BUFFALO NIAGARA RIVERKEEPER NAMED FINALIST FOR NORTH AMERICAN RIVERPRIZE – 25 Years of “Outstanding and Visionary” Water Restoration and Protection

News from the Office of the public interest group Buffalo Niagara River Keeper

(A brief foreword comment from Niagara At Large publisher and environment writer Doug Draper – Congratulations to all of the great leaders and volunteers for Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper for this well-deserved international tribute. 

Unfortunately, we lost the Canada/U.S. citizens group Great Lakes United a few years ago due to a combination of less collective citizen interest in fighting hard for environmental protection and the group’s limp efforts to pander to that lessening interest by trying to go (small conservative/republican) mainstream – when it might have been better to go out fighting for more progressive goals..

But at least a greater Niagara chapter of this group, founded more than three decades ago on the Hudson River with late folksinger Pete Seeger, and still key member Robert Kennedy Jr. among its driving members, is still here to voice concern and act for a healthier Niagara River watershed. This global recognition, once again, is most deserving.)

Voloneers for Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper regularly clean garbage from shores of Buffalo River/Niagara River watersheds. Photo courtesy of Riverkeeper

SPRINGHILL, AUSTRALIA, March 2015 – The International River Foundation has announced that Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper is one of four finalists for the first North American Riverprize, a prestigious global recognition for organizations demonstrating excellence and diversity in river restoration.

“As Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper celebrates 25 years of progress for our water, we are honored that our innovative work has been recognized by the International River Foundation,” said Jill Jedlicka, executive director. “Our collaborative efforts to improve water quality and public access in the Great Lakes have been successful because of the decades of tremendous citizen engagement.  We thank all of our supporters, partners and the Western New York community for this shared honor, and as there is much more work to be done, we reaffirm our commitment to continued progress for our region’s water resources.”

The four finalists in the 2015 North American Riverprize are the Niagara River (New York), Connecticut River (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire), the Sun River (Montana), and the San Antonio River (Texas). 

Dr. David Garman, chair of the judging panel, said the finalists represented multiple river environments present within North America.

“North America contains the full range of river environments from those with intensive urban developments to the undeveloped, and from the formerly highly polluted to the near pristine.  The finalists are diverse but have one common vision – to show that rivers can be restored and that community action is the best way of doing this,” said Dr. Garman. The four finalists will present their achievements at River Rally 2015 in New Mexico, the largest gathering of the river and watershed community in the United States. The North American Riverprize winner will be announced at the Gala Dinner on May 2 in front of an audience of hundreds of NGO leaders, academics, government agency staff, representatives from foundations and corporations, and scientific and policy experts. 

The North American Riverprize is an initiative of the International RiverFoundation and their network of supporters, who also present Riverprizes in Australia, New Zealand and Europe as well as the prestigious Thiess international Riverprize.

The North American Riverprize was open to applicants from the USA, Canada and Mexico who could demonstrate outstanding, visionary and sustainable programs in river management, restoration or protection, regardless of the size of the river of the scale of the project.

Applicants were judged by an independent panel of experts drawn from all three countries and across a range of river management fields. Riverprize winners receive recognition, and reward for their achievements, and are supported to continue their work in to the future. 

The winner of the inaugural North American Riverprize will automatically qualify for stage two of the Thiess International Riverprize in 2016, where they will be up against the other regional winners and other outstanding applicants to compete for the world’s top award in river management.

To learn more about Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper and how you can support this group’s efforts to protect our shared water resources in this region of the world click on http://bnriverkeeper.org/about/ .

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