Sidedoor: The Riverkeeper

Fred Tutman is a voice for Maryland’s Patuxent River. In 2004, he founded Patuxent Riverkeeper, an environmental advocacy organization. His mission is to protect and preserve all 110 miles of the Patuxent—a mission that takes him to the courtroom and to the riverbank. Fred is also the only African-American "Riverkeeper" in the Waterkeeper Alliance in the U.S., which he sees as an indicator of an environmental movement that is incomplete—one the planet will pay the price for.

“It’s very hard in these big conservation movements for people of color to be ourselves,” said Tutman.

“We need not only all hands on deck, but we actually need movements that are adaptable enough to embrace and serve all.”

This episode was produced by Sidedoor, a podcast from the Smithsonian.

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