Congratulations, 2012 River Management Award Winners!
RMS Honors a Trash Collector, Hostess to a Half Million, and Advocates of the Sock Drawer
The River Management Society (RMS) has announced winners of the 2012 River Management Awards, given to individuals who have exhibited outstanding achievement and leadership among river professionals in their stewardship of North America’s rivers. 2012 awardees include Paul Nordell (MN) for his Contribution to River Management and Jennifer Jones (UT) as River Ranger of the Year. In addition, Ken Ransford (CO) and Lee Larson (NC) have been honored for their contribution to the organization.
"RMS Awards represent the highest form of peer appreciation,” notes Dennis Willis, President of the RMS Board of Directors, “and the award process is unique because it is open to both members and non- members.” Nominations are submitted by individuals from the river management community, and the selections are made by a committee of the RMS Board.
Paul Nordell (St. Paul / Minneapolis, Minnesota) has been honored for his Contribution to River Management and achievement created through  the Adopt-a-River Program. Since 1991, Paul has coordinated cleanups of 11,190 river miles, engaged 290,000 volunteer hours from over 86,000 volunteers, and removed over six million pounds of garbage from local rivers, including 300,000 tires and a great variety of other junk from school buses to washing machines to car batteries from one site alone.
 River Manager of the Year Jennifer Jones works as an Outdoor Recreation Planner for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Moab Field Office. She leads the river permitting program for Colorado River’s Westwater Canyon and the Delores River in Utah, which collectively see over 500,000 annual visitors.
Honoring their Contribution to the River Management Society, RMS has honored Lee Larson, Sanford, North Carolina and Ken Ransford, Carbondale, Colorado. Architects of RMS’ financial accounting system, Ken and Lee moved RMS from relying on a checkbook journal to producing financial reports, analyses and projections with confidence. “The transition required expertise, patience and wisdom that would have vanquished the faint of heart, and they remain available and enthusiastic as coaches to make sure accounting protocols remain at the foundation of program plans,” notes Risa Shimoda, RMS Executive Director.
 The River Management Society is a professional organization dedicated to support professionals who study, manage and protect North America’s rivers. The national, non-profit is run almost entirely by volunteers, and driven by the activities of its seven regional chapters in the US and Canada. RMS produces river management workshops and symposia in locations that vary from year to year, including the 2013 River Management Workshop in Grand Junction, Colorado, USA March 11-14, 2013.
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As the popularity of river rafting skyrocketed decades ago, river managers realized that there was a tremendous need for systems to manage, transport and pack human waste out from the river, responsibly. RMS' predecessor, the American River Management Society, published Better Bathrooms for Boaters: a Sourcebook for River Managers to provide information about collection and disposal techniques and suggestions for communicating new regulatory requirements to river recreationists. In addition, it reported on the results of a pilot project that measured the reported use of recommended human waste systems.