Local groups win awards for protecting rivers, native fish

By Abby Haight, The Oregonian

June 04, 2009, 4:45PM

AP PhotoSave the Wild Rogue was among 27 environmental groups to receive $1,000 River Warrior Awards. The group works to protect wild land along the Rogue River, and is campaigning to add tributaries to the lower Rogue River Wild and Scenic River system.

Sponsored by the San Francisco-based Resource Renewal Institute, the awards recognized those working to protect and conserve water quality, water quantity and riparian and aquatic habitat. The awards credited the groups -- often under-funded and under-recognized -- for their "valiant, resolute efforts in defending free-flowing rivers and the wildlife that depends on them..."

The non-profit groups are hit hard by the economy, as well, and face challenges over the next year with unpredictable fundraising, the institute said.

"Over a long career, I've known many examples of little guys carrying on fierce fights to maintain remote rivers," said Huey Johnson, director of the Resource Renewal Institute and former California Secretary of Resources. "It's about time they got some recognition."

The Native Fish Society, with offices in Portland and Molalla, works to conserve, protect and restore native fish in the Pacific Northwest. Save the Wild Rogue is trying to protect 60,000 acres of wild land on the lower Rogue from logging and road-building. It also seeks to add 143 miles of wild Rogue tributaries to the lower Rogue River Wild and Scenic River system.

-Abby Haight; abbyhaight@news.oregonian.com