Articles

The Colorado River Outfitters Association is supporting new legislation that protects Colorado’s tourism industry by clarifying the rights of commercial guides to operate on Colorado’s historically run rivers. Colorado State Representative Kathleen Curry has indicated her willingness to carry the River Jobs Protection Act in the Second Regular Session of the Colorado General Assembly. American Whitewater has been involved in drafting and review of the bill, and will release a official statement later this month. The 2010 River Rafting Job

American Whitewater is pleased to recognize Bill Kees as our Volunteer of the Month for January 2010. Last year, Bill served as AW’s lead volunteer representative in the Dolores River Working Group in Southwestern Colorado. He has worked to provide input into River Management Plan revisions for the USFS and BLM, and built strong working relationships with our partners in the basin. Bill is no stranger to the Dolores River basin, for the past 30 years he has run all

The 27th annual National Paddling Film Festival (NPFF) will be held this year in Frankfort, Kentucky on February 26-27th. You can purchase tickets in advance via the American Whitewater Store for $20 (versus $25 at the door). Plus, AW will be there hosting a membership drive where you can renew your AW membership or join for the first time.   NPFF seeks to showcase the year’s best in paddling related videos and photographs from whitewater destinations all over the world.

The 27th annual National Paddling Film Festival (NPFF) will be held this year in Frankfort, Kentucky on February 26-27th. You can purchase tickets in advance via the American Whitewater Store for $20 (versus $25 at the door). Plus, AW will be there hosting a membership drive where you can renew your AW membership or join for the first time.   NPFF seeks to showcase the year’s best in paddling related videos and photographs from whitewater destinations all over the world.

Over the past 2 years, American Whitewater has received several requests for assistance from our affiliate clubs, volunteers, and partner organizations in the Dolores River basin. Given the current staffing and success of our stewardship program, we are now in a position to meet this need.  We have developed a strategy to empower key volunteers with the tools, resources, and leadership needed to build collaborative partnerships and engage in existing efforts to address multiple aspects of river health, including minimum

Keith Pitzer, executive director of Friends of the Cheat since 2001, died on the morning of December 22nd following a year and a half long battle with cancer. Under his leadership, Friends of the Cheat dramatically expanded its efforts to restore, preserve, and promote the outstanding natural qualities of the Cheat  River Watershed, one of the most important whitewater paddling venues in the country.  A former Cheat River guide and manager, he was  long-time friend of American Whitewater who worked

On October 13, 2009 East Bay Municipal Utility District’s (EMUD) Board Members voted to approve their Waste Supply Management Program (WSMP) 2040. Proposals to enlarge Pardee Reservoir, included in this plan, remain a threat to our whitewater interests on the Molkelumne River. American Whitewater encourages members to support National Wild & Scenic River designation as the best option to permanently fend off agencies, like EBMUD, who threaten to flood the last free flowing sections of the Mokelumne. But keep in

To meet future demands, Denver Water has proposed to develop 18,000 acre-feet per year of new water from the Upper Colorado River basin. Denver Water’s prefered project, currently being evaluated by the Army Coprs of Engineers (ACOE), includes raising Gross Reservoir on South Boulder Creek in Boulder County to store an additional 72,000 acre-feet of water from the Fraser River and Upper Colorado basin. AW is evaluating how severely the project will impact paddling opportunities in the Upper Colorado and

American Whitewater has been working for three years to get improved flows on the McCloud River, quite possibly the best class III/ IV wilderness run in California. In order for this to become a reality we need your support!  We need to get letters off to the resource agencies ASAP to show that whitewater boaters are interested in the McCloud.   The agencies have proposed a flow schedule that we think is a huge improvement over the existing flows.  This flow

Earlier this month American Whitewater was invited as the sole public witness to testify on the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Additions and Pratt and Snoqualmie Rivers Protection Act. You can read a copy of our testimony as delivered before the House Subcommitee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands through the link to the right. While no public witnesses were invited to testify before the Senate, we worked with a number of our partner organizations to submit joint written testimony which

As you review the winter appeal letter I’d ask that you consider a couple of things. First, membership in American Whitewater is more than a subscription to our Journal. Your membership fuels our stewardship work. For each dollar that you give, American Whitewater is able to leverage that dollar for another two dollars in foundation and sponsorship support. Thus, your dollars go three times as far in supporting on-the-ground river projects. Second, American Whitewater is very lean administratively. Over the

The November/December issue of the AW Journal is our INFLATABLES ISSUE featuring:   * R2-ing the Grand Canyon * Epic Descent of Inflatables on the Green Truss * Taming the Tons River, Uttarakhand, India * High Water Fun on the New River * Arkansas Raft Guides on the Gauley * Inflatable Rescue Ranger . . . plus much more!   Want to read the AW Journal online? You need a current membership and you must be registered with the AW

Surprise fall boatable flows are now expected on the NF Feather river in California.   The releases will be into the Poe Dam to Poe Powerhouse section, starting November 11, 2009 and lasting one or two months.   The next run downstream, Big Bend will also continue to receive boatable flows.    At the same time, PG&E is now supplying flow information for this reach and AW is posting that information online.  See: http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Gauge2/detail/id/49034/ This is the latest in a growing number