A river with deep local meaning
The Myakka River is woven into everyday life in Sarasota County, Florida, with sunny mornings on the water, fishing, and paddling along the gentle waters with the occasional manatee sighting, if you’re lucky. Like all rivers, its value lies in many things at once. It is a habitat. It is a livelihood. It is clean water. It is local identity, and the backdrop for the memories people carry with them. It is dollars and cents in the pockets of local businesses. It is also part of a larger watershed that connects people together and to the beauty around them amid one of the fastest-growing areas in America.
The Myakka is a rain-fed river, rising and falling with the seasons, sometimes shrinking back to expose dry stretches of riverbed and then filling again with the next rains.
Miri Hardy, founder of the Myakka River Partnership and a longtime advocate for the river, alludes to its emotional pull. She describes what she calls “The Myakka’s magic … it’s just one of those places that gets under your skin.” Her accounts of the river’s meaningful connection to people in the region reflect a broader pattern where people form strong, lasting connections to specific natural backyard places.
Why the Myakka is a case study in cooperative conservation
The Myakka is an inspiring example of how local commitment can shape national conservation efforts through a rich history of cooperation and dedicated river stewardship.
The Myakka River Management Coordinating Council was established in 1985 under Florida’s Myakka River Wild and Scenic Designation and Preservation Act, state-level protection enacted to coordinate management of the river across state agencies.
As Hardy puts it, federal designation is “icing on the cake, but you have to have the cake first.” In other words, federal Wild and Scenic River designation builds on committed, long-term local and state-scale conservation efforts.
That foundation is also part of what has generated strong local enthusiasm to protect the Myakka and its magic. Hardy says, “You just say ‘Myakka’ and their face … it just relaxes, and it breaks into a smile.” For many in Sarasota County, the river is tied to a shared sense of place.
After decades of local effort in one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, residents and advocates recognized that protecting the river would require more than local commitment alone. Ensuring its future meant pursuing protections at the federal level.
Enter Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL-17) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) and the Myakka Wild and Scenic River Act of 2025—a major step towards federal protection.
Established in 1968, the Wild and Scenic Rivers System keeps rivers free-flowing, protects their water quality, and preserves their natural, cultural, and recreational values for future generations. The law that created this special river system was enacted in recognition of the important role that rivers play in communities and for wildlife.
With federal designation, the magical Myakka will join 18 other rivers protected as Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers. These 18 rivers flow through a patchwork of public lands, private property, and various local jurisdictions in eastern states, as opposed to Wild and Scenic Rivers in the west, which cross vast expanses of public lands. Partnership Wild and Scenic River designations bring together communities, tribes, nonprofits, and local governments before designation to hammer out a clear plan for managing rivers across jurisdictional boundaries.
Rivers do not recognize our maps and boundaries. Flowing across public and private lands, they connect people and places in ways that demand shared responsibility. That’s where Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers designations shine. By empowering local communities to lead, this approach brings people together across property lines to protect what they share. Rivers may not follow our boundaries, but through collaboration, they can benefit from lasting protection.
A broader lesson for river protection
The story of the Myakka River offers a larger lesson for our nation. Our 4.4 million miles of rivers are alarmingly under-protected. Roughly 80% lack adequate safeguards, and about two-thirds have no protection at all. Meanwhile, community demands on these waterways are growing, and the threats they face—from extreme weather to pollution—are increasing. Wild and Scenic River designations remain our strongest tool to ensure these rivers continue to support people and wildlife for generations to come. After all, freshwater is one of our nation’s most valuable resources.
People connect to rivers in many ways, but those bonds create a shared understanding of why protecting them matters. Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers offers a locally focused approach, recognizing that protection can take different forms depending on the landscape and the community involved. The Myakka River shows what this can look like in practice.
When people feel connected to a river, they show up for it—and as the Myakka Wild and Scenic River Act of 2025 shows, that connection can turn into powerful long-term national protection.
