How NORS Works For You

How NORS Works For You
and how it benefits you

There is a big difference throughout America between what the law says about rivers, and the way rivers are treated in actual practice.

Rivers that are navigable in fact are navigable in law.

The U.S. Supreme Court, and other federal and state courts, have repeatedly affirmed that the public owns rivers which are physically capable of being run, even if only in small watercraft such as canoes, kayaks, and rafts. They have also ruled that government agencies hold navigable rivers "in trust" for the public, so they are obligated to preserve rivers for navigation and recreation. These rivers are actual public land up to the "ordinary high water line."

In actual practice, however, most government agencies, and most owners of land along rivers, think that only a few exceptionally large rivers, frequented by barges and ships, are "navigable," and that all other rivers are privately owned.

The result is that literally thousands of miles of rivers throughout the U.S. are in an ambiguous state of ownership. They could be public, or they could be private. Even where a river is considered public, there is still much confusion about what sorts of activities and what forms of river exploitation are legal on that river, under the "Public Trust Doctrine" of law.

The mission of NORS, as you can imagine, is to confirm public-trust ownership of these thousands of miles of rivers, by getting river navigability law applied in actual practice, on rivers large and small, throughout the U.S. In this way, NORS is working to conserve natural rivers, and to confirm your legal rights to canoe, kayak, raft, fish, walk along, and otherwise visit rivers, in non-consumptive ways.

Other river organizations do not focus on the issues of navigability, river ownership, and state vs. federal control of rivers, in part because these issues tend to stir up controversy among constituents for their main programs. Only NORS is focused on achieving public-trust ownership of rivers, conserving rivers through public-trust ownership, and ensuring the public's legal rights to enjoy rivers.

You would think that getting river law applied in actual practice on a particular river would be a relatively quick and simple court procedure. But the legal system is ponderous, and there are only a few attorneys and judges in the whole country who are familiar with river law. River enthusiasts cannot feasibly sue government agencies or private entities to preserve rivers and assure public access to rivers. Nor can boaters feasibly run rivers that are officially closed, and then win their river access disputes in local courts. And we don’t really need more court victories anyway; the higher courts have already repeatedly agreed with us. NORS and other river organizations and individuals have won past legal battles, but these victories have not been widely and consistently applied.

So what is the solution? The first part is an educational campaign: Informing government agencies, landowners, and the public about court decisions that have already been made in our favor. NORS is publishing information (in the form of folders and booklets, as well as the river law section of this web site,) written and reviewed by knowledgeable river law attorneys, to distribute to government agencies, landowners, and the public, explaining the court decisions and how they should be applied to actually preserve rivers and ensure public access to rivers.

The second part is the U.S. River Conservation Team, which is coordinated and "coached" by NORS. With this system, people everywhere can get coaching, recognition, and rewards for working to apply river law to solve river conservation and access problems on rivers they care about.

The third part is communications, through methods such as this web site, designed to allow activists around the country to easily communicate with each other, as all of us who care about rivers progress in our understanding of river law and our ability to get it applied to actual river conservation and access problems.

With this three-part system, NORS is fostering a nationwide movement to get existing river law applied in reality on all rivers, thereby making a fundamental change in the future of river conservation, and river access rights, in all fifty states.

Think what it will mean to you if NORS is successful! Thousands of miles of rivers will be re-opened to you and to future generations for non-destructive visits, and will be held in trust for the public. In addition:

Thousands of acres in the form of strips of land along rivers up to the "ordinary high water line," containing important wildlife habitat, will be conserved.
Numerous rivers that have no Wild and Scenic River designation, or other special protection, will nevertheless be partially protected from dams and other destructive projects, because they are navigable by paddle or oar craft and are therefore "held in trust" for public navigation and enjoyment.
Numerous rivers that are now considered private property will be recognized as navigable public rivers, and various dams and diversions on them will be reduced or removed.

It’s exciting to envision it. And it’s very possible to achieve. The law is already in place! All that is missing is some more people who know what the law is. And who help get it applied in actual practice.

You can be one of these people. Join NORS and make it happen. You’ll find it interesting, informative, enjoyable, and worthwhile.

Your membership includes:

Your NORS membership card and waterproof bumper sticker about rivers.
Your subscription to CURRENTS Magazine, the nation’s newsmagazine about rivers.
Occasional member alerts on timely river subjects.
NORS member discounts on all currently-available river books, river maps, and river videos. These resources show you where the best rivers are and how to enjoy them. (To see the current list, go to the NORS Resource Center.)
Member discounts on river-related equipment, instruction, trips, and services from participating dealers and outfitters.

Who are the directors of NORS and the U.S. River Conservation Team? Each of the directors has been running rivers and working on river issues for at least twenty years. Each has a fundamental dedication to applying river law in reality to conserve rivers and ensure non-destructive public access to rivers:

NORS President Gary Lacy has designed numerous river restoration projects, organized river trips for groups of up to thirty politicians, and successfully campaigned to head off unnecessary government river regulations.
NORS Vice-President Ben Harding has led numerous river conservation and river access rights campaigns, including the successful campaign to preserve the Yampa River as the last major undammed river in the Colorado River system.
NORS Director Fletcher Anderson is a film-maker and co-author of the book Rivers of the Southwest, as well as numerous river articles.
NORS Director Earl Perry is a former staff member for state and federal river-related agencies, and author of the books Whitewater and Rivers of Colorado.
NORS Director John Garren is the author of Oregon River Tours and a veteran of numerous river access rights campaigns.
NORS Executive Director Eric Leaper has participated in numerous river conservation and access rights campaigns, and has worked for several river organizations over the past 25 years.

Who are the members? Here is a sampling:

NORS members care about the future of our rivers.

Marc Berger is a teacher and river trip leader from Fresh Meadows, New York, who likes rafting, sailing, and skiing.
Charlie and Marcia Wood of Belton, Missouri, have three canoes, two kayaks, and three rafts. He works for the Sprint phone company.
Anne Sander lives on a river east of Seattle, Washington, where she works to conserve rivers for her grandson (age 2,) and canoes class II and III rivers.
Life member Nancy Wiley is a kayak instructor, racer, and river explorer from Durango, Colorado.
Dan Gray administrates a health care program in Signal Mountain, Tennessee, and runs the many small, but navigable, steep creeks in Appalachia, as well as rivers in Europe and South America.
Rafters Steve Holschuh and Cathy Sanders, from Virginia, who died in a hotel fire in 1980, were generous supporters of NORS.
Life member Bill Bevins is a kayaker and emergency room physician in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Charles Martin, who wrote the river guidebook Sierra Whitewater in 1974, has a computer consulting company in Concord, Massachusetts.

What do we all have in common? A desire to know more about rivers and river law. A desire to enjoy the beauty and excitement of natural rivers. And to leave things better than we found them. To make sure that all navigable rivers are "held in trust for the public." Forever.

And to achieve this, who is the most important person of all?

You.

To start or extend your membership, or make a contribution, large or small, simply fill in your:

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Please check your primary form of river recreation or river interest(s):
Canoeing. Kayaking. Rafting. Dory.	Fly fishing. Other river recreation. River conservation. River ownership and access.

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Join NORS and the U.S. River Conservation Team!

Membership for:
One year, $20.
Two years, $36.
Three years, $48.
Life Membership, $130.

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Questions or comments? If you have a question or comment about NORS memberships or procedures, write your question or comment here, and click below to send it.

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Thank you for joining NORS and the U.S. River Conservation Team!

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The National Organization for Rivers (NORS)
212 West Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard
Colorado Springs, CO 80906
(719) 579-8759. Fax: (719) 576-6238.
nors@rmi.net