Articles

The bridge at the takeout for Idaho’s Lolo Creek has been replaced since the 2007 paddling season.  The construction eliminated historical parking areas adjacent to the bridge, and also removed the USGS staff gage used by paddlers to determine the flow.    American Whitewater has been in touch with the BLM regarding these two issues, and they have been very helpful.  In 2002, BLM wisely purchased a parcel of land for public access in case access was eliminated upstream.  The

Base Camp Cullowhee at Western Carolina University is proud to present the 24th Annual Tuckasegee River Clean-Up on April 19, 2008.  Come show your support for the community and the environment while having fun on the river.  The Tuck Clean-Up is the largest single day river clean up project in the nation, in the past years over 600 concerned volunteers have come out to show their support for the Tuckasegee River.  Volunteers have the option of walking a section of

The Sumter National Forest (SNF) told AW today to expect even more delays in the release of their Environmental Assessment (EA) regarding recreational use in the Wild and Scenic Upper Chattooga River corridor. The EA will include a user capacity analysis and proposed new management plan for the upper river, as ordered by the highest office of the US Forest Service. The pending release of the EA is already a year later than the final decision was required to be

The 4th Annual North Alabama Whitewater Festival, located on Locust Fork of the Warrior River in Blount County, will be held March 7-9, 2008.  The weekend will incorporate whitewater kayaking competitions, games, live music, raffles, arts and crafts, food, refreshments, camping, and good times.    Friday’s events including the Fluid Kayaks Huckfest and the Larabar Boater X are located at Short Creek Falls.  Saturday brings spectators the excitement of the Terrapin Beer Company Throwdown and Gaia Paddlesports Big Trick Contest

In Leadville, Colorado mine run-off laced with toxic levels of cadmium, zinc, and arsenic, is trapped in a blocked mine drainage tunnel, prompting the Regional Administrator of the US EPA to declare that an "uncontrolled, potentially catastrophic release of water to the Arkansas River is likely at some point."   The Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel, built by the federal government and owned by the US Bureau of Reclamation, is believed to have collapsed, trapping over 1 billion gallons of water

Late yesterday FERC issued a letter rejecting the Preliminary Permit Application for the McKenzie River Hydro Project (FERC P-13099) by Principle Power Hydro (read letter). In the letter FERC stated that the application "patently fails to conform to the Commission’s regulations" and went on to cite several deficiencies with the application. We are pleased that FERC agrees with our assessment that this was an incredibly poorly thought out application and provided stakeholders with no meaningful information on what was being

Help Preserve Whitewater & Paddling Throughout the Deserts and Mountains of the West   Reforming the 1872 Mining Law will, finally, give recreation values a voice on how our federal public lands are managed   Perhaps no other human-powered outdoor recreation is so clearly affected by hardrock mining as our treasured whitewater. According to the EPA, over 40% of our Western headwaters are already contaminated by hardrock mining activity. Even without the additional threats of drought and population growth, our streams and rivers

Help Preserve Whitewater & Paddling Throughout the Deserts and Mountains of the West   Reforming the 1872 Mining Law will, finally, give recreation values a voice on how our federal public lands are managed   Perhaps no other human-powered outdoor recreation is so clearly affected by hardrock mining as our treasured whitewater. According to the EPA, over 40% of our Western headwaters are already contaminated by hardrock mining activity. Even without the additional threats of drought and population growth, our streams and rivers