Become a citizen co-sponsor of the River Democracy Act
Support a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect 3,215 miles of new Wild & Scenic River designations across Oregon.
The River Democracy Act, introduced by Senator Ron Wyden and co-sponsored by Senator Jeff Merkley is the result of a grassroots nomination and vetting process where students, anglers, outfitters, whitewater paddlers, and river lovers of all stripes submitted over 15,000 nominations for rivers and streams to be considered for protection.
As Citizen Co-Sponsors of the River Democracy Act, we believe that:
- Rivers and streams deserve to run wild and free in perpetuity.
- Water is life. Indigenous people have called “Oregon” home since time immemorial, and these waterways have many layers of cultural importance associated with them.
- Every Oregonian deserves access to clean drinking water, and many of our state’s population centers drink from rivers that flow through public lands and forests. The colder, cleaner, and more protected our drinking watersheds are, the better the water quality will be!
- Our rivers have something to offer every recreator: locals and visitors alike flock to them to swim, fish, paddle, hunt, and hike.
- Native species need these unfragmented stream corridors to thrive, and residents and visitors seek out these islands of beauty.
- Big and small, we need them all! Including protections for headwater streams, tributaries, and even intermittent streams is ecologically necessary – rivers need them to survive.
- Protected rivers and streams are good for the health of our communities and economy.
- These public waters are part of our national natural heritage, and they belong to all Americans equally.
These new Wild & Scenic designations will protect clean drinking water sources, safeguard fish and wildlife habitat, bolster our state’s outdoor recreation economy, and so much more.
