Janet Moreland

My love for rivers began while growing up immersed in the American River around Sacramento, CA. After moving to Columbia, MO, much later in life, my attention turned to the Missouri River and the community of River Rats who adopted the river as their playground. Most of us, if not all, have Mike Cooper and Cooper’s Landing to thank for that.

Missouri River Relief added purpose to our lives by enabling us to become stewards of the river for decades with their community river cleanups, locking in a way of life for me that I had not anticipated.

While working and playing at the river most days, I pursued an education degree and was able to teach 7th grade science nine years before retiring in 2023. My first year of teaching was on the Lower Brule Sioux Indian reservation, a community on the Missouri River. I also managed to complete three solo source-to-sea expeditions on the MO River, Mississippi, and the Yukon.

Unable to pass up an adventure I soon, albeit cautiously, accepted the invitation to participate in one of the support boats for the upcoming Missouri River Speed Record. It is apparent to me now that I could not deny the inevitable. Perhaps we can all shout out our love for the wondrous Great River Missouri to help grow river steward communities far and wide.

Die with memories, not dreams