How the Alliance Began
Like all things in nature, relationships are vital to community sustainability and resilience — and envisioning a future ecology for native rivercane is no exception. The Rivercane Restoration Alliance's community of practice has continued to grow from a history rooted in collaboration.
On October 13–15, 2021, the USACE Tribal Nations Technical Center of Expertise (TNTCX), in planning and collaboration with Tribal, State, Federal, Industry, and Academic partners, hosted the Indigenous Approaches to Rivercane Restoration Workshop. The workshop was funded by the USACE Sustainable Rivers Program through a grant co-authored by Dr. Michael Fedoroff and Mr. Brian Zettle. Nearly 200 people participated in the three-day virtual workshop, designed to promote Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK) and outline how to integrate Indigenous perspectives into rivercane restoration science and conservation. Participants included Tribal partners, the US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Geological Survey, other federal and state agencies, rivercane artists, community leaders, and students. Participants shared stories about their relationships with rivercane, prepared conceptual models through facilitated small-group exercises, and discussed how to collaborate on rivercane recovery projects while also expanding education on the importance of rivercane restoration. The workshop's outcomes identified a need for better communication and a community of practice among rivercane restoration specialists and land managers.
From this need, the Rivercane Restoration Alliance (RRA) was born in 2022. Although its beginnings were humble and rooted in government, given the state, federal, and tribal governments involved, the RRA has since grown from a dozen members to well over 100 — rivercane enthusiasts, conservationists, academics, and large land managers who have joined its ranks in support of the plant's restoration.
The Alliance was originally hosted by the Alabama Water Institute's CONSERVE research program at the University of Alabama, with a goal of growing its restoration influence across the greater Southeastern United States. Since then, the Alliance has moved on from that hosted arrangement to become its own standalone nonprofit organization, continuing to conduct large-scale restoration projects and provide expertise in support of rivercane ecosystem work across the region. The organization has sponsored several online resources on rivercane propagation and launched a podcast dedicated to the plant. Above all, the Alliance was created to give voice to rivercane ecosystem activities and to support its members and partners toward a future ecology of cane.
This webpage is designed as a resource for the native rivercane community of practice in order to foster new relationships, sustain old ones, and grow opportunities to revitalize native rivercane ecosystems across the United States — and to share both the successes and challenges of rivercane restoration and conservation with its members.
Our Goals
Identify Partners & Shared Vision
Bring government agencies, researchers, land managers, and communities together around a common understanding and appreciation of what successful native rivercane ecosystem recovery looks like.
Facilitate Technical Workshops
Create space for all types of knowledge and knowledge holders to share best practices for rivercane conservation, preservation, and restoration.
Develop Conceptual Ecological Models
Grounded in synthesized perspectives that can be applied to ecological decision making frameworks.
Guide Site-Specific Restoration
Identify data and knowledge gaps, then prepare recommendations for land managers and partner restoration projects at specific scales.
Why Rivercane Is a Cultural Keystone Species
Rivercane (Arundinaria gigantea) is North America's only native bamboo. Historically, it lined southeastern waterways from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Mississippi Delta, and its range extended from Florida to New York and west to Ohio and Texas, with dense canebrake stands sometimes exceeding 20 feet in height.
For many Native American communities in the Southeast, rivercane qualifies as a cultural keystone species — one that shapes, in a major way, the cultural identity of a people. It plays critical roles in diet, materials, medicine, and spiritual practice, and its use in traditional basket weaving requires specialized knowledge: identifying the right harvest timing, stem diameter, stand health, and age class.
Rivercane is also an ecological anchor. Its dense stands filter water, purify air, control erosion, stabilize creek banks, improve soil quality, buffer floods, and create natural fire barriers — while providing habitat for species including the Swainson's Warbler and Louisiana black bear.
A Landscape in Decline
Once abundant, canebrake ecosystems are now critically endangered. More than 98% of historic rivercane has been eliminated by agricultural conversion, livestock grazing, fire suppression, and urbanization — leaving an estimated 12 dense canebrake stands remaining nationwide. USACE has acknowledged that its own infrastructure projects have historically contributed to these losses, and is now pursuing sustainable, collaborative restoration approaches through the Alliance.