American Rivers
“To protect wild rivers, restore damaged rivers, and conserve clean water.”
7 comments to the agencies, 78 cents of every dollar to the work.
The work
What they do
Protects wild rivers, restores damaged rivers, and conserves clean water.
Where the money went, FY2024
The work, and what it cost
Mobilize River and Water Movement
$2.2M, 6% of spendingAmerican Rivers has always been known for our willingness and ability to work with everyone, from local partners to government agencies to decision-makers, to do what’s best for rivers.
Including $73,909 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
MOBILIZE RIVER AND WATER MOVEMENT: AMERICAN RIVERS HAS ALWAYS BEEN KNOWN FOR OUR WILLINGNESS AND ABILITY TO WORK WITH EVERYONE, FROM LOCAL PARTNERS TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO DECISION-MAKERS, TO DO WHAT'S BEST FOR RIVERS. WE KNOW THAT THE CHALLENGES TO RIVERS ARE INCREASING DRAMATICALLY. WE NEED A BROAD, POWERFUL, NON-PARTISAN RIVER MOVEMENT TO FACE THESE CHALLENGES AND DRIVE CHANGE THAT MAKES RIVERS HEALTHIER, WATER CLEANER, AND COMMUNITIES SAFER. WE WON'T STOP UNTIL EVERY RIVER HAS MULTITUDES OF CHAMPIONS SPEAKING UP FOR IT.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Protect Healthy Rivers
$1.3M, 4% of spendingScientists say we must protect one-half of the planet to sustain the web of biodiversity upon which all life depends.
Including $132,242 granted onward, all of it to Hgs LLC.
Read it as they filed it
PROTECT HEALTHY RIVERS: SCIENTISTS SAY WE MUST PROTECT ONE-HALF OF THE PLANET TO SUSTAIN THE WEB OF BIODIVERSITY UPON WHICH ALL LIFE DEPENDS. BY DRIVING FEDERAL AND STATE PROTECTIONS, WE WILL SAFEGUARD 1 MILLION MILES OF RIVERS, FROM REMOTE MOUNTAIN STREAMS TO URBAN WATERWAYS. TO DO IT, WE ARE WORKING WITH LOCAL PARTNERS TO PROTECT OUR HEALTHIEST, MOST REMOTE, AND SCENIC RIVERS, AS WELL AS RIVERS IN URBAN AND SUBURBAN AREAS, THROUGH THE FEDERAL WILD AND SCENIC LEGISLATION AND OTHER APPROACHES.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
78 cents of every dollar goes to the work
Read it as a snapshot, not a scorecard. Splits move year to year with grants and campaigns, and healthy shops live all across this range.
$26,693,551 programs, $2,765,136 management, $4,563,790 fundraising. Form 990, FY2024.
The backers
Backed on the record by Pew Charitable Trusts, Kresge Foundation, Walton Family Foundation and 4 others, latest filing FY25.
The people
Who does the work
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. If it’s out of date, tell us. Work at American Rivers? Claim this page.
Those 55 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If American Rivers is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Find your way inThe filings
13 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at or tap the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2012 | $12,667,785 |
| 2013 | $13,734,850 |
| 2014 | $13,156,638 |
| 2015 | $15,444,339 |
| 2016 | $11,507,578 |
| 2017 | $21,865,742 |
| 2018 | $23,120,033 |
| 2019 | $22,856,542 |
| 2020 | $16,657,900 |
| 2021 | $19,261,580 |
| 2022 | $18,619,634 |
| 2023 | $21,808,405 |
| 2024 | $36,643,206 |
From $12.7M in 2012 to $36.6M in FY24, with no missed filing in 13 years. FY24 is the highest year on file.
In court
Fights alongside Advocates for the West (1 shared case), Center for Biological Diversity (1 shared case), Earthworks (1 shared case) and Idaho Conservation League (1 shared case). Same case, same side, on the federal docket. Their dockets on CourtListener.
On the Hill
American Rivers files its own federal lobbying reports: 30 filings from 2019 to 2025, naming 13 bills. The filings, at the Senate.
Most filed on clean air and water, natural resources and the environment.
The record
On the record with the agencies
7 comments on federal decisions since 2023, each filed under the group’s own name on regulations.gov. The latest on decisions we track:
Year by year
The record, in order
- 1973American Rivers is formed.the directory; the return’s own formation year is 1974
- 2021First appears in Kendeda Fund’s grants.the funder’s return
- 2022First appears in the grants of Kresge Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, Wilburforce Foundation and William & Flora Hewlett Foundation.the funders’ returns
- 2023First appears in the grants of Pew Charitable Trusts and Resources Legacy Fund.the funders’ returns
- 2025Save the South Fork Salmon v. U.S. Forest Service: plaintiff, closed.the docket
- 4 comments, most to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- 20263 comments, most to the Bureau of Land Management, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
Green, a funder’s return. Hollow, a filing. Every row is a record we hold: 1 federal case with the group on the docket, 7 comments filed under its own name, 7 funders whose returns name it. Nothing here is written from memory.
Their ground
The places they defend
Plaintiff in the February 2025 federal lawsuit over the Stibnite Gold Project’s threats to the East Fork South Fork Salmon River.
Who’s defending it In the fight · On watchSattitla Highlands National MonumentOpposes rolling back the designation, citing the monument’s volcanic aquifers as critical to California’s water supply
Who’s defending it In the fight · On watchRio Grande del Norte National MonumentJoined the October 2024 formal protest of the BLM resource management plan amendment seeking full protection for the monument’s lands with wilderness characteristics.
Who’s defending itMost urgent first: open comment windows, then live federal cases, then the threat level. See every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
American Rivers files one related organization on its return: American Rivers Action Fund (501(c)(4)). A related organization shares people or purpose; it does not share the books.
Help complete this profile. If you work here, claim it and send us your current campaigns and the best way for supporters to get involved. An editor checks what you send before it goes up.
Ways in
How to help
Straight to their own donation page. Your dollar never passes through us.
Give on their site ↗Show upVolunteer with themFind their volunteer door on their own site.
Find it on their site ↗SpeakComment and callOpen comment windows and call scripts for fights like these, ready to send.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapStand with American Rivers
The mission is theirs. The backing is yours.