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Eastern Kentucky University's Center for Appalachian Studies and the Kentucky RIVERKEEPER released the first phase of their Kentucky River survey to selected elected officials from the forty one counties in the watershed last week.  Some of the elected officials with us today provided access to their offices and mentored the early stages of the project by responding to questions and sharing their insights on the importance of the river to Kentuckians.

Students are working with the Kentucky RIVERKEEPER, Pat Banks, to better understand the attitudes, issues, challenges and dreams of people throughout the watershed. They hope to identify and document themes that can bring resources to groups working on river issues, promote sustainable communities and focus attention on a vision for the future of the river.

The EKU—Riverkeeper partnership is designed to promote place-based research and regional stewardship.  It also provides a vehicle for learning valuable research skills and a sense of the importance of active citizenship. 

One student expressed her view of the project this way:

All in all, working with The Kentucky Riverkeeper this semester has been an amazing experience. It's a powerful thought to know that I was a part of something bigger than myself, bigger than EKU, even bigger than all of Madison County. To know that the survey I helped to write will eventually help this organization in making important decisions about something that affects nearly the entire eastern half of the state of Kentucky is an honor. It is something of which to be very proud. Not only that, but seeing the results, perhaps years from now, of something that I put my name on and had my hands on, be they bad or good results, is an overwhelmingly proud feeling that I will carry with me – not just to perhaps put on resumes someday, but for my own self-worth and sense of self. To know that I have helped in an effort to save the Kentucky River is to know that I have been a part of something great.  

Click here to download a copy of the Kentucky Riverkeeper Survey: A Preliminary Summary of Community Leader Views on the Kentucky River in PDF format.