Hello fellow whitewater enthusiast and AW member. My name is Don Kinser and my interest in whitewater boating started in the early 1970’s as a teenager growing up in the Washington DC area. However it was not until Nanci, my wife, gave me a whitewater canoe for Christmas in 1991 (surely a green light to spend more time on the river) that my whitewater addiction became serious.

My relationship with AW began in 1995 years ago while on a paddling trip to West Virginia with my good friend Joe Greiner. Joe’s enthusiasm and passion for AW’s mission struck me and I joined AW at his urging. I want to thank Joe for introducing me to AW. My involvement soon grew from simply a dues paying member to a committed and passionate local volunteer as I started helping with the early Tallulah releases. The more involved I became the more I learned about the great work that AW has been part of all over the country.

It was here, during those early Tallulah releases in 1997 and 1998, that Risa Shimoda recruited me to help lead AW’s efforts on another local river, my home river, the Chattooga. The work on the Chattooga got me more deeply involved with AW’s staff as I learned a whole new language such as NEPA, DEIS, EA, ROD, “Preferred Alternative”, and how agency’s such as the USFS work (or don’t as the case may be).

The more involved I became with AW as a volunteer the more awestruck I have become with the organization’s accomplishments and the people that made up the organization’s staff. What makes AW accomplishments even more astounding is how much the organization accomplishes with so little. AW is truly the “little engine that could.”

My commitment to AW’s mission has grown ever since those early volunteer days at Tallulah Gorge. I believe strongly in AW’s mission and our river stewardship work across the country. I am honored to have helped guide AW toward continued success has a director and officer of the organization since 2002.

On May 17, 2008 AW’s Board of Director’s elected me to serve you as AW’s President. I am excited to have this opportunity to serve, make new friends, and more importantly help continue AW’s 54 year legacy as the National Voice for whitewater rivers and those of us that enjoy these wild places so passionately.

My goals for AW are to help make sure AW can continue our tremendous river stewardship work and build on the many great success of the past. An important way to insure our continued success is to grow our membership and funding so that we can accomplish even more.

Thank you for your support and I look forward to serving to help conserve and restore America’s whitewater rivers.

In 1969 Chris participated in a YMCA rafting trip on Oregon's Rogue River and has been a paddler ever since. Though the early years were dominated by army surplus rafts and inner tubes, today he's more likely to be creeking or squirt boating in a kayak or canoeing with his two daughters. Chris's most signifi cant contribution to AW to date has been his work on the Cheoah dam relicensing project, where by happy not-quite-coincidence he's been fortunate to combine his love of paddling with his professional skills as an economist. Chris also served as a Gauley Festival volunteer and is currently AW's Southeastern Regional StreamKeeper. In October 2002 Rod Baird and Chris shared honors as AW Volunteers of the Month in recognition of their Cheoah work. Chris's non-AW volunteer activities include originating and coordinating the Western Carolina Rescue Rodeo (1992- 1997), serving on the Pigeon River Fund board (1997-2004), serving as President, Newsletter Editor and Webmaster of the Western Carolina Paddlers (1990-1998, 2004-), and creating and maintaining the boatingbeta.com regional website.

My love for water began as early as I can remember at the local lake club, spending all my summer days swimming, fishing and messing about in boats. I came to understand how murky the water in that little man-made lake was when I went to summer camp on pristine Sebago Lake in Maine. There I learned to canoe as a teenager and then returned as a college student to direct the canoeing program there for a couple of summers. I was introduced to whitewater in high school where we were lucky enough to have a slalom team and Tariffville Gorge on the Farmington River only 10 minutes away. We were involved in organizing the race there and one year the national team trials, so I was exposed to and inspired by the best slalom paddlers at the time. After a hiatus of some years on the west coast, I moved back to New England and, not too long after, discovered Zoar Outdoor and the Deerfield River in Massachusetts. I started out as a raft guide 10 years ago and slowly worked my way into less guiding and more kayaking, finally creating the job as Office Manager, which I held for several years. I now enjoy chasing my toddler aged twins around the Berkshires.

I discovered American Whitewater shortly after I started kayaking because of the Deerfield Riverfest, so I understand the value of the local festivals as outreach. I have been involved in running the Deerfield Festival since 1998, organizing the amateur rodeo for a few years and then this year running the Silent Auction. I have watched with interest AW's struggle over the last few years with more and less rodeo involvement and fluctuating membership numbers. I am excited at the prospect of being a part of the decision- making process about the future of AW and would be honored to sit on the Board.

David grew up on the rivers of the west. His passion for rivers has led him into a career of river-related work. David offers a unique perspective on rivers since he has worked with river issues from many different viewpoints. He has been rafting and kayaking rivers noncommercially since 1982, and has lived and boated in most areas of the country. While completing a master's degree in natural resource management, David worked as a professional researcher investigating river user behavior. His specialties are river carrying capacity, crowding and conflict issues. He has volunteered countless hours for many river conservation related causes. During his education, David worked with the National Park Service's River, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program in Washington D.C., where he participated in national river conservation policy formulation and the Wild & Scenic Rivers Program. David is presently the River Manager for the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Jackson Hole, Wyoming where he administers all river corridor use. Part of his job is coordinating the Snake River Fund, a donation program used on the Snake River in lieu of a mandatory fee program. This one-of-a-kind program is led by the river using community and works in partnership with the US Forest Service to protect and care for the Snake River Corridor.

I paddled my first river in 1980 when access issues were miniscule compared to what faces us today. I love whitewater paddling, slalom and Wildwater racing, open canoeing and recreational boating in any shape or form and thrive on self- support whitewater kayak trips. But I'm increasingly concerned with the difficulty we all face in pursuing our sport. That's why I've chosen to become an active member in AW for the past 5 years. I always knew something needed to be done, but AW opened my eyes to the size and the importance of the task. Since I've joined the board, I've been happy to see our accomplishments in the Grand Canyon, the Ocoee, with FERC relicensing legislation, with the NF Feather, and on the MF Snoqualmie and Nooksack Rivers in Washington. I'm ready to do even more in a second term of office.

Water is important to me. If I'm not paddling in one boat or another, I'm swimming in a lake or pool. I work in water quality. I have tropical fish as pets. And I sleep in a waterbed! I want my water clean, free-fl owing in large quantities, and accessible. It's only fitting that I chose AW as the non-profit organization, where I know my time and energy will make a difference and be well-spent.

As the owner of Rendezvous River Sports and Jackson Hole Kayak School, Aaron has introduced thousands of people to the sport of kayaking since he began instructing in '93. In '96 he began the non- profit Jackson Hole Kayak Club, which provides an inexpensive means for kids to get into paddling. The club introduces young people to the fun of running wild rivers and competitive paddling. As a board member of the Snake River Fund, Aaron has helped work with Bridger- Teton National Forest in a unique alliance to keep the Snake user fee area free. SRF is now in its fifth year of existence and is succeeding in bringing together a diverse group of river users including commercial outfitters, rafters, fisherman and paddlers. All these groups have generously contributed to help maintain the facilities on the Snake and preserve its outstanding recreational values. As a kayaker, Aaron's interest is primarily in expeditionary kayaking with numerous exploratory descents in Wyoming, Chile and most recently Russia. He also enjoys a diversity of competitive disciplines including slalom, Wildwater, and freestyle.

I am in my second term as an AW Director. I have had a great time and learned quite a bit. I am a DC local from a boating and professional standpoint. I pay my bills by being an attorney and policy dork just like many others in the Washington area. I am also a Potomac local, and this summer I helped form the Great Falls Kayak Coalition (GFKC) to help maintain the great relationship between the boating community and the web of land managers that have jurisdiction over our local huck-spot, Great Falls. In addition, I have done my best to help AW play a supporting role to the committed locals on other great runs in the Mid-Atlantic, such as the Upper Yough and the Upper Blackwater.

Kristine Jackson says she is interested in being a part of the AW Board of Directors because, "I love being involved and helping in areas where the need is great and the potential impact can be huge." Kristine, age 34, spends half the year traveling in an R.V to events all around the U.S. and Canada with her.

She acts as homeschool teacher for her two kids: Emily- 14 years old, and Dane- 11 years old; and she can be seen on the sidelines of kayaking competitions assisting her husband, Eric (or "E.J" as most people know him), with making sure he has all the gear he needs to rush from one event to another. Kristine is the Director of Sales for the family's business, Jackson Kayak. Even though the Jackson family has only been located in the Cumberland Plateau for about a year, Kristine and her family hope the company's presence will make a positive impact on the small community of Rock Island. Jackson is the President of the - United States Freestyle Kayak Association (USFKA) which was set up in 2001 to be a base support mechanism for the US Freestyle Kayak Team. Kristine also serves as Vice Chairman for the International Freestyle Committee, the governing body for World Freestyle Championships.

I started paddling 28 years ago at Camp Mondamin in Tuxedo, North Carolina. Since those first strokes on Lake Summit, paddling has been a major part of my life. After graduating from camper to counselor I went on to teach canoeing for another four years. I've worked for an environmental consulting firm, an association offering environmental services to airports, and now the Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco. As a federal employee, I have helped to coordinate EPA?s comments on the recreational aspects of environmental assessments and environmental impact statements to make sure our whitewater concerns are addressed. Specifically, I hope to help open more river reaches so that we can all play and enjoy these resources for years to come. I can bring a lot to the AW board including prior board and association experience, dedication to the environment, a love of the river, and a passion for river preservation. I think that AW has made a substantial contribution to the whitewater community, and I would love to be a part of its growth as AW moves beyond its 50th anniversary.

Eric Nies got the river bug early in the 1970's, kayaking on the Potomac River near Washington, DC, and raft-guiding on the Shenandoah River in West Virginia. After graduating in mechanical engineering from MIT in 1981, Eric started guiding and teaching whitewater full-time, first in the southeast with Nantahala Outdoor Center, then out west in the early '90's with Otter Bar Lodge and Tarkio Adventures. He has paddled, guided and video-boated in Chile, Costa Rica, Nepal, India, Siberia, New Zealand, and in the U.S. on the Gauley, Salmon, and Grand Canyon. He was also one of the pioneers on the Narrows of the Green, as testified by the formerly anonymous rapid that gave him a heinous beat-down in 1989, and now bears his name.

Eric has a long involvement with whitewater rescue and wilderness medicine. He helped develop NOC's river rescue program in the early 1980's, and certified multiple times as an EMT before finally going to medical school in 1995. These days Eric is an ER physician in upstate New York. He is the current Safety Chair for American Whitewater.

Upon finishing school, I delved further into the paddling lifestyle, working an assortment of random part-time jobs so that I could live hand to mouth while kayaking as much as possible, and periodically maxing out my credit cards to travel and see new and different rivers. I did freelance web work for various paddlesports industry companies before taking a job with a kayak company where I worked for several years, learning the ins and outs of how the business side of kayaking works. Ultimately, the call of the rivers I hadn’t seen yet was too strong, and I returned to the kayak bum lifestyle, using my experience to start a company with my wife Andria making guidebooks and DVDs. Since then, we’ve spent four to six months on the road each year, exploring the rivers of our continent from our kayaks. My goals are to be a local boater wherever I go, and to experience as many whitewater rivers as possible. I hope that as an AW board member, I can work to further the connection and communication of what AW does to all paddlers, providing greater organizational transparency and encouraging more people to support and become involved in AW.

My relationship with American Whitewater started 13 years ago when I realized the importance of doing something I loved, and that would make a difference in areas I cared about. At that time, as today, rivers and water fill that special niche.

Former Conservation Director and Executive Director with American Whitewater (1991-2001), Rich is now a nonprofit and management consultant living in Bellingham, Washington. In addition to being an honorary board member with American Whitewater, Rich also serves on the board of the Whatcom Land Trust and is currently Managing Director with the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association.

Charlie Walbridge started canoeing at summer camp in the early 60's and started paddling whitewater seriously in college. He was an active C-1 slalom and wildwater racer and worked as part-time as a river guide in the 70's. He has paddled rivers throughout the US and Canada, including several first descents, but he now spends most of his time in West Virginia. He ran a mail order company, Wildwater Designs, for 22 years. There he developed the HiFloat life vest and adapted the throw-line rescue bag for whitewater use. He's been the Safety Chair for both the American Canoe Association (ACA) and American Whitewater (AW) and is well known for articles in American Whitewater that reporting on U.S. whitewater fatalities. He helped develop the ACA programs in both canoeing and swiftwater rescue, and continues to serve as an instructor-trainer. He's written many magazine articles and produced or contributed to numerous books, including The Boat Builder's Manual, Wildwater West Virginia, Appalachian Wildwater Volumes I and II, The Whitewater Rescue Manual, Knots for Paddlers, and several editions of the River Safety Report. He is on the board of Friends of the Cheat River, a watershed group, and Camp Mowglis, where he first learned to paddle. He currently works an independent sales rep and does consultations on canoeing safety for outfitters, organizations and attorneys. Charlie lives with his wife Sandy in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia and is active in Cheat and Upper Yough river issues. His web site is www.charliewalbridge.com.