Articles

The 2nd Annual S. Platte River Clean up took place in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, April 20th, 2008.  Started by friends Mark Cohen of KEEN and Randy Thompson of Down River Equipment in 2007, the event has grown into an annual gathering of friends and families all dedicated to keeping our waterways clean.  This years event was attended by nearly 180 volunteers who rafted, kayaked, and biked along seven miles of the S. Platte River as it winds through the

A group of ladies started a discussion about the need for an all women’s paddling event.  Plans progressed and the Boater Chick Festival  benefiting American Whitewater was born.  This first annual festival is a gathering of female boaters in the class II-V whitewater range.  The location will be at Nantahala Outdoor Center in Wesser, North Carolina on Saturday May 17th and Sunday May 18th.  The hope is to encourage women in boating to get more involved, show off, improve their skills, meet other women in boating,

The 4th Annual Yough Festival and 28th Annual Upper Yough Race will take place on Saturday, July 26, 2008. Race registration will take place on July 26, from 10:00AM to 1:00PM at the liquor store parking lot across from Mountain Surf. Due to increased insurance costs the entry fee is $30.00 and includes; insurance, timing with prompt printed results, T-shirt, band, prizes, finish line refreshments, and festival admittance. A great variety of food vendors will be available at the Friendsville

  April 1-30 – Rafting flows of 800-1500 cfs are anticipated throughout the month except that flows will be reduced to 500 cfs from April 14-18 to facilitate fish surveys.  May 1-31 –  It is anticipated the flows will range between 800 cfs and 2,000 cfs in the first half of May and increase to a peak of 3,000-4000 cfs in the third week of May.  An attempt will be made to keep flows in the 2,000-2,500 cfs range over Memorial

Representatives from the paddling community today reached an Agreement in Principle (AIP) with the owner of the Holtwood Hydroelectric Project, Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL). PPL originally proposed modifications to their dam on the Susquehanna River that would increase power generation, improve currently poor fish passage, and cause additional impacts to whitewater boating.  Local paddlers and regional clubs, with American Whitewater’s assistance, have been working with PPL for over a year to explore ways of minimizing and mitigating impacts to

American Whitewater partners with Riverlink and the Nantahala Outdoor Center for a river cleanup on the French Broad River as part of the annual French Broad River Festival.   Each May lovers of rivers and music gather on the banks of the French Broad River to celebrate the mountain lifestyle at the French Broad River Festival.  The festival gives back to the community by raising funds for the river stewardship work of American Whitewater and various local charities.  At the

Boaters in the northeast have good reason to be excited this month. The Rio Project on the Mongaup River (NY) will reopen this month after being closed to recreation for nearly three years.   In May 2005, inspectors noticed a sinkhole on the face of the dam at Swinging Bridge Reservoir, upstream from Rio.  Emergency measures kicked in; all of the Mongaup projects began dumping water, the Upper Delaware River was closed to recreation, and authorities began evacuating Port Jervis,

In 2007 the Forest Service began a statewide study of rivers in Utah’s National Forests to determine which are suitable for protection, and should become Wild and Scenic Rivers.  Last November the Forest Service released a Draft Enironmental Impact Statement that included its preliminary recommendations.  Unfortunately, the list or rivers that were recommended to be protected as Wild and Scenic Rivers was woefully inadequate.  In their Draft EIS, the Forest Service recommended only 24 non-controversial river segments to become Wild

Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released its Environmental Assessment (EA) of boating on the Ausable Chasm.  The EA marks a critical milestone in American Whitewater’s decade-long effort to secure paddling access to the beautiful Class IV Ausable Chasm, which is boatable nearly every day of the year.  Access is currently blocked by New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) and NYSEG’s proposal was to continue this total prohibition on paddling for the next 30 years.   FERC received

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commmission (FERC) will be holding a site visit and public scoping meetings for the Holtwood Hydroelectric Project on Pennsylvania‘s Susquehanna River on April 17, 2008.  The meetings are intended to help them identify the scope of issues to be addressed as they consider a proposal by the dam owner to expand their facilities and delay relicensing for 16 years.   The daytime scoping meeting will focus on resource agency concerns, while the evening scoping meeting is