Bankhead/Schrieber River Guardian

At the Foundation's Social, we announced and presented a new honor we call the: "Bankhead/Schrieber River Guardian". We created it to recognize the most extraordinary contributions to our River and River Community. It signifies efforts to guard our River as a precious resource, not just as a fishery, but as a special place to re-create and reinvigorate.

It is named for the first we honor as our River Guardians - Connie Schrieber and Eric Bankhead - for their commitment, hard work, and because they set the standard for conservation guardianship on the North Branch. We will be placing a plaque in the Lovells Historical Museum, with their names and the names of future honorees.

Connie served as the Foundation's treasurer for many years. Her selfless hard work and accounting skills assured the Foundation had a sound fiscal base that enabled us to take on ever more significant conservation projects.

Eric started the North Branch's important Riverkeeper Program, and was its first leader. He created the program's guidelines and procedures that made it so successful in maintaining our River. Eric recruited, trained and coordinated the volunteers for each reach. He took the calls, referred the violations to the authorities, and got the contractors in for the fix - or did it himself.

Eric's and Connie's outstanding leadership have inspired our River community to take up the conservation efforts, positively affecting our River for years to come.