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
Fishing on the Kootenai is Threatened by Coal Mining
April 26, 2013 | Most Endangered Rivers, Water Pollution
Fishing on the Kootenai is Threatened by Coal MiningThere is major concern for the health of the valley’s beautiful Elk River and the downstream Kootenai River (or Kootenay to Canadians). What is now a world-class fishery with amazing dry fly fishing could in the next few years see drastic changes.
Read more »Don’t Bury My River
April 26, 2013 | Most Endangered Rivers, Floods & Floodplains
My wife and I started visiting the Lazy River Acres area in Knox County, Nebraska in 1971. We bought property adjacent to the Missouri River and built a house in 1977. Since that time, our family has enjoyed the quiet company of the Niobrara and Missouri Rivers.
Read more »Two Special Southern Oregon Creeks
April 25, 2013 | Most Endangered Rivers, Water Pollution
Rough & Ready Creek and Baldface Creek are the most amazing streams you’ve probably never heard of. They both flow through an area of exposed peridotite in southern Oregon, and share a common ridgeline. Rough & Ready Creek flows south into the well-known Wild and Scenic Illinois River, upstream of the commonly boated Illinois River Canyon. Baldface Creek flows west into the North Fork of the Smith River, which later enters California and the spectacular Smith River system.
Read more »Save the Solitude of Shepherd Bend
April 25, 2013 | Most Endangered Rivers, Water Pollution
Shepherd Bend is a large, forested bend on the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River in a remote location with little development, other than some riverfront homes. Folks who live on Shepherd Bend and across the river from it chose to live there because of the peace and quiet, the scenery, and to enjoy the river. It is not uncommon to find local children swimming and fishing in the river. You can always find locals fishing along the river’s banks under large, overhanging trees.
Read more »Rough & Ready Creek is Too Special to Ruin
April 25, 2013 | Most Endangered Rivers, Water Pollution
According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, “[Laura] Skaer [of the Northwest Mining Association] says it may be appropriate to remove some special places from mineral entry, but thinks it should only happen after a thorough mineral survey has taken place.”
In that case, the Northwest Mining Association will be very pleased to know that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has, in fact, done a “very thorough mineral survey” at Rough & Ready Creek, one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2013.
