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Waterkeeper Alliance
and the
Detroit Riverkeeper Program
 The Waterkeeper concept started in 1966 on
the Hudson River, when a group of commercial and recreational
fisherman mobilized to fight the effects of pollution that had
contaminated the rivers fish stocks. They called themselves the Hudson
River Fisherman’s Association. More specifically, the state of New
York placed a ban on the sale of stripped bass, which were found to
contain high levels of PCBs, and thus threatened a hundred year old
way of life.
Their goal was to use any legal means
necessary to bring to the attention of the public those entities that
were contributing to the pollution of the Hudson River. They
constructed a boat to patrol the river, to uncover problems and
established a program to deal with water pollution issues. It was the
idea of Robert Boyle, a prominent outdoor writer and President of the
Fisherman’s Association, to establish a Riverkeeper on the Hudson, to
work in the public interest as someone who would be the “eyes and
ears” for the public, on the river. They modeled this program after
the Riverkeepers of the British Isles, who looked after private trout
and salmon streams, usually for estates, manors and private clubs.
By 1983, the Riverkeeper concept had spread
to surrounding bodies of water and across North America with a number
of established Riverkeeper programs. In 1984, Robert Kennedy Jr. was
retained to act as chief legal council for the organization and while
working with John Cronin, the Hudson Rivers first Riverkeeper, won a
number of battles against major polluters along the shores of the
Hudson.
In 1992, the existing Waterkeepers founded
the National Alliance of Rivers, Sound and Bay Waterkeepers, which was
renamed the Waterkeeper Alliance in 1999. The Alliance is based out of
White Plains, New York and oversees the development of new Waterkeeper
associations and works on national issues that individual Waterkeeper
programs hold in common. There are currently nearly 160 Waterkeeper
associations internationally, with in excess of 100,000 memberships.
Many of the current Waterkeeper programs
have come into existence because of the determination of a small group
of dedicated people, and have resulted as an out growth of an existing
organization. And not withstanding, this is certainly the case for
the development of the Detroit Riverkeeper program.
In early spring of 2002, the FDR board was
made aware of the existence of the Waterkeeper program and how it
reflected many of the same ideologies that the Friends of the Detroit
River support. The board agreed to apply, and submitted an application
for their own Riverkeeper program. That fall, in October, they hosted
a two-day kick-off celebration promoting the start of this program,
with Robert Kennedy Jr. as keynote speaker and Alliance
Representative. From this event they received valuable media coverage
and commitments from local, state and federal officials.
In November of
that year FDR received their Conditional Licensing Agreement from the
Waterkeeper Alliance to form the Detroit Riverkeeper Program and in
November of 2003 had
fulfilled all of the requirements to become a permanent member of the
Waterkeeper Alliance.
If you have any
questions about the Riverkeeper Program, are looking for a speaker,
would like to take part in any of our events, attend one of our
monthly Riverkeeper Committee meetings or serve on our Riverkeeper
Committee, please contact us at:
river@detroitriver.org
WHAT IS THE DETROIT RIVERKEEPER
PROGRAM ?
CLICK HERE
WHO IS THE
DETROIT RIVERKEEPER ?
CLICK HERE
WHAT DOES THE
DETROIT RIVERKEEPER DO ?
CLICK HERE
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