American Heritage Rivers
"Tonight, I announce that this year I will designate 10 American Heritage Rivers, to help communities alongside them revitalize their waterfronts and clean up pollution in the rivers, proving once again that we can grow the economy as we protect the environment."
With these words at his State of the Union Address, on February 4, 1997, President Clinton created the American Heritage Rivers Initiative, with the goal of enhancing citizens' enjoyment of the historic, cultural, recreational, economic and environmental value of rivers and to protect the health of communities.
Background
With the thought that rivers have always been an integral part of our nation's history by providing opportunities for commerce, routes for exploration, inspiration for ideas and culture, means of recreation, and sources of drinking water, the idea of the program is to offer special recognition to outstanding stretches of America's rivers by selecting them to be "American Heritage Rivers." As such, the Administration will make it easier to access available federal resources to support community restoration, protection and revitalization efforts, and will create a clearinghouse for this information.
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On May 18th, 1997, the White House released the American Heritage
Rivers Initiative Proposal for public comment. The document included
details regarding how communities could nominate stretches of
river, the criteria that would be important in choosing rivers,
and the process for selection and the implementation of the program
itself. On June 20th, the Council on Environmental Quality
re-issued a copy of the plan,
clarifying certain sections and revising the schedule for implementation.
After the program design was finalized, communities were asked
to develop plans for submission.
The Nomination Process
On Sept 11th, President Clinton invited communities that had developed plans to submit nominations within the following 90 days for consideration as an American Heritage River. Nominations were to include information on the importance of the stretch of river to the nation's culture and history; to past and future economic development; and to public health and environmental quality. In addition, the Administration would seek a community plan for revitalization, broad support for the plan, and a commitment of non-federal resources.
Program Status
Working in conjunction with a panel of experts, President Clinton designated 14 rivers as "American Heritage Rivers" for 1998, targeting them for federal oversight. These rivers, including a mix of rural, suburban, and urban rivers, will receive targeted and coordinated assistance to help bring the community plans to life.
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The first step is for the federal government to work with the community to select a
skilled, full-time liaison -- designated a "river navigator"
-- to help implement the community's vision and provide a contact
for federal resources in each American Heritage River community.
The river navigator will then help the community line up federal
and private resources for everything from improving water quality
to cleaning up brownfields to designating a riverfront plaza and
finding loans for local entrepreneurs.
One of the Administration's primary goals of the American Heritage
Rivers Initiative is to make it easier to access available federal
resources to support community restoration, protection and revitalization
efforts, and to create a clearinghouse for this information. All
communities interested in this collaborative concept will be able
to learn from the success of the program participants by tapping
into the American Heritage Rivers
website, which includes a list of federal interagency contacts
as well as state contacts.
