Introducing guest blogger Bart Mihailovich, the Spokane Riverkeeper | Environment

I am very excited and honored to have been given the opportunity to become a guest blogger on KXLY's network of neighborhood sites, so I thought I'd start off by introducing myself.

My name is Bart Mihailovich and I am YOUR Spokane Riverkeeper.  Being that my job title and description is all about the Spokane River, you can expect that I'll almost entirely be posting about the Spokane River and the greater Spokane River Watershed.

So what is the Spokane Riverkeeper you might be asking.  Great question.  Hopefully between myself and Redband Trout in the attached video you can learn a little bit more about what I do.

But in a nutshell, Spokane Riverkeeper is a program  of the Center for Justice which is a non-profit law firm that protects civil rights, guards the environment and ensures that government is functioning fairly.  The Riverkeeper program, of which I direct, is a vigilant guardian of the Spokane River and its watershed and an effective advocate for the restoration and preservation of the river's ecological health and aesthetic integrity.  Spokane Riverkeeper is a member of Waterkeeper Alliance, one of the world’s fastest growing environmental movements, with nearly 200 Waterkeepers patrolling rivers, lakes and coastal waterways on six continents. 

Spokane Riverkeeper was founded in 2009, and I have been the Spokane Riverkeeper since 2010.  The work I do is a blend between advocacy, citizen enforcement of clean water laws and education about water quality issues.  I tell people all the time that I have one of the greatest jobs in the world and I truly mean it.

One of the best things about my job is I get to do it right here in Spokane.  I'm originally from Butte, Montana but I have lived in this area since 2001.  I attended Eastern Washington University and received a degree in journalism in 2006 (Go Eagles!).  After college I helped start Down To Earth, an environmental issues blog and website through the Spokesman Review.  Through the website was spawned a public affairs radio program on KYRS, also called Down To Earth, that I have co-hosted every Tuesday afternoon from 12:30-1:15 with my co-host Paul Dillon.  We've done the show now for nearly five years.  

Aside from writing on my own blog on the Riverkeeper website, I also contribute to the Huffington Post, EcoWatch and the Waterkeeper Alliance magazine, "WATERKEEPER".

In my spare time I love to float rivers, fly fish, play disc golf, enjoy Spokane's great beer and food scene, travel with my wife, explore the state of Washington and attend EWU sporting events.  

If you ever have any questions or suggestions, I'm always available via email - bart@cforjustice.org

And you can connect with me on Twitter @BartMihailovich and @SpokaneRiverKpr

I look forward to writing about the Spokane River and hearing from all of you.