It is the only river system in the Northeast to retain its full complement of species. What makes the Hudson different, Kennedy said, is the commitment of an informed, active citizenry to the whole of the watershed manifested in Hudson Riverkeeper. Such a commitment is at the heart of bioregional practice. Before the arrival of Riverkeeper groups, Kennedy said, citizens could go to no one agency that oversaw the whole river. Now the nonprofit citizen organizations serve that role, advocating for rivers as a whole.
Someone is in charge of the river.
When he goes to lobby on behalf of Riverkeeper groups on Capitol Hill, the fact they represent a grassroots base of concerned citizens in 18 watersheds carries immense weight, he added. Kennedy detailed how Hudson Riverkeeper formed in the 1960s. Robert Boyle, author of numerous books about fly fishing, and a writer for Sports Illustrated, called together the Riverkeeper group. Boyle had a ace in the hole, two previously unenforced 19th century laws that forbad river pollution and allowed those who reported it to collect bounties. Riverkeeper enlisted a citizen army and funded itself for years from those bounties.