The Highlands Conservancy spearheaded another preservation victory in 1988. In 1986, the group asked Congressman Nick Rahall to work toward federal protection of the Gauley River, which is exceptional for whitewater rafting. Conservationists feared that hydroelectric dam projects would destroy the white water character of the river. The Conservancy also sought Feder al protection for the Greenbrier River, but local opposition killed that proposal. However, at the urging of Congressman Rahall, Congress created the Gauley River National Recreation Area and the Blue stone Scenic River, in 1988, giving West Virginia the largest network of federally protected rivers east of the Mississippi.
Efforts are currently underway to further expand the state's protected river system.
A coalition of thirty state and national organizations has asked the National Forest Service to designate ten river segments within the Monongahela National Forest as protected Wild and Scenic Rivers. Another current preservation campaign involves the Canaan Valley, which has been described as one of the most valuable wetlands ecosystems in the nation, and which comprises 40 percent of West Virginia's wetlands habitat. This issue has a twenty year history. In 1970, Monongahela Power Company applied for a federal license to build a hydroelectric pump storage facility which would have flooded 7,300 acres of the Canaan Valley. This stimulated the Highlands Conservancy to work towards preservation of the valley, and in 1974, the Canaan Valley was designated a National Natural Landmark.