Oliver Kite popularised to a wide audience the Netheravon style of nymph fishing invented by Frank Sawyer, the Avon riverkeeper and author, to whom he gave full credit in his book "Nymph Fishing in Practice", first published in 1963.
He is currently a Board Emeritus for the Buffalo-Niagara Riverkeeper and a spokesman for the Niagara River Environmenttal Coalition.
Nothing was done about this until 1984, when Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., sentenced to 1,500 hours of community service with Hudson Riverkeeper after an arrest for heroin possession the year before, heard from the organization's founder, John Cronin, about local complaints about the pollution of Quassaick Creek.
Terry Backer and Chris Staplefelt were referred by Bob Gaberilson a Nyack, New York Shad fisherman to then Riverkeeper John Cronin and Riverkeeper Attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to help them become organized.