'Our common treasure': River Fields leader aims to provide a voice for the Ohio River

Meme Sweets Runyon grew up close to the Ohio River, and she’s now spent decades as a vigorous voice for its protection.

Today, it’s a cleaner river . And where riverbanks were once clotted with industry and brownfields, Louisville and Southern Indiana have worked to establish greenways and a waterfront for the public — albeit with a long way to go.

In her 38 years leading River Fields, a local river and land conservancy, Runyon said the organization has served a crucial role as an advocate for the river and its history.

The group holds conservation easements protecting more than 2,000 acres of local land in perpetuity, has raised alarms about projects that could have adverse effects on the river and serves as a guardian of properties central to the river’s history .

This spring, Runyon passed the reins to Kristin Faurest, the group’s new president and CEO.

In an interview with The Courier Journal, Faurest described a personal mission to protect the public’s access and connection to local waterways.

“When you hear about kids who grow up without any place to go to swim or wade … no swimming hole, no swimming pool, nothing in the neighborhood, I think that's absolutely tragic,” she said.

Faurest's girlhood was shaped by the Ohio River, having grown up along its banks in Southern Indiana. She touted the value of having water access as a child, and pointed to “a big equity issue” in that access across the U.S.

“I feel very lucky to have grown up with that,” she said. “And it's turned me into a grown-up who's very passionate about everybody having what I had as a kid.”

‘A voice for the river and its lands’

Faurest, an educator and expert in landscape architecture, joins River Fields with a wide-ranging resume.

After studying at the University of Louisville and writing for The Courier Journal, she spent more than two decades overseas, including time with the Peace Corps and teaching in Hungary.

“The world is a really great textbook,” she said. “Whatever problem you're struggling with, in your particular environment, somebody in the world has figured out a solution to that somewhere. You just have to look for it.”

She returned to the U.S. in 2016, working at the Portland Japanese Garden in Oregon and later moving back to Louisville and serving as director of education at nearby Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest. Recently, she worked with the River Heritage Conservancy on the realization of Origin Park in Clarksville, Indiana.

Now, Faurest will lead River Fields amid what she calls an “incredible time” for working in land stewardship.

“For the first time in our recorded history, both of the highest posts related to land governance — the director of national parks and the Secretary of the Interior — are held by Native Americans,” Faurest said.

And the country is having some “important and messy conversations,” she added, “about our outdoors and our cultural landscapes and how those have not historically been inclusive.”

River Fields “will continue to be a voice for the river and its lands,” Faurest said, but she also hopes to expand the conservancy’s partnerships and educational offerings, and bring more young people into the fold.

And she doesn’t see conservation as antithetical to local housing needs — a hot-button issue for Louisville, and an oft-cited concern for developers looking to convert natural lands .

Conservation of public lands provides access to everyone, Faurest and Runyon said, and even private land under conservation agreements offers community-wide benefits, such as tree canopy and reduced runoff.

“I'm a big believer in sort of a democratic approach to landscape, and that being able to enjoy the beauty of the river should not be just the territory of the chosen few,” Faurest said. “It should belong to everyone. It's our common treasure.”

Connor Giffin is an environmental reporter for The Courier Journal. Reach him directly at cgiffin@gannett.com or on X @byconnorgiffin .

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: 'Our common treasure': River Fields leader aims to provide a voice for the Ohio River