Seeking Yellowstone River Oil Spill Volunteers (MT)
American Whitewater was recently contacted by a Montana paddler and environmental contractor who is pursuing the possibility of collecting water quality samples, photo-documentation, and other environmental data along a section of the Yellowstone River that was recently impacted by a oil pipeline breach. He is seeking experienced whitewater kayakers and canoeists that would be willing to paddle one or more sections of the Yellowstone River and document the environmental effects of the oil spill, in the immediate future (eg next couple weeks). Currently, high flows are hampering the ability of non-paddlers from collecting this important data, while paddlers could easily conduct this research. The river is Class I but high water and other factors would make this project more suitable for Class III or higher skilled paddlers with a solid roll. No special skills would be required to volunteer except whitewater boating skills. This project would be near Billings, MT.
If you would like to volunteer, please send your name, email address, and phone number to kevin@americanwhitewater.org by close of business Wednesday, July 13, 2011. Please send with the subject as "Yellowstone Volunteer."
You can read a related article here.
More Information Below
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CALLING ALL KAYAKERS!
To the
Oily River Rendezvous
July 16th & 17th
I’m putting together an event for all concerned kayakers who want to make a difference regarding the Exxon/Mobile Yellowstone river oil spill.
Saturday July 16th we will meet in billings and have a briefing as to how we will gather data regarding the possible/expected oil deposits in the river. We will be using our personal GPS units, cameras and oil collection spill kits to document our findings. We will coordinate shuttles and assign sections of the river to teams of boaters.
After this organizational meeting we will hit the River! At the end of the day we will regroup and have our data collected & compiled by our very own computer geeks.
Billings Area boaters:
Any suggestions for base camp location? We will need room for camping and gathering, as well as electricity for our computer geeks. At the moment I am considering the KOA campground near the river unless someone has a less expensive alternative.
Also still needed are support people and vehicles to help with shuttles, camp chores and whatever else comes up.
Thanks! Look forward to boating with you all
Gary Steele
Things to bring in addition to your boats? GPS Units and Digital cameras
If you would like to volunteer of have questions, please send your name, email address, and phone number to kevin@americanwhitewater.org. Please send with the subject as "Yellowstone Volunteer."