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Wow, what a festival! With not much water elsewhere in the country, thousands of paddlers flocked to the mountains of West Virginia to enjoy the fall releases on the famed Gauley River.  Greeting these paddlers to the river were warm days full of rain and cool nights also full of rain, making the festival site a muddy mess that just added to the fun.  The highlight of the event is the American Whitewater membership drive where six kayaks were raffled

A bill is currently in the Senate that would designate 384 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers, and 517,000 acres of Wilderness in southwestern Idaho.  The primary watersheds potentially receiving protection are the Owyhee, Bruneau, and Jarbridge – all classic whitewater rivers.  On September 21st, American Whitewater faxed a letter of support to Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Larry Craig in support of the bill. How does such a landmark conservation effort happen in Idaho?:  years of hard work, vision,

On September 20th, Federal Judge Elizabeth Laporte of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco reinstated a ban on road construction in existing inventoried roadless areas. The decision overturned a Bush administration rule that eliminated mandatory federal protection of roadless areas and instead instituted a voluntary state petition process of protection.  This less protective rule, which had only a brief and underpublicized public comment period, virtually eliminated the protections instituted in 2001 as the Roadless Area Conservation Rule which had been based on the largest public comment

Trout Unlimited and Western Resource Advocates recently won a court victory overthrowing an agreement between the US Department of Interior and the state of Colorado.  The agreement would have allowed all flows over 300 cfs removed from the river for various out of channel uses.  The judge found the agreement to be arbitrary, capricious, nonsensical, an abuse of discretion, and illegal. TU effectively argued that rivers need a complex and variable flow regime in order to function naturally, and thus

The USFS upon the recommendation of their amphibian biologist has canceled the two remaining Saturday Cresta releases for September and October of the 2006 season. The Sunday releases on Rock Creek will occur as usual.  AW will continue to work with the USFS and the other members of the Rock Creek/ Cresta Ecological Resources Committee to develop better studies to determine what impacts, if any, are occurring to tadpoles during the recreational releases.  We will also be working to find

On August 29th, 2006 US District Judge Robert G. James ruled that the public does not have a federal common law right to fish or hunt above the low water mark on a navigable body of water. He further ruled that it would be criminal trespass for the public to use the flooded side channels of the Mississippi River for the purposes of hunting and fishing.  The judge stopped short however of ruling that recreational paddling is illegal. In a previous

               American Whitewater will be hosting a meeting later this fall of various Colorado groups and individuals working on issues that affect whitewater rivers and their enjoyment.  The goal of this meeting will be to work with groups already active in Colorado to develop a common vision for improving the public’s rights to enjoy whitewater rivers and for protecting those rivers from environmental impacts.  Together we hope to explore ways that American Whitewater can enhance and contribute to the collective

American Whitewater’s silent auction is a highlight for many attending the Gauley River Festival. Jeff Snyder has donated this wood lamp for a minimum bid of $300. Other silent auction items are donated by AW corporate partners and supporters. Each year festival attendees get great deals on boating equipment, camping gear, and much more. At Gauley Fest stop at the silent auction tent and check out great deals on whitewater and other products. The auction takes place Saturday night, September

The Upper Yough River in Western Maryland will be releasing the entire week of Gauleyfest, September 18-22.  On Wednesday of that week, September 20th, the 4th Annual Mass Start Grand National Rapid Cross Race is being held.  Registration is at the Precision Rafting Headquarters from 9:00 AM to 12:00 noon and race to start at 2:30.  The race will be from Gap falls to Double Pencil Sharpener and is a mass start. A large group of paddlers are working with Brookfield

Last year, 2005, represented a time of high change within American Whitewater.  We relocated offices, streamlined staff, implemented new financial reporting procedures, focused on river stewardship, and remade the business model.  All of these changes took place to make the organization sustainable over the long-term. Our focus on regional river stewardship has been very well received.  The AW organizational chart is vastly simplified from earlier incarnations and supports our core mission to conserve America’s whitewater rivers and enhance opportunities to

For over a decade whitewater boaters have been looking to FERC to actively enforce license requirements to provide public access to the Cispus River. In issuing the license to Lewis County PUD for construction of the Cowlitz Falls Hydroelectric Project in 1986, FERC stated, “The licensee shall, after consultation with the Friends of the Whitewater, construct a boat ramp take-out facility at the head of the reservoir on the Cispus River so that boating use of the river will not

The 4th Annual Whitewater Symposium will take place on Friday October 13th – Monday October 16th on the South Fork American in Lotus/Coloma, California (just 45 miles northeast of Sacramento). This year’s symposium is hosted by Dan Crandall of Current Adventures and Kayaking.com. The Whitewater Symposium is a four-day annual event that seeks to advance the sport of whitewater kayaking through bringing top paddlers, instructors and program leaders together. Just a few of the confirmed speakers and Topics listed below

River Recreation Survey The U.S. Forest Service in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation is in the process of gathering data from recreational users of the Tieton, Naches and Bumping Rivers and Rimrock, Clear and Bumping Reservoirs. This information will be used by the Bureau of Reclamation as part of a study to determine the impact of recreation on water resources as it relates to water storage. Potential impacts to all resources will be identified during the preparation of an

The Feather River Festival was event a great success, due to the large numbers of paddlers that showed up despite only having one day of flow.  Our hats are off to the Chico Paddleheads and AW volunteers that made this event happen! Over forty people showed for the film festival on Friday night.  The offerings included video and pictures from Ben Stookkesbury, Taylor Robertson, Chuck Lees, Eric Petlock and Dave Steindorf.  In addition to the visual pleasures of the evening

The 2006 Gauley Festival is going to be one of the best yet. It’s a showcase for AW and the top vendors in the whitewater culture. It’s a place to catch up with old friends, make new ones and have a great old time. This event takes a lot of man power to put on and we need your help.  Sign up for 2 hours (or more) to become a part of the Gauley Fest Volunteer Team. Then, while you’re

This years Ohiopyle Falls Festival was blessed with a perfect water level, lots of participants and great event leadership making the event a huge success. Barry Adams and his team pulled together a wonderful day of Falls runs in Ohiopyle. A “How to Run a Water Fall” clinic was held as part of the event to share knowledge and skills with participants from around the country. Over 200 participants ran the Falls for over a 1000 runs without incident. The

American Whitewater Ambassador and founder of Girls at Play, Anna Levesque, will be keeping the ‘Ladies on the Lower G’ fundraiser event alive and kicking this Gauley season!   Originally sponsored by Lotus Designs, the event is now being picked up by Girls at Play and Kokatat and hosted by North American River Runners.  “It’s a great combination for me,” says Levesque, “paddling one of my favorite rivers with great women and raising money for AW!”     The event will take