River Network Celebrates Silver Anniversary and a Successful River Rally
River Network, the leading conservation organization for the river and watershed community in the United States, commemorates its 25th anniversary this year, and just wrapped up a successful 14th annual River Rally in St. Louis, Missouri.
Over 425 leaders in river and watershed conservation gathered from 44 states and Canada to celebrate and deepen their knowledge of the clean water movement. After Rally, longtime partner, board member and most recently President of River Network, Todd Ambs announced that he would be leaving River Network to return to his home watershed – The Great Lakes.
Ambs, who originally joined River Network as a partner over a decade ago, has served as a board member and chair until he was appointed President three years ago. He will be leaving to accept the position of Campaign Director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. The Coalition works to restore and protect the Great Lakes.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I leave an organization near and dear to me. However, it’s time for me to return to Wisconsin and continue my contribution to the clean water movement at the regional level in a new capacity.” stated Ambs, “River Network is in a better place than ever before with its strategic plan well underway, and a fully aligned board and staff as well as a healthy budget of $2.6 million. We now work with over 2,000 state, regional and local grassroots river and watershed groups around the country, and our staff members will continue the great work we’ve undertaken after adopting our current strategic plan in 2010.”
A transition team has been formed, and the national search is expected to take several months to identify the best candidate for the position. The president will be based in Portland, Oregon where River Network has been headquartered since its inception. An interim director will be appointed by the River Network board upon Ambs departure on June 30, 2013.