Respect the River/Rio - Resource Managers

USEFUL TOOLS
Partnerships - ideas to help create relationships to ensure success in restoration and education efforts Education - informational and promotional materials to help spread the program’s message to the public Restoration - innovative treatments designed to protect and restore fragile or disturbed areas Monitoring - how to set up a monitoring plan to measure the program's success

Respect the River began as a simple idea on a napkin. Now, it has a sister program (Respect the Rio) and has spread to seven national forests and one national scenic area.

Why is the Respect the River or Respect the Rio program a valuable asset to natural resource managers?

Imagine the following scenarios:

• The creation of illegal roads, user trails, or dispersed campsites decline.
• Quality of camping improves; sites are better defined, smaller and more vegetated.
• Less trash and human waste are found.
• Soil and vegetation damage caused by illegal motorized vehicle use diminishes.
• Bank erosion and illegal firewood cutting lessen.
• Recreationists park their vehicles and RVs away from the stream banks and help revegetated sites.
• Fisheries and riparian habitats look better than they have in years.
• Most importantly, campsites remain open and recreationists receive a consistent message.

Respect the River and Respect the Rio can help you make those scenarios a reality. If you want more information on the success of the Respect the River and Respect the Rio programs, check out the Forest Programs page. All the information you need to start a Respect the River or Respect the Rio program on your forest can be found here. Please contact us directly if you have any questions.