American Rivers is a national non-profit conservation organization dedicated to protecting and restoring healthy natural rivers and the variety of life they sustain for people, fish, and wildlife.



We deliver innovative solutions to improve river health; raise awareness among decision-makers; serve and mobilize the river conservation movement; and are collaborating with our partners to develop a national "river agenda," which will create a unified vision for improving river health across the country.



We were founded in 1973 to increase the number of rivers protected by the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System and to prevent the construction of large new dams on our last wild rivers.



Today, in addition to protecting nationally significant rivers, American Rivers` programs focus on dam removal and reform [including a campaign to remove four federal dams on the lower Snake River]; river channel engineering [including campaigns to reform Army Corps of Engineers and protect floodplains]; allocation of water resources; and threats to watersheds [including wild rivers, those affected by agricultural practices, and community riverfronts].



Along with our conservation efforts, we promote public awareness about why healthy rivers matter--not only for fish and wildlife, kayakers, canoeists, and anglers, but for our own communities.



We work closely with grassroots river and watershed groups across the country because we believe supporting each others` efforts is key to the health of rivers nationwide.