Rivers and streams are generous, and for as long as humans have been on earth, we have been receiving gifts from them—fish, wildlife, water, plants… In recent times, we have been receiving—and taking—much more. We now irrigate; graze cattle in riparian zones; build houses, roads, and other developments along banks; we put up dams and bridges; we pollute…in modern times the list of how we use and take from rivers goes on and on. All these activites subtract something of value from a stream, be it fish, wildlife, water, grass, habitat. We have finally reached a point on many rivers where it is hard for them to keep giving without suffering irreparable harm—without losing species or key ecoloical processes. We learned in the story, Bull Trout's Gift, when you take, you need to give something in return. Otherwise, a river may quit giving, and we and future generations may lose what many of us cherish: our fish, our wildlife, our natural heritage. One way we can give back to a river is to restore it, repair the damage we have done over the last one hundred years. Click below to explore ways to restore a river, ways we can give back to a river or stream that has been exceptionally generous to us.