SYRACUSE - Bruce Hazen knows the St. Lawrence River isn't what it used to be. He's reminded all the time.

“I've seen a lot of changes in my time,” said the 66-year-old Hazen, a guide on the river for 25 years. “Four or five years ago there was hardly any pike around. It's started to come back a little now, but it's nowhere near what it was. It would help everything to have the river flow normally.”

That's the sentiment of American Rivers, which has placed the St. Lawrence on its 2008 list of the 10 most endangered rivers in the United States. The list released Thursday highlights 10 rivers facing decisions in the coming year that could determine their future.

The list was released just three weeks after the International Joint Commission, an independent U.S.-Canadian agency that regulates transboundary waters, floated a new plan to regulate water levels in the St. Lawrence and on Lake Ontario. The proposal represents the first amendment to the original water management plan, which was implemented in 1956, and has a similar goal - to reduce the occurrence of extreme high and low water levels.

Environmentalists would prefer a plan that returns to a more natural water cycle, similar to what existed before hydroelectric dams were built on the river. Scientific research discovered that the current plan, which severely limits natural water level fluctuations, has significantly reduced the diversity of plant species in river wetlands, which in turn has affected populations of many fish and other wildlife.

“The fishery has changed a lot,” Hazen said. “We used to be able to load the pickup when I first started fishing in the early 1980s. Every time you went out, you could catch 40 walleyes. Our fish back then looked like what you see on TV today at some remote Canadian lake. Now, sometimes, it's very hard to catch one.”

The IJC will hold public meetings and hearings and accept written comment until July 11 before making a decision.

“In the case of the St. Lawrence, it's going to be 50 years before the decision point comes around again,” said Rebecca Wodder, president of American Rivers, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

“Fifty years is a long period any way you look at it, particularly given the impacts of global warming. They're going to be coming down hard on our rivers and freshwater resources,” she said. “The next 50 years are critical. This river needs to be as healthy and resilient as it can possible be.”