RiverStewards Collaborative Initiatives

One Water Planning Process White Paper for Spring Creek Watershed – This white paper describes what the One Water concept entails, provide a case study of the process from the Spring Creek watershed in Centre County, Pennsylvania, and provide guidance on how other municipalities in Pennsylvania and beyond can use the experiences from Spring Creek to shape their own One Water planning process. While each One Water process is unique and should be tailored to the individual conditions, stakeholders, challenges, and opportunities within a given watershed, this is a great starting point for those new to the concept or those who have considered it in the past and are looking for a new reason to give it a try. Download white paper here.

River Economic Curation – This involves tracking the total economic benefits generated because of the Susquehanna River and providing that data and analyses to other interested parties to provide support for continued protection and restoration of the watershed and the greater Chesapeake Bay. Learn more here.

Data Repository – As much data as possible (from colleges, government agencies, nonprofits) on the health of the Susquehanna River and the plants and animals that call it home will be contained in a centralized, publicly-accessible database so that all stakeholders will have access to the same beneficial data resources. This will reduce duplication of effort, encourage collaboration, and identify data gaps that can then be filled. Learn more here.

Research & Education – RiverStewards will enhance what we know and appreciate about the Susquehanna River through a variety of education, research, and outreach efforts, such as:

• The Blueprint for One Water
• Susquehanna Storytelling
• Outreach to Retirement Homes and Faith-based Organizations
• Academic Healthy Watershed Tours
• Guiding the Science
• Prescription Take-back Program
• Vegetation Restoration

To help educate individuals, companies and organizations on the River and its contribution to ecological services, the economy and recreational opportunities, RiverStewards conducts custom guided tours of various parts of the river and tributaries.

These tours are led by RiverStewards’ founder Mark Gutshall, a Pennsylvania licensed river guide and professional wetland scientist (PWS). Tour itineraries are developed based upon client interests, be they the river’s ecological systems, the river’s economic contributions or simply a morning of fly or spin-reel fishing.

Chesapeake Bay Commission – The Chesapeake Bay Commission is a policy leader in the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. As a tri-state legislative assembly representing Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, the Commission’s leadership covers a full spectrum of Bay issues: from managing living resources and conserving land, to protecting water quality.

Collective Impact Forum – Collective impact brings people together, in a structured way, to achieve social change. This website provides a wealth of information, upcoming webinars, and other resources to break from your job silos to work collaboratively.

Envision the Susquehanna – This collaborative effort of nearly 40 organizations encourages individuals, community leaders, and organizations to describe their vision for the Susquehanna River watershed. Through a report that can be found on the site, you can read the results of the initial planning process and learn of their vision for the future of the Susquehanna River.

Lower Susquehanna RiverKeeper – This nonprofit organization protects, inproves, and preserves the health of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, from the confluence of the West and North branches south to the Chesapeake Bay. On this site you can contact the RiverKeeper to report pollution or other issue on the river, and stay up-to-date on the health of the Susquehanna.

Middle Susquehanna RiverKeeper – This nonprofit organization is dedicated to protecting, improving, and preserving the health of the Middle Susquehanna River Watershed, starting at the confluence of the West and North branches and continuing to the headwaters of the West Branch and to just south of the New York border on the North Branch. On this site you can contact the RiverKeeper to report pollution or other issue on the river, and stay up-to-date on the health of the Susquehanna.

PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources – This state agency manages all state parks and state forests, as well as gives grants to support local parks and conservation work. This includes protection and promotion of the state’s river and stream systems.

PA Department of Environmental Protection – This state agency monitors and helps to protect Pennsylvania’s water quality and quantity through various means, including working closely with the agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and other industries to minimize impacts to the commonwealth’s water bodies.

PA Fish and Boat Commission – This state agency monitors and manages fish populations across the state, as well as handles fishing and boating licenses.

RiverStewards

Who We Are

RiverStewards is a consortium of educational institutions, private sector companies, non-profit organizations, communities, government agencies and individuals working to conserve one of our most significant ecological, economic and recreational resources in central Pennsylvania, the Susquehanna River.

What We Do

RiverStewards achieves its conservation goals by convening the institutional, scientific and economic resources necessary to solve specific problems that affect the health of the Susquehanna River. Our operating process is to identify a problem then bring together those who can be a part of the solution.

At the core of the RiverStewards concept is that no one sector can, on its own, solve the myriad challenges facing the River. It will take concerted, coordinated efforts by all that have a stake in the River to assure its future health.

To help educate individuals and organizations on the River and its contributions to ecological services, the economy, and recreational opportunities, RiverStewards has numerous initiatives, which can be found here.

In addition, RiverStewards’ founder and licensed river guide Mark Gutshall conducts custom guided tours of various parts of the River. These tours are led by RiverStewards’ founder Mark Gutshall, a licensed river guide. Tour itineraries are developed based upon client interests, be they the River’s ecological systems, the River’s economic contributions or simply a morning of fly or spin-reel fishing.Learn More

RiverStewards’ intention is to gather input from subject matter experts on many topics. We will provide references so the reader can independently research further based on their interest level.

As a start, we recommend a great work by Susan Q. Stranahan, “Susquehanna, River of Dreams.”  This book was a catalyst for the founding of RiverStewards.

In doing our work, RiverStewards will follow the following principles:

• Gain an understanding of functional natural systems through professional observations.
• Apply science through empirical data collection and processing.
• Draw conclusions based upon objective, verifiable data.

RiverStewards will use the social change model as an essential component of our business model, linking to our mission and vision. The social change model differentiates us as a social enterprise rather than a commercial business. To learn about the components of the social change model, click here.

To download an overview of RiverStewards’ mission, click here.

RiverStewards is composed of two separate organizations that work in concert with one another – RiverStewards Collaborative, a non-profit, and RiverStewards Benefit Corporation, which funds the work of the non-profit. To learn more about these two entities, click here.