Wilkes-Barre, PA - The Upper Susquehanna-Lackawanna Watershed Steering Committee met Tuesday to discuss the status of the environmental restoration and economic revitalization efforts being undertaken as part of the American Heritage River initiative.

Earlier on Tuesday, Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11) met with an ad-hoc "Anthracite Region Technical Committee," which is composed of representatives of various federal agencies with an interest in reducing acid mine drainage and reclaiming mine-scarred land in the former anthracite region. Representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Army Corps of Engineers, US Geological Survey, Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, and Office of Surface Mining discussed how to maximize federal resources and eliminate duplication among federal agencies with overlapping authority to restore land and water damaged by past coal-mining practices.

Members of the Steering Committee met with the newly-appointed "river navigator," who will oversee the day-to-day operations of the economic development and clean-up initiatives: Alex Rogers, currently an attorney at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. The Natural Resources and Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has provided a grant of $132,500 to the Pennsylvania Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Consortium to cover the salaries of the navigator and support staff, as well as other overhead costs associated with coordinating the activities of the Upper Susquehanna-Lackawanna Watershed. The PA GIS Consortium is a non-profit organization led by Wilkes University and King's College to promote the use of GIS in the Upper Susquehanna-Lackawanna Watershed.

Congressman Kanjorski remarked, "Having access to funds to hire a River Navigator is one of the major benefits of an American Heritage River designation. Given the 9 counties and nearly 200 municipalities in the watershed, having one person to help coordinate our joint progress on restoring the watershed is essential. The residents of Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania are fortunate to get someone of the caliber of Alex Rogers to oversee the day-to-day progress of the initiative. Final decision-making authority, of course, will still rest with the Steering Committee, which consists of representatives of groups that played a major role in the drafting of the American Heritage River application and representatives of the five counties that encompass most of the Upper Susquehanna-Lackawanna Watershed."

"This is a very exciting initiative for Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania and I am very pleased to join the strong team that is already in place," Rogers said. "On a more personal level, my wife and I are very excited to move to the region and raise our family here.

While in private law practice for the past five years, Mr. Rogers has had a general litigation practice, with an emphasis on white-collar criminal defense, complex commercial disputes, congressional and corporate internal investigations, and securities law. His practice has included cases involving defamation, criminal law, antitrust, election law, securities law, standardized educational testing, fraud and business torts. Rogers' clients have included McDonald's, Educational Testing Service, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Northrop Grumman, Conrail, Capital Cities/ABC, and US West. Mr. Rogers is a member of the Pennsylvania, District of Columbia, and New York Bars and of the American Bar Association.

Rogers is a graduate of Amherst College (B.A. 1987, magna cum laude) and Columbia University School of Law (J.D. 1993, James Kent Scholar). He was the Writing and Research Editor of the Columbia Law Review and a law clerk for Judge David M. Ebel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit during the 1993-1994 term. Rogers gained a great deal of knowledge of Northeastern Pennsylvania while serving as the Economic Development Director for Congressman Kanjorski from 1987 to 1990.

Mr. Rogers is married to the former Pamela Jones, who graduated from Wyoming Valley West High School, Wilkes University, and the Culinary Institute of America. She is a freelance consultant, providing culinary and public relations advice to a variety of food-related clients, and also works for Bedwick & Jones Printing, Inc. in Hanover Industrial Estates, in which her parents are partners. Alex and Pamela Rogers have one daughter, Hannah, and will soon reside in Kingston, Pennsylvania.

The American Heritage Rivers initiative is a comprehensive effort to assist and promote rivers that have important cultural, historical, economic, and environmental value and needs. President Clinton and Vice President Gore have directed federal agencies to give top priority to funding projects located in the fourteen areas across the nation that received the American Heritage River designation. The Upper Susquehanna-Lackawanna Watershed stretches north from Northumberland County to include parts of Montour, Columbia, Sullivan, Schuylkill, Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wayne, and Susquehanna counties.