Upper Neuse Riverkeeper®, Dean Naujoks, serves as a full time advocate committed to safe guarding Falls Lake, the Neuse River and all its tributaries with the intent to inform and educate communities and enforce environmental regulations. Through constant vigilance, Riverkeepers keep polluters in line by patrolling the watershed, analyzing permits, communicating with regulators and elected officals, using litigation when necessary and works with local citizens to provide a strong voice to better protect water quality in the Neuse basin. If a polluter is found or suspected of violating the law, the Riverkeeper investigates them and brings evidence to the Board of Directors, comprised of attorneys, scientists, and businesspeople. The Board of Directors, in cooperation with similar "Waterkeeper®" programs, other environmental organizations, and various experts, create solutions to enforce compliance of environmental laws. By placing boats on the Neuse River and other rivers and equipping them for patrol, Riverkeepers, Soundkeepers, Coastkeepers and Baykeepers around the world are making a statement: We are here to stay! We are investing in our community by providing for its defense. With the help of citizens like yourself and an armory of legal weapons to punish those who abuse our public trust waters, Keepers have proven to be the David who successfully topples many a polluting Goliath. Riverkeeper believes in the rights of every citizen to enjoy and defend our nation's water resources. It is incumbent upon us to provide clean water for future generations instead of leaving a legacy of toxic waste sites, denuded landscapes and billion dollar clean-ups that our children have no ability to pay. John Cronin, the first Riverkeeper on the Hudson River, said it best: I realized that Riverkeeper was really about the right of any child to cast a line in the river and catch a fish for the family dinner. Of all the complex issues we would endeavor to solvepower plants killing fish, landfills destroying wetlands, sewage treatment plants polluting drinking waternone would prove a greater challenge than that small, simple dream. The Neuse River Foundation and our two full-time Riverkeepers can not do this work alone. We need your help. Please join the Neuse River Foundation.
"When things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, the citizens, when well informed, can be relied upon to set them right". Thomas Jefferson
My promise to you:
I will be dedicated to the protection of this river and its surrounding environment for our children, our community, and the aquatic life that depends on this river.
I understand that water is a finite resource and less than 1% of all the water on the planet is available fresh water. Thus, I will communicate the idea that clean water is in the public interest.
I will do what I can to protect the river when it is threatened. I will hold myself and others accountable to meet the goals that are needed to protect this river.
I will listen and learn.
I will not compromise the long-term health of the Neuse River.
I will maintain a consistent physical presence on the water.
I will work with my community and others in the watershed to advocate on behalf of the river.
I will investigate problems, act as a citizen scientist and attorney so that future generations can enjoy this important resource.
I will become an expert on the river.
I will encourage dialogue.
I will be the eyes, ears, and provide a strong voice for the river .but I need your help.
Both the Upper and Lower Neuse Riverkeepers are part of the international Waterkeeper Alliance® over 137 programs worldwide.
Dean Naujoks Bio Dean Naujoks became the first Upper Neuse Riverkeeper, based in Raleigh NC, in 2001. Dean is an outdoors enthusiast, an avid hunter and angler. He has canoed and rafted thousands of miles of rivers and streams from Costa Rica to Alaska. He and his wife Kathy love to travel, visiting many of the Countrys National Parks. After working for eight years for the NC Wildlife Federation on numerous statewide environmental issues, including the implentation of the Neuse Rules, Dean returned to NC State University to create his own major in environmental policy and sustainable development, graduating cum laude. He became the first Upper Neuse Riverkeeper in 2001. Dean currently serves on the Board of Directors for the NC Wildlife Federation (2002-present), served on the Board of the Umstead State Park Coaltion (2001-2004), received bypartisan city council support to serve on Raleighs Tree Conservation Task Force (2002-2005) and Raleighs Stormwater Management Advisory Commission (2002-present). Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker and Wake County Commissioner Chair, Joe Bryant tapped Dean to serve on a PCB Task Force to make recommendations on how Raleigh and Wake County should pursue clean up of PCB contamination from Ward Transformer. Dean was recently appointed through the Governors office to serve on the Neuse Basin Oversight Committee for the Neuse Agriculture Rules.
