Jessie Thomas-Blate
Coordinator, Most Endangered Rivers
Department: Conservation
Area of Focus: Jessie works with our staff and partners to develop our Most Endangered Rivers Program and annual report.
Background: Jessie joined American Rivers in 2010. Prior to that she worked for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission as their Habitat Coordinator. There she played a fundamental role in the establishment of the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership. Jessie also did an internship at the Natural Resources Defense Council where she focused on the reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act.
Education: B.S. in Biology from Mary Washington College, and M.S. in Natural Resources from Delaware State University
Favorite River: Rappahannock River
Blog Posts By This Author
Listen To The River, And Then Fight For It!
May 16, 2013 | Most Endangered Rivers, Water Pollution
Such is the mood and the temperament of the Kawishiwi River winding its way thru the heart of America's canoe wilderness, the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. How could a wilderness river be threatened when it has survived so pure for twelve thousand years since its birth under glacial ice?
Read more »It’s a Matter of Pride. School Pride.
May 15, 2013 | Most Endangered Rivers, Water Pollution
Should the University of Alabama decide to lease or sell land and mineral rights at Shepherd Bend, the proposed coal mine on the Black Warrior River would diminish quality of life for communities along the river, impact drinking water quality, and increase water treatment costs for hundreds of thousands of people in Birmingham.
Read more »Knowing When To Say No
May 13, 2013 | Most Endangered Rivers, Water Pollution
I live in a suburb of Washington, D.C., where strip malls are the norm. It gives me great peace of mind to know that places like Bristol Bay (including the Kvichack and Nushagak Rivers and their tributaries) exist. Even if I never see it in person, I can picture in my head the wild free-flowing rivers with their abundant runs of salmon, Arctic char, rainbow trout, dolly varden, and grayling.
Read more »A Miner’s Take on Mining the Boundary Waters
May 8, 2013 | Most Endangered Rivers, Water Pollution
My wife, Pat, and I stopped by the South Kawishiwi River last week. The river current is starting to take out the ice in the narrows, and in a few days we'll have a canoe in the water again.
We see evidence of exploratory drilling for copper-nickel mines, but spring load limits are on some of the roads so we won't see the big rigs moving for a few days. So far, the drilling has confirmed that the Duluth Complex is a low grade ore body in a high grade environment— Superior National Forest.
Protecting Special Places is Important for Local Businesses
May 1, 2013 | Most Endangered Rivers, Water Pollution
The resort lies across the river from the Twin Metals sulfide metal mining exploration area, which caused the Boundary Waters to be declared one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2013. Visitors do not come here to listen to the drone of drills and heavy equipment going on across the lake in an area considered “ground zero” for sulfide mining exploration.
Read more »