A decades-long battle to protect one of the nation's great rivers, the Hudson

THE HUDSON RIVERKEEPERS tells the stirring and dramatic story of how two generations of Hudson River fishermen and environmental activists fought a decades-long battle to protect one of the nation’s great rivers, the Hudson.

“Beautifully photographed, dramatic ... uses the history of environmental activism on the Hudson to show how individuals can have a real impact on their communities.” NEW YORK DAILY NEWS.

Featuring Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.; as well as excerpts from Walter Cronkite’s classic 1965 documentary, “The Majestic Polluted Hudson,” this important film brings to life one of the great environmental achievements in American history. It is also the story of the one of the landmarks in the U.S. environmental movement—because the fight to clean up the Hudson River went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and its favorable ruling helped paved the way for many of the great environmental laws passed in the 1970s, such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.

The Hudson Riverkeepers

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The Hudson Riverkeepers

Release Year: 1998

Duration: 48 min

Availability: Worldwide

THE HUDSON RIVERKEEPERS tells the stirring and dramatic story of how two generations of Hudson River fishermen and environmental activists fought a decades-long battle to protect one of the nation’s great rivers, the Hudson.

“Beautifully photographed, dramatic ... uses the history of environmental activism on the Hudson to show how individuals can have a real impact on their communities.” NEW YORK DAILY NEWS.

Featuring Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.; as well as excerpts from Walter Cronkite’s classic 1965 documentary, “The Majestic Polluted Hudson,” this important film brings to life one of the great environmental achievements in American history. It is also the story of the one of the landmarks in the U.S. environmental movement—because the fight to clean up the Hudson River went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and its favorable ruling helped paved the way for many of the great environmental laws passed in the 1970s, such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.

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Comments

Posted 02/04/09 by XPLR Productions

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS REVIEW:

RIVERKEEPERS MAKES QUITE A SPLASH ON EARTH DAY
By ERIC MINK, Daily News TV Critic

At first glance, “The Hudson Riverkeepers” seems to be an admiring documentary about Riverkeepers, a citizens’ group that patrols the Hudson keeping tabs on pollution, and its leaders Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and John Cronin and author/reporter/fisherman Robert H. Boyle.

But “Riverkeepers,” written, produced and directed to fine effect by executive producer Les Guthman, turns out to be more than that. Beautifully photographed and delicately edited, the film uses the history of environmental activism on the Hudson to show how individuals can have a real impact on their communities, especially when they coalesce into clear-thinking groups backed by the force of law.

Perhaps the most dramatic elements of the film are the stark contrasts between scenes shot along the river today and those included in excerpts from a 1966 CBS News documentary, “The Majestic, Polluted Hudson.” Among those interviewed at the time by Walter Cronkite was Robert F. Kennedy, then the U.S. senator from New York.

Posted 11/26/08 by josh Aronson

An important and informative contribution to the environmental effort to keep the Hudson clean and make it ever cleaner. Bravo, Les.

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