American Whitewater has just received two different reports from American Whitewater members that the Raven Fork has been closed again by the Cherokee.
For those unfamiliar with the issue, the Raven Fork passes through the Cherokee Reservation in Western North Carolina near Bryson City. The Cherokee have entered a dizzying cycle of opening and closing the river on a nearly biannual basis.
Randall Carr reported that he and his brother were barred from boating the river on January 26, 2002. “We were at the put-in with several other boaters when we were approached by a game warden and told that the Indian Reservation had banned ALL boating on the Enterprise Waters at all times! This was certainly disconcerting to us particularly since I had used the AWA page to ensure that it would be open after the long drive there. Fortunately, we drove over the mountains to Little River and had a blast on the Elkmont section. Nonetheless, I think that you need to look into this situation and publish an accurate report on the situation.”
Later that week, Michael Bryant reported “I was in NC on Monday, January 28, 2002, I was down from Canada for a conference and decided to get in some paddling. I went to paddle the Raven Fork and was informed by the ranger there that the Cherokee had just passed a law prohibiting all paddling on reserve lands. Disapointed (but pleased I had asked) I went and paddled on the Tuckaseegee and had a great day. Just wanted you to know.“While American Whitewater does all that we can to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of our river pages, we rely almost entirely upon our members and the boating community to provide us with access updates like these. If you are interested in helping to maintain our river pages please volunteer as a StreamKeeper.
If you have any ideas on how to resolve this issue, please contact us.