FRA Receives 2023 River Stewardship Award!
At a recent Partnership celebration with the Flathead National Forest, FRA was presented with an exciting award from team RAPIDS. Team RAPIDS is an interagency group that advocates for rivers and planning interdisciplinary discussions (RAPID). We are honored and proud to have received the 2023 Outstanding National Wild and Scenic River Stewardship Award!
Every year, the National Forest Service honors employees, volunteers, and organizations who have demonstrated significant contributions to the protection and enhancement of rivers in the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System or to the study of rivers for their potential addition to the National System. The award recipients must first be nominated, fulfilling criteria such as: “Contributes to excellent management of a wild and scenic river program,” “Serves as an effective change agent in improving the stewardship of a wild & scenic river or wild & scenic rivers study,” and “Leads efforts to develop a comprehensive river management plan, complete wild & scenic rivers study evaluations, and pursue other wild & scenic rivers-related inventory and monitoring work.”
In our award letter for the 2023 Outstanding National Wild and Scenic River Stewardship Award, Christopher French, the Deputy Chief of the Forest Service remarked “As an emerging leader in river stewardship in Montana and as a model Forest Service partnership organization, FRA is an outstanding wild and scenic rivers steward.” We could not have done this work without the numerous volunteers, organizations, tribes, agencies, river users, outfitters and businesses who have actively participated in stewardship of the Flathead Wild & Scenic River. We are looking forward to a summer full of additional award-winning stewardship!
The other 2023 recipient of this award was the Northern California 2(a)(ii) Wild and Scenic Rivers Interagency Partnership for their collaborative work between employees of the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Forest Service, and active coordination with the Yurok tribe. Congratulations to all 2023 recipients!