolverine, and raptors. The Gwich’in Athabascan people rely on the caribou, beaver, and salmon as a part of their living cultural traditions. These same rivers also provide unmatched remote and rugged multi-day paddling opportunities. Given their status as eligible Wild and Scenic Rivers they must be managed to protect their free-flowing condition, water quality, wild character, and their outstandingly remarkable values.

The watersheds of these incredible Wild and Scenic rivers are no place for oil drilling. We must defend our public waters and lands from a corporate giveaway by the Trump Administration and anti-environment members of Congress.

[su_button url=”https://act.americanrivers.org/page/3475/action/1″ background=”#ef8c2d” size=”5″ center=”yes”]Take action »[/su_button]