Rivers
Rivers are special because they range from small streams and wetlands to large waterways. No two of these rivers are the same. Each river is unique to its landscape, winding through low foothills and valleys, rushing clear and cold from mountain forests, or sweeping warm and muddy down desert canyons.
A river isn’t only important to the animals who live in it, or the people who boat on it, their value reaches to everyone. Even if you’ve never felt the charge of a rapid, or a nimble trout as it slides through your fingers, you’re still connected to the rivers and streams that flow nearby. Rivers are our main source of clean drinking water, and their economic value, environmental value, and even aesthetic or spiritual values touch each and every American.
5 Facts About Rivers
A healthy, wild river makes for a clean water supply
We all drink water, and the majority of our supply comes from rivers and streams. In fact, if all the world’s water were to fit in a gallon jug, only a tablespoon of it would be the equivalent of the fresh water available to us to drink.
Wild rivers can provide flood protection
A wild river that occasionally floods its banks nourishes floodplain habitat, important for fish and wildlife. Natural floods can also keep invasive species in check and give important cues to fish that swim upstream to spawn.
Rivers support recreation and tourism
Wild rivers are fun—and fun can be lucrative. Rafting, fishing, swimming, hiking and wildlife watching all draw people—and therefore money—to areas with healthy rivers.
Wild rivers support the entire web of life
Countless species of fish, birds and other animals live in and along rivers and depend on them for their food. Riverside areas in the West provide habitat for more species of birds than all other western vegetation combined.
Wild rivers hold immeasurable spiritual and aesthetic value
If literature is any indication, wild and free rivers are a key metaphor for the human experience.
Source: American Rivers
