President Bill Clinton, in his 1997 State of the Union Address, announced the American Heritage Rivers Initiative (AHRI). It is a national program that helps communities revitalize their rivers and their watersheds by offering streamlined access to federal resources for projects that are created, planned, and implemented by the local communities. On July 30, 1998, President Clinton and Vice President Gore visited Ashe County, North Carolina to officially designate the New River as one of the fourteen American Heritage Rivers. The New River Watershed covers a vast amount of territory; it spans across 21 counties in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. The New River Community Partners (NRCP) is a "grassroots" organization founded to oversee and coordinate the implementation of the AHRI for the New River Watershed. For more information on the AHRI, NRCP, or the New River Watershed refer to the following URL’s:

R.U.G.S. Adopt-A-Stream Homepage

R.U.G.S. Homepage

Radford University Homepage