Articles

No river in the country defines fall paddling quite as well as the Gauley. Located in the heart of wild and wonderful West Virginia, the Gauley is synonymous with fall boating. Thanks to the US Corps of Engineers drawdown of Summersville Lake, Gauley River flows are scheduled and predictable. The Gauley River and the community of Summersville are host to American Whitewater’s largest festival of the year – Gauley Fest. Mark this weekend, September 19-21, in your calendar for a

  South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster has issued a legal opinion regarding the public’s rights to navigable rivers.  Amongst other responsibilities, the Attorney General “Issues official legal opinions upon request by constitutional officers, members of the General Assembly, and certain state and local officials” (Source:  www.scattorneygeneral.org).  These opinions are not a substitute for a definitive judicial ruling.  However, they do guide the officers and agents of the State in their law enforcement practices.  Special thanks to the Honorable Harry

The USGS announced today that a number of their streamgages are threatened by loss of funding.  The gages, located in New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland are scheduled to be turned off on the last day of September of this year unless cost-share funding can be found.    Stream gages are obviously vital to supporting public recreational use of rivers.  They are also vital scientific tools that allow us to track short and long term environmental changes.  The gages slated for

Tributaries of the lower Rogue River and the rivers of Mt. Hood will be the subject of a hearing today in the U.S. House of Representatives. American Whitewater has participated in outreach efforts associated with the legislation that is the subject of the hearing and includes rivers of interest to the whitewater paddling community. The two bills include: * H.R. 6290 (Blumenauer): To designate certain land in the State of Oregon as wilderness, and for other purposes. "Lewis and Clark

Right now the largest land and river protection bill in recent history is in the US Senate, awaiting action. The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2008 (S. 3213) represents a legislative package that will protect several rivers and headwater streams that the paddling community enjoys. The Senate will be considering this bill within the next two weeks.  A quick call or email to your Senators could tip the balance for this bill and protect some of the best wild

  Help AW protect rivers here in the states and you could win a trip with Small World Adventures to Ecuador.  Join or donate to be entered in the next drawing for a pair of sunglasses and the trip to Ecuador with Small World Adventures.    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 to Ecuador with Small

Calling all Paddlers and River Friends!                 Seize the Day– Come down, volunteer, participate, support, spectate and HAVE FUN!!     This is the year’s MUST ATTEND rendezvous event for paddlers, river community folks and any who appreciate and support the Rivers of Life and the massive efforts of the organizations listed above.  It’s your chance to come together and help make a difference Right Here in our front yard!!   We ask you to join your friends

  Welcome to the American Whitewater Gauley River Festival presented by Subaru, the paddling world’s biggest party!     The Gauley River Festival is a critical fundraiser for American Whitewater and is our largest fundraising event.  All proceeds from the festival support American Whitewater’s conservation and access work throughout the Southeast. Come out and join us for a weekend of great paddling, live entertainment, and the infamous silent auction. Check out highlights of this year’s event.         Thursday,

American Whitewater would like to recognize Anne Connolly as our Volunteer of the Month. Anne was the mastermind behind the first annual Boater Chick Festival held on the Nantahala River at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Wesser, NC May 17 – 18, 2008.   Anne, along with the help of volunteers, orchestrated the entire Boater Chick Festival in only a few short months, putting insane amounts of time into planning and getting the support of sponsors who provided generous prizes

The Tonto and Coconino National Forests announced earlier this month that due to continuing demolition efforts on the Childs-Irving Hydroelectric facilities, a temporary closure of Fossil Springs and Fossil Creek on the Tonto and Coconino national forests is in effect from Monday, Aug. 18, 2008 through Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009 (unless teminated sooner.)   The closure area boundaries include: Fossil Springs trailhead north to Fossil Springs, west to the Irving Power Plant, and south along the east side of Forest

US Forest Service funding for many programs vital to Americans’ enjoyment of our National Forests is about to disappear as the agency re-allocates funding for those programs to its fire fighting budget. The Chief of the US Forest Service announced Friday that the agency has depleted its $1.18 billion fire suppression budget for fiscal year 2008, and has initiated a recall of $400 MM from agency programs throughout the nation.  The result is that many projects benefiting outdoor recreationists will

Ladies of the Lower G returns to Gauley Fest!   Spend a day paddling with Anna Levesque on the Lower Gauley and raise money for AW! What’s not to love?   If you haven’t heard of the Ladies of the Lower G event it’s an annual event that Anna Levesque of Girls at Play and North American River Runners (NARR) put on around Gauely Fest. All the ladies who sign up spend the day boating down the Lower Gauley with

  Friends of the Cheat, a watershed group based in Kingwood, WV, recently completed construction of a new parking area along the Big Sandy Creek in Rockville, West Virginia. The location on river left, just upstream of the Rockville Bridge, will provide public access to two of the popular whitewater runs in the state. There’s space for over 30 cars, more than enough to relieve congestion on busy spring weekends. The county road from the bridge to the lot was

Whitewater paddlers in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia have often used the parking lot behind the Little Sandy Church of the Nazarine to access Little Sandy Creek. This past summer Pastor Chad Harvey told me that parents in his congregation had asked for a fence to keep their youngsters from falling into the river. The church board approved construction, but because they wanted to continue the church’s tradition of hospitality towards paddlers they also planned to build a gate. This will