Rebecca Wodder has led American Rivers since 1995.Founded in 1973, American Rivers has fought to protect wild rivers and restore wildlife habitat and recreation along heavily damaged rivers such as the Snake and Missouri. American Rivers advocates removing dams that no longer make sense, like the four dams on the Snake that prevent salmon from spawning. (See www.salmonforever.org to help remove the dams)

On March 9, American Rivers will make a special announcement of its Most Endangered River for 2000, followed by release of its entire annual Most Endangered Rivers report on April 10. Full text of those reports will be available upon release at American Rivers' website.

Rebecca joined American Rivers as President in January 1995. Previously, she worked for The Wilderness Society, initially as Alaska Program Director and finally as Vice President for Organizational Development. Rebecca helped found Earth Share, a coalition of national environmental groups working to promote charitable environmental giving in the workplace, and served as its chair from 1990 to 1992. In June 1998, she was named the 1998 Woman of the Year by the American Sport Fishing Association for her advocacy on behalf of clean, healthy rivers.

American Rivers is a national conservation organization dedicated to protecting and restoring America's river systems and to fostering a river stewardship ethic. The organization was founded in 1973 to expand the number of rivers protected by the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Along with our conservation efforts, American Rivers promotes public awareness about the importance of healthy rivers and the threats that face them.

Rebecca was a guest on GORP's forums from February 24 to March 20. She discussed the health of American rivers as part of the local rivers portion of GORP's special series On the River.