Washington, DC - In the coming weeks, President Clinton will designate ten rivers as American Heritage Rivers. Although the Upper Susquehanna-Lackawanna River Watershed was not on the list of ten rivers recommended today to the President by the American Heritage Rivers Advisory Committee, Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11) remains optimistic that the President will recognize the value of our watershed's application.

"This is not over yet. Of course I am disappointed that the Advisory Committee chose not to recommend the Upper Susquehanna-Lackawanna Watershed to the President, but the final decision rests with the President. I will be spending the next several weeks convincing the President that the Upper Susquehanna-Lackawanna Watershed should be named an American Heritage River. Regardless of the final result, the residents of Northeastern Pennsylvania should be proud of the way our community united to support this application. With 126 rivers competing for ten recommendations, it has always been recognized that the odds were against the Upper Susquehanna-Lackawanna Watershed being recommended," remarked Congressman Kanjorski.

"I remain hopeful and I remain committed to working to obtain the designation for Northeastern Pennsylvania. As one of my predecessors in this congressional seat, Revolutionary War hero Frederick Muhlenberg, noted, 'There is a time to preach and a time to fight and now is the time to fight!'" added Kanjorski.

Director of the American Heritage Rivers initiative Karen Hobbs emphasized that the Advisory Committee was recommending ten rivers to the President, but that the President retained the authority to select any ten rivers. She noted that the Advisory Committee thought the application of the Upper Susquehanna-Lackawanna River Watershed was in the top 20 of the 126 applications submitted to the committee. She estimated that the President would make his selections within two to four weeks.

The following is an unofficial list of the rivers recommended by the Advisory Committee: the Upper Mississippi River, the Hudson River, the Rio Grande River, the Potomac River, the St. Johns River (Florida), the Connecticut River, the New River (Virginia), the Willamette River (Oregon), and the Hanalei River (Hawaii). No river in Pennsylvania or Ohio was recommended by the Advisory Committee.