RIVER NAVIGATOR BOOSTS LOCAL POTOMAC EFFORT

March 5, 1999 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RIVER NAVIGATOR BOOSTS LOCAL POTOMAC EFFORT
“Friends of the Potomac,” a coalition of nearly 200 local organizations, businesses, governments and individuals, announced today that Glenn Eugster of Alexandria, VA, has been appointed River Navigator for the Potomac American Heritage River. Last July President Clinton designated the entire Potomac River basin as one of the nation’s 14 American Heritage Rivers, based upon the nomination submitted by Friends of the Potomac. American Heritage Rivers are expected to serve as models for innovative, economically successful and ecologically sustainable approaches to river conservation, restoration and revitalization. The River Navigator’s assistance is a benefit of the Presidential designation.
In his position as the Potomac River Navigator, Eugster is assigned to work with the lead federal agency for the Potomac, the National Park Service (NPS), and with the Friends of the Potomac to help them implement the community's AHR nomination plan. His office is at the NPS National Capital Regional office in Washington, D.C.’s Potomac Park.
Eugster, the first of the 14 River Navigators to be appointed, was selected after a nationwide interview process involving the Friends of the Potomac’s steering committee. Trained as a landscape architect and ecological planner, Eugster has more that twenty years experience working for local governments, NPS, the Chesapeake Bay Program and the Environmental Protection Agency. “I look forward to working cooperatively with local governments, community organizations and private landowners ‘helping them to help themselves’ carry out community conservation, revitalization and restoration efforts,” Eugster said.
Eugster assisted public and private leaders in designing and implementing the 1994 Potomac River Watershed Visions Project, the 1996 Chesapeake Bay Program Land, Growth & Stewardship Policy, many NPS Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program projects and various EPA non-regulatory community-based programs and grants. He has helped local initiatives in Wheeling, WV, Southern Maryland, Adams and Bedford counties, PA and Loudoun County, VA.
American Heritage River designation provides Potomac basin communities with enhanced assistance under existing federal programs. Eugster is convening federal agency representatives into a Potomac AHR Team, which is expected to include such agencies as the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Economic Development Administration, US Geological Survey, US Army, US Forest Service, Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency, Fish & Wildlife Service, Office of Surface Mining and Natural Resources Conservation Service. The Potomac AHR Federal Agency Team will work with river communities to identify technical and funding needs. The River Navigator, in cooperation with Friends of the Potomac, will serve as a liaison with federal agencies and will provide coordination as communities and organizations implement locally-led strategies for nutrient reduction, living resource restoration, heritage tourism, environmental education, recreation trails, geographic information systems, community revitalization, and other projects.
Besides endorsements from local elected officials in most Potomac basin counties, the Potomac’s AHR designation was supported by U.S. Senators Paul S. Sarbanes (D-MD), Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), Charles S. Robb (D-VA), Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD), and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and House of Representatives members Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD), Tom M. Davis (R-VA), Constance A. Morella (R-MD), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), James P. Moran (D-VA) and Albert R. Wynn (D-MD).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CALL FRIENDS OF THE POTOMAC AT (703) 522-8783.