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Last year, the Supreme Court of New Mexico unanimously upheld the state constitution by affirming the public’s right to access all rivers and streams for recreational purposes. Today, landowners who had been fighting for years to exclude the public – in many cases physically by installing barbed wire fences – from rivers that run through their property, had their petition to overturn the state court’s decision denied. These landowners are two of the original holders of non navigable water certificates

The Colorado Water Conservation Board finalized the first update to the state water plan at the end of January. American Whitewater submitted detailed comments on recommended changes to the draft plan that was released in the summer of 2022. Recreational considerations were included in both the original 2015 plan and the draft. However, our comments were focused on stressing the importance of river-based recreation to the economy and way of life of many communities in the state. About 50% of

Last week the Environmental Protection Agency released a new final rule governing which streams and wetlands will be covered by the Clean Water Act. If this sounds familiar, it is for good reason: this issue has been the subject of perennial debate and changes made by various administrations and courts for at least the past two decades. But, for today, for rivers, it is time to celebrate! The new rule, which will likely take effect in 60 days, will restore

American Whitewater is seeking the services of a contractor with significant experience in website design, implementation, and support to produce a new version of the main American Whitewater website – www.americanwhitewater.org – in WordPress. The project will integrate with but not replace the National Whitewater Inventory (eg River Info), our CRM, our current branding, or significant backend components of our site. The new site should provide an attractive, fun, and easy to navigate entry point for someone to learn about

Massachusetts joined 16 other states in establishing an Office of Outdoor Recreation to coordinate the efforts of various state agencies in promoting the outdoor recreation economy in the Commonwealth. American Whitewater worked in partnership with affiliate club Appalachian Mountain Club, whitewater outfitter Zoar Outdoor, and industry partners including REI in calling on the state to establish the new office. American Whitewater spearheaded the effort to enact legislation establishing the new office and build support for outdoor recreation in the state.

At the end of every year, American Whitewater takes a hard look at the success we’ve found and the steps forward we’ve taken in our multitudes of projects across the country. Then we quickly turn to the future and set our next set of ambitious stewardship goals we hope to accomplish in the following year. We share these goals and the progress we’ve achieved towards them in our Winter Stewardship Update. And you should know, we have big plans for

American Whitewater is pleased to announce a survey that will gather paddlers’ opinions on the permit systems that are used to manage use on multi-day river trips. We encourage all paddlers who have ever sought a permit on a multiday trip to take the survey.    Every river has a capacity to sustainably support a specific number of paddlers and other visitors. Beyond that capacity something important starts to be diminished over time. That something – the limiting factor –

Looking for that special gift for someone or just feeling the need to treat yourself? Our 2023 American Whitewater Holiday Offer just went live! You can get a Standard Membership ($35), 12 oz MiiR Camp Mug, and a 2023 calendar (plus shipping) all for $75. We’re excited to partner with MiiR this year as they are a Climate Neutral Certified Brand and a B Corporation. In other words, MiiR walks the walks in the sustainable/environmental world! Head to our membership

Our 2023 American Whitewater calendar is hot off the presses and now available. Each year, we collect the best photos from our gracious and incredibly talented community and pick out our favorites for our annual calendar. Proceeds from calendar sales support our river stewardship work. It’s an awesome fundraiser for American Whitewater and a product we know you’ll love. Keep AW close all year long. Visit our webstore to purchase yours today! Or join or renew at the Ender Club

American Whitewater has revitalized the Trip Report option on our website, and we hope paddlers will take advantage of it! Trip Reports allow anyone logged into the American Whitewater website to tell the story of a river trip by sharing any combination of photos, text, date, and water levels. The most recent three reports are found at the bottom of every river page, and all reports are located on the Trip Report tab on river pages. We encourage paddlers to

At the end of another year, we like to look back on all we’ve achieved together. Your support and engagement in American Whitewater’s mission is what makes the stewardship work we do possible. Thanks for fighting for rivers with us!    Protect: In June, we secured water quality protections for over 520 stream miles in Colorado. The Water Quality Control Commission’s 7-1 vote marked the largest successful community Outstanding Waters proposal in Colorado’s history. Newly protected streams include the Taylor

A large-scale gold-antimony mine in the headwaters of the South Fork Salmon (ID), a major tributary to the Wild and Scenic Salmon River has been proposed by Perpetua Resources. The company is moving forward with plans to construct the Stibnite Gold Project despite concerns from the EPA that it would significantly harm the protected water quality of these Native American tribal fishing grounds and the classic whitewater paddling in the drainage. The Forest Service recently released a Supplemental Draft Environmental

American Whitewater has an incredible, storied history of river stewardship success over the past nearly 70 years. Our shared victories have not only benefited the whitewater recreation community, but truly all those communities whose rivers run through them. In an effort to continue this success and to further recognize our organization as the primary advocate for the preservation and protection of whitewater rivers throughout the United States, we’d like to be the first to introduce you to our new visual