Creating river stewards in New England

American Whitewater (AW) is pleased to expand its Deerfield River Festival, located in Charlemont Massachusetts July 28^th to 31^st, to include a River Stewardship Institute.  The River Stewardship Institute is a three day program designed to give everyday river users the necessary skills they will need to ensure the health of their rivers. 

 

River Stewards are river users who take an active interest in protecting our rare whitewater resources. To act as a river steward you must be aware of what is taking place on your local rivers, what threatens them, what protects them, and know what you can do to keep them safe from harm. American Whitewater is excited to bring river stewardship skills to everyday river activists.

 

The goal of the training is to educate everyday river users on what they can do to protect the rivers they treasure. The training will cover conservation techniques, urban river revitalization, management of dammed rivers, and much more.

 

The training is open to the public with discounted rates for members of American Whitewater and local paddling organizations.  AW will host the training the evening of July 27^th through July 29^th on the Deerfield River in the northwest corner of Massachusetts. 

 

American Whitewater is the only national organization working to conserve and restore America’s whitewater resources, and to enhance opportunities to enjoy them safely.  American Whitewater started the Deerfield River Festival in 1994 to celebrate the start of scheduled releases on the river.  Due to the work of American Whitewater and local partners the Deerfield River has had 106 days of scheduled flows on the Fife Brook Section (Class II – III) and 32 days of releases on the Monroe Bridge Section (Class III – IV) each year since 1993.

 

This three day training cost $40 for members of American Whitewater and $75 for non-members.  For more information about this program please contact Ben VanCamp, AW’s Outreach Coordinator at ben@amwhitewater.org or by phone at (828) 252-0728.  Additional information on the Deerfield River Festival, the River Stewardship Training and American Whitewater is available at www.americanwhitewater.org.