Friends of the Kaw (FOK) is a nonprofit,
grassroots environmental organization whose mission is to protect and preserve
the Kaw for all generations.
We seek to: advocate the
rehabilitation of the Kaw’s environs, including water quality and wildlife
habitat;
to promote compatible public recreational uses of the Kaw;
and to encourage
the development of adequate public access.
To these ends we shall seek to
cooperate with other persons, organizations and public agencies.
The Kansas River - known to locals as the Kaw - is the world's longest
prairie river, with a watershed that drains over 53,000 square miles in
Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado. Over 600,000 people depend on the Kaw
for drinking water. Since the Kaw corridor is home to 49% of all
minorities living in Kansas (including 59% African Americans, 51% Asian
Americans, 37% Hispanics, and 35% American Indians), the state's
minority communities are disproportionately affected by the Kaw's water
quality issues.
Brief History
FOK is the only
grassroots citizens’ group committed to protecting the Kaw. When we formed in
1991, the river was almost completely inaccessible to the public. We changed
all that by increasing the number of boat ramps from six to nineteen, and
leading float trips to teach people about the river and show them firsthand the
destruction of commercial dredging. Our first victory came in 1995 when we led
a successful campaign to convince the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) to
deny a permit on the basis of the Kaw’s recreational value. Since then we have
seen the number of permits reduced from 18 to 11, and only six remain currently
active. Since 2001 FOK has been a member of the Waterkeeper Alliance, and we
sponsor the Kansas Riverkeeper as a full time, non-governmental advocate to
represent FOK and the Kaw on every major river stakeholder group. Our methods
and vision have broadened but dredging remains our core issue. Now, we are
prepared to muster our resources to oppose permitting for eleven remaining
in-river dredging operations and encourage these operations to move to
appropriately-located off-river pit mines. FOK has learned a lot about how to
fight dredging, but we are up against a powerful lobbying organization, the
Kansas Aggregate Producers Association, and their history of commercially
dredging the Kaw for the past one hundred years.
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