Our Work  Riverkeeper History

Riverkeeper History


  • History

    Introduction:

    The origins of the Riverkeeper go back to England in the Middle Ages when villages would hire a private citizen to look after the trout streams so that no one could abuse the waterways that were owned, utilized, and enjoyed by all of the people in the villages. The Hudson River Fishermen’s Association first introduced the Keeper concept in the U.S. in the mid-1980’s when they hired John Cronin, a former commercial fisherman and congressional aide, to patrol the Hudson full-time. This blue-collar association of commercial and recreational fisherman had coalesced in 1966 to identify and bring to justice the Hudson River polluters that were destroying their family fishing grounds. Their approach was to use law and science to confront polluters and reassert community control over waters that had been damaged by years of pollution and neglect. Due in large part to the efforts of the Hudson Riverkeeper, the Hudson River has been brought back to life and is now regarded as one of the richest bodies of water on earth.

  • Today, the success of the Hudson Riverkeeper serves as a model for over 120 other Keeper organizations around the world that have emerged to protect public waterways from pollution and other threats. In 1999, St. Johns Riverkeeper was founded based on a similar philosophy that is rooted in a sense of public ownership of local water bodies.
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What is St. Johns Riverkeeper?

St. Johns Riverkeeper is a private non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that serves as a full-time advocate and "watchdog" for the St. Johns River, its watershed, and the public to whom it belongs.

Riverkeeper works to improve water quality in the St. Johns River and its tributaries, to protect critical habitat in the St. Johns River watershed, to provide meaningful public access to our waterways, and to educate our members and the public about the River and the issues that impact its health.

Riverkeeper is a membership-based organization. Riverkeeper does not receive any government funding but must rely on the generous support of businesses and concerned citizens that recognize the value and importance of the St. Johns River and our work to protect it.


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