This year, for its 35th anniversary issue in October, Outside worked with American Rivers to identify the top 10 river towns in the U.S. and is now calling on the public to help select the best one from a pool of ten finalists.  Vote now  through July 10 for Nevada City!  SYRCL is featured as a reason this is a top ten river town highlighting:

“10: The number of days it took the Nevada City-based environmental nonprofit SYRCL to gather 5,000 signatures from locals to save nearby South Yuba State Park. The recreation area, one of 70 parks California slated for closure in May, remains open to the public.” today.

The winning town will receive the official honor of Outside’s “Best River Town in America” and will be featured on the October 2012 magazine cover, Outside Online, and an exclusive segment on Outside Television.

To select the finalists, Outside and American Rivers scoured the nation for towns that have both the usual quality-of-living criteria and also an active recreational engagement with nearby waterways—kayaking, fishing, boating, walking and bike paths, and riverfront parks—and a positive environmental story. After several rounds of vetting by Outside and American Rivers, the following towns were selected:  Hood River, Oregon; Nevada City, California; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Asheville, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Boise, Idaho; Missoula, Montana; Durango, Colorado; Ithaca, New York; and Richmond, Virginia.

So, vote TODAY for Nevada City as the best river town with all the incredible opportunities to hike, fish, paddle, and bike along the wild and scenic Yuba River!

“This year’s list of Best Towns finalists is our most competitive yet,” says Outside’s editor, Christopher Keyes, “Not only do each of these places offer amazing quality of life and fantastic opportunities for recreation, they also recognize the vital importance of their local waterways and have each made outstanding commitments to protect these resources. I can’t wait to see which town wins.”

“We are excited to partner with Outside on this contest, which celebrates the importance of rivers in our lives,” said Bob Irvin, president of American Rivers. “All of us care about clean water, and about the rivers where we fish, swim, and paddle. These towns are all great examples of how protecting and restoring rivers brings great recreation, health, and economic benefits to the community.”

As part of the contest, the public can vote, submit photos, video and comments backing up their selection; content that will have a chance to appear in the Outside magazine and on Outside Television. All voters will have a chance to win a five-day adventure to one of the top ten towns. The winning town will be determined through a combination of total votes; overall support as a result of content submitted; and creativity.

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Take Action by miriamlimov