Region News

The National Park Service is purchasing property from two West Virginia landowners to improve public access to the Gauley River.  The sites, located at Woods Ferry and Mason Branch, are established put-in and take-out sites for boaters, kayakers, canoeists and rafters along the river between the public put-in at the Summersville Dam and the take-out at Swiss, almost 26 miles downstream.

Congratulations to Steve Mills for winning the April pair of Smith Optics Sunglasses.  Join or donate to be entered in for the next pair of sunglasses and the trip in Ecuador with Small World Adventures.  Help AW protect rivers here in the states and you could win a trip with Small World Adventures in Ecuador.   With generous support from Smith Optics and Small World Adventures American Whitewater is hosting a fundraising and membership drive ending on October 1, 2008.  Anyone who joins or renews their AW membership or donates at least $10 to support our river stewardship efforts will be entered in a raffle to a week long trip in Ecuador with Small World Adventures and monthly prizes from Smith Sport Optics. 

American Whitewater commissioned the consulting firm Crane Associates of Burlington, Vermont to conduct an Economic Impact Study on Gauley Festival. Crane Associates specializes in the economics of rivers and natural resources. They help communities find their balance between sustainable economic development and natural resource protection.

A mining company is proposing a new coal mine on a 588 acre tract of forest land near the Youghiogheny River in Pennsylvania.  The controversial mine would be adjacent to Ohiopyle State Park and would affect water quality and quantity on the Yough, Morgan Run, and on other Yough tributaries.  Comments are now being accepted on the proposed mine.

Touchstone Center for Crafts in Farmington, PA is offering a summer course on wood paddle constriction taught by Keith Backlund. The non profit craft center teaches disciplines such as blacksmithing, ceramics, metals, textiles, glass, oil and watercolor painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture.

The 4th Annual Yough Festival and 28th Annual Upper Yough Race will take place on Saturday, July 26, 2008. Race registration will take place on July 26, from 10:00AM to 1:00PM.

Representatives from the paddling community today reached an Agreement in Principle with the owner of the Holtwood Hydroelectric Project, Pennsylvania Power and Light.  This tentative agreement supports fish passage goals, power generation, and protects and/or mitigates whitewater boating opportunities.

Boaters in the northeast have good reason to be excited this month. The Rio Project on the Mongaup River (NY) will reopen this month after being closed to recreation for nearly three years.  Releases will begin this month!

The dam owner and FERC staff will conduct a site visit and host public meetings regarding the Holtwood Hydroelectric  Project on Thursday, April 17, 2008.  Holtwood is located on the Susquehanna River.  The dam owner is proposing to install additional turbines, modify the channel, and delay relicensing their dam, each of which will impact paddling opportunities downstream. 

The annual Hoosic River Whitewater Release into the Schaghticoke Gorge will be on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Releases are dependent on inflow so be sure to check the gage and the AW page before heading to the river.  While a short run, the Hoosic truly has something for everyone from Class II/III playboating to Class V waterfalls.

American Whitewater and Clif Bar are pleased to announce the 6th annual Clif Bar Flowing Rivers Campaign, pledging $2,500 to American Whitewater Affiliate Clubs for river stewardship work. Funding for this very effective program is provided by Clif Bar. American Whitewater Affiliate Clubs have the opportunity to apply for one of two $1,250 grants. Grants will be distributed to clubs for projects that promote river stewardship, conservation, access and/or safety education on our nation’s rivers.

Last month we alerted paddlers to a piece of state legislation that would have authorized a study of stream access problems and opportunities in Virginia.   The Rules Committee could only support a specific number of studies for 2008, and unfortunately the river access study did not make the cut.  We hope that with broad support the resolution will succeed next year. 

In a recent AW review of river access laws across the Nation, Virginia was among the states providing the fewest public rights to simply float down rivers and streams.  After years of access conflicts and legal uncertainty, state legislators will now consider a proposal for studying this issue and possibly proposing legislation to modernize Virginia’s stream access laws.  We encourage paddlers to get involved in this great opportunity to help Virginia become more friendly to river based recreation and tourism. 

For the third year in a row two groups of West Virginia University students and staff from Greg Corio's Adventure West Virginia program joined forces with Friends of Cheat to maintain vital river access points. At the Friends of Cheat Access in Albright, the job was to harden a badly eroded launch site. At Jenkinsburg, the focus was on trash collection. Both efforts will improve these places for local and visiting whitewater paddlers

Paddlers have been negotiating a new release schedule on Maryland's Upper Youghiogheny River with Brookfield Power and other stakeholders for over one year.  The results have just been released in a new permit for the operation of the Deep Creek Dam.  This year, and for the foreseeable future, paddlers will be treated to upper Yough releases on every Saturday from mid-June through mid-September!