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Earlier today, Congressman Dave Reichert (WA-8) announced his intention to introduce legislation to protect the lands and waters of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie through expansion of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and designation of the Pratt River as Wild and Scenic. This proposal will provide long-term protection for the Pratt River along with Forest Service lands on the south side of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie along the run known as the "Upper Middle". The "Upper Middle" starts at the Taylor River

In Colorado, nine river-basin roundtables are charged by the Colorado Water for the 21st Century Act (www.leg.state.co.us/clics2005a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/3F94A053189A6DE587256F6A0080FFA9) to assess how much water is needed to protect “non-consumptive” recreational and environmental attributes, as well as how much water is needed for "consumptive" uses like agriculture, industry, and municipal delivery systems. When compared against water supply figures, quantified consumptive and non-consumptive needs help the state identify how much water is available for future delivery to municipal systems around the state, particularly the

On Thursday, July 19th, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released a decision that will allow the removal of Dillsboro Dam. The 12 foot tall and 310 foot long hydroelectric dam is located on the Tuckasegee River in Western North Carolina, and is a significant barrier to fish, mussels, and other aquatic organisms. It is also a barrier to paddlers, on an otherwise popular and accessible Class II river. With this nod of approval from FERC, dam removal could begin

Last night American Whitewater released the latest and greatest version of American Whitewater’s website.  Just so you don’t miss any of the cool new features, we outline them here for you!   Here are some new features that you might find interesting:   River Networking Tool: By clicking the star next to your favorite rivers it lets AW staff and volunteers, river managers, and partners know that you have personal experience with those rivers – and that you are interested

This year’s American Whitewater Deerfield River Festival is shaping up to be one of the best ever. This years event will bring new activities both on and off the river to the weekend celebration. Check out what we have going on this year: American Whitewater Membership DriveEach year American Whitewater gathers up all sorts of goodies to host the annual Deerfield American Whitewater membership drive.  Folks that join or renew there AW membership get hooked up with magazines, dvds, stickers,

The Pit 1 reach of the Pit River, from Fall River Mills to highway 299, will have releases again this summer.   Many people got on this run for the first time last summer and found it to be a great class III/ IV run.  This years releases will be for one weekend in June, July and August.  This year dates are:•    June 23-24 •    July 21-22 •    August 18-19 Because this is a dry year flows will be 1000 cfs

Hearing Scheduled on Proposed Mining Operation on the Salmon River The Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) will hear public comments on a proposal to mine state lands below the ordinary high water mark on the Salmon River upstream from Lucile ID. The hearing will be held on July 18th, 2007, at 6:00pm in the conference room at the Idaho Department of Lands office, 555 Deinhard Lane, McCall ID. If possible, please attend to ask IDL to deny the application for

The 3rd Yough Festival and 27th Upper Yough Race are taking place on July 28th, 2007!  The event features a small town America family atmosphere folk / bluegrass celebration of the Youghiogheny River. For this special event a 6 hour Upper Yough Race dam release has been scheduled from 11am to 5pm. On Saturday July 28th morning, from 9 am to 1:00 pm, we will be taking registration for the 27th Upper Yough Race at the liquor store parking lot

The fourth year of releases on the Wild Mile of Montana’s Swan River in Bigfork is underway. Wednesdays through the summer as long as sufficient flows last, whitewater releases will occur from 5 PM to 9 PM. Releases are contingent on project inflows equal to or greater than 800 cfs at 8 am the day of the release. The Wild Mile is truly a wild ride, over large crashing waves and through a beautiful protected canyon. It also offers up

Save Our Wild Salmon, a coalition supporting restoration of healthy salmon populations and the rivers they depend on, is on the road with a 5-state public outreach tour to raise awareness for endangered wild salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest. The “Extinction Stops Here” road show is making scheduled stops in Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona and Nevada during June and July to raise visibility for the plight of endangered salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake Rivers, and

We are proud to announce that Alex Zendel is AW’s Volunteer of the Month for July, 2007.  Alex lives in Knoxville, TN, and has been exploring creeks and rivers in the southeast and elsewhere for over a decade.  Thankfully, he has also taken the time to help AW out on a number of projects relating to mapping, the website, and geographical information systems.   Alex has volunteered his considerable talent with mapping and spatial analysis to AW on several important projects over the past five

The upper 21 miles of the Chattooga River remain off limits to paddlers for no reason.  The US Forest Service is hosting a public hearing to accept public comments on their paddling ban and their management of the upper Chattooga River on July 10th, 2007.  Participants will have only 3 minutes to speak. Then, on July 14th, the USFS will be hosting a full day public “standards workshop” where they will begin crafting management alternatives for analysis later this summer

Clif Bar and American Whitewater are happy to announce the recipients of the 2007 “Flowing River” grants.   The Flowing Rivers campaign, a joint initiative between Clif Bar and American Whitewater, puts money in the hands of people who are protecting the rivers that are running through their backyards.  This year’s funding will support initiatives from the Foothills Paddling Club (SC) and the Willamette Kayak and Canoe Club (OR).  The Foothills Paddling Club will use its funding to enhance an access

American Whitewater and New River Academy announce a $5,000 Academic Scholarship to the author of the best original composition describing a remarkable river experience or relation based on the school slogan, “And that has made all the difference.” Have you considered attending a high school for kayakers? Are you a teen kayak student excited to earn high school credit in China and Chile and paddle amazing rivers after school? Have you had a remarkable experience related to the river that

Some paddlers may be suprized to learn that negotiations over recreational releases on the Savage River have been ongoing for months and even years.  The negotiations have finally come to fruition (while they are not over), and have resulted in the first scheduled boating releases on the iconic Savage River in over a decade.  This year’s first whitewater release from Savage River Dam is scheduled for Sunday – July 1, 2007. Due to ongoing low flow conditions in the North Branch Potomac basin,

Where: Original channel upstream from Xcel Energy’s Jim Falls Hydro Project on the Chippewa River. A spillway gate will be opened so peak flows occur at the old bridge area, midway down the channel. When: Whitewater flow releases will occur four times annually. This year’s dates are: July 14, 28 and August 11, 19 between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Description: This river segment is characterized as Class II and Class III pool-drop rapids, requiring an intermediate to advanced skill

West Rosebud Creek is a spectacular Class III/IV+ creek run in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains.  The creek boasts two sections of nearly continuous whitewater, great camping, endless hiking opportunities, and breathtaking scenery.  West Rosebud is also regulated by a dam which is currently undergoing relicensing.  The dam is managed in a way that significantly reduces the number of days of boatable flows in the creek, essentially liimiting paddling opportunities to a relatively few days when the dam is spilling, which happens

The Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Road above the Dingford Creek trailhead will be permanently closed to motor vehicle access, beginning June 27, 2007, according to Jim Franzel, Snoqualmie District Ranger, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.  This closure completes implementation of the 2005 Middle Fork Snoqualmie Access Travel Management Plan. “Road 56 beyond this point will become a public national forest trail open to hiker, mountain bicycle, and equestrian use only,” says Franzel.  “This road-to-trail conversion is in conjunction with the recently