Mission Statement

Friends of the Pedlar River, located near Pleasant View in Amherst County, Virginia, offers educational programs to increase understanding, awareness, and knowledge of the Pedlar River watershed community.
  
Through free, hands-on programs based in the riparian forests and streams of western Amherst County, the Friends of the Pedlar River create opportunities to explore the wonderful complexity of the natural world and fosters responsible stewardship and conservation of the rich and diverse natural resources in this special part of Virginia.

What is a Stream Critter?

“The Friends of the Pedlar River are working to protect our stream critters, thereby ensuring that living waterways remain a part of Amherst County, Virginia’s most civilized wilderness. Stream critters that live in the Pedlar River watershed are nature's indicators of water quality. Their abundance and diversity in this part of the Blue Ridge Mountains is testimony to the water quality that the residents of Amherst and Lynchburg enjoy. The Pedlar Reservoir in western Amherst County is the public water source for the City of Lynchburg. The streams that feed it are mostly in the George Washington National Forest, owned by all of us, and the rest of the watershed is under the care of Amherst County residents, though many of them don't realize this. Get involved! Sign up for a critter hunt!  A critter hunt is an opportunity to get your hands into living waterways and learn how to protect your water source.  Support the Friends of the Pedlar River . Help us protect the fragile Pedlar River,  home to the federally endangered James Spinymussel, and a place of beauty  worth preserving.”