The River Network, a Colorado-based national nonprofit organization that supports local and statewide organizations involved in restoring and protecting rivers and streams, has named WV Rivers Coalition’s executive director Angie Rosser as one of its 2017 River Heroes. The River Heroes Award was created in 2001 to recognize and celebrate people whose efforts to protect and restore their local waters have been extraordinary in scope, scale, impact and heart.

Angie Rosser joined West Virginia Rivers Coalition (WV Rivers) as the Executive Director in 2012, after serving on the Board of Directors.  With a background working in West Virginia on social justice issues in the non-profit sector, Angie brings a professional commitment to clean water for the common good as well as a uniquely personal desire to protect the waters of the Elk River that flow through her backyard. As the statewide voice for water-based recreation and clean rivers and streams in West Virginia, WV Rivers Coalition unites diverse people who understand the connection between our public recreation lands and the waters on which we all rely. When the 2014 chemical spill occurred on the Elk River in West Virginia, Angie was there to bring voice to the hundreds of thousands of people without water.

Serving also as the West Virginia Headwaters Waterkeeper, Angie’s work is instrumental in the protection of the six rivers within the Monongahela National Forest which provide drinking water for millions of Americans. With Angie at the helm, WV Rivers broadened its reach and impact at both the state and federal levels, within challenging political climates. As the WV state affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation, Angie serves as Co-Chair of the NWF Water Caucus. She is also the current Co-Chair of the Choose Clean Water Coalition, which works to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Angie works to create partnerships with leaders from across the region and country, but it’s her deep passion for the work that inspires others in West Virginia and beyond.