The American Heritage Rivers Alliance (AHRA) is a 501(c)(3) organization formed to support the American Heritage Rivers Initiative, which was established by Executive Order in 1997 to promote the environmental restoration, economic development, and preservation of cultural and historical heritage of America’s rivers and their communities.
AHRA will better connect existing and future American Heritage Rivers and their communities by providing them with increased national coordination, advocacy, education, and fiscal capacity. Serving as a conduit between the rivers and their community partners, we will substantially broaden the capacity and reach of American Heritage Rivers, so that they offer contributors an increasing range of rewarding opportunities.
The American Heritage Rivers Initiative is a network of locally driven partnerships that has taken an innovative approach toward matching local needs with available federal funding. Working with high-level interagency organizations such as the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the National Council on Historic Preservation, River Navigators and other designated river leaders quickly cut through red tape to secure funding that matches local needs and leverages corporate contributions to the greatest extent possible. As AHRA works to support the Initiative, the River Navigators and other river leaders will be able to perform with even greater efficiency and effectiveness.