Articles

A new bill has been introduced in New York State that, if passed, will clarify paddlers’ right to paddle New York’s rivers and streams.  The bill, A.10048, was introduced by Assemblyman Alexander B Grannis (D-Manhattan), and will amend the Environmental Conservation Law with a new "Title 33: Public Right of Passage on Navigable Waterways".    The bill was actually first drafted over 15 years ago, and has been on hold awaiting the outcome of a court case.  The case is

Conservation Groups Appeal Fayette County’s Approval of Housing Development within New River Gorge   Washington, D.C. – The Plateau Action Network, National Parks Conservation Association, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, and National Committee for the New River filed a legal appeal on May 11th, 2006 of Fayette County’s decision to approve the first phase of Land Resources Corporation’s (LRC) “Roaring River” housing development, proposed along approximately 9 miles next to the New River Gorge National River. The “Roaring River” development would

A coalition of paddlers has formed to address the proposed changes to the Holtwood Hydroelectric Project on Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna River.  The changes as originally proposed would destroy most or all of the popular play waves and holes downstream of the Holtwood Dam.  American Whitewater staff worked with local paddlers to draft a set of detailed comments outlining our interests, the anticipated project impacts, study needs, and potential mitigation measures which we shared with the power company.  Paddlers then attended several public

American Whitewater is pleased to announce that Ohiopyle Falls State Park will allow experienced paddlers to run Ohiopyle Falls on three separate days this year.  In recent years the falls have been open to paddlers for only one weekend annually.  This decision comes as the result of several meetings and proposals set up by American Whitewater with Park and agency officials. On the days when paddling the falls is allowed, all paddlers must participate in a waterfall running clinic, which

Eric Petlock is a classic story of raft guide/kayaker who has decided to give back to the rivers that he cares about.  Eric has been a key volunteer for American Whitewater in Northern California and has helped organize the logistics for the Feather releases over the past five years.  Eric’s duties have ranged from organizing the shuttle service to parking cars at the takeout and trying to solicit other volunteers to help out at the releases.  Eric has learned first

There will be a series of releases on the Pit 1 reach this summer as required by PG&E’s FERC license. This run is rated as class IV and will be releasing in June, July and August. There will be a series of releases on the Pit 1 reach this summer as required by PG&E’s FERC license.  This run is rated as class IV and  received rave reviews from several boaters that were able to run the reach Over Memorial Day

American Whitewater has recently completed a report that summarizes the past decade of our river stewardship efforts in the Southeast.  The report shares the results of AW staff and volunteers tackling complex dam relicensing processes, networking with regional partners, and encouraging river based activism within the paddling community.  We encourage everyone that enjoys southeastern rivers to download the report and learn more about our incredible decade in the southeast.  The AW Southeastern River Stewardship Report can be downloaded by clicking the following link: http://www.americanwhitewater.org/resources/repository/2005_Southeastern%2520Report.pdf

Cal Hite, National Park Service (NPS) Superintendent of New River Gorge National River, is the recent recipient of two awards. At the recent NPS Northeast Regional Superintendent’s Conference, Hite was named the region’s Superintendent of the Year and received the region’s Natural Resource Stewardship Award. Both recognized his efforts to protect the park frompotential adverse effects of two proposed housing developments in Fayette County. NPS Northeast Regional Director Mary Bomar cited Hite’s commitment to the 1978 legislation which established New

DC Area Boaters Form Great Falls Kayak Coalition To Coordinate with Resource Managers and Public Safety Officials On River Safety and Falls Access A few miles upstream of the Capital Beltway, the bottom falls out of the Potomac River over a series of Class V+ drops known as Great Falls.  The “Falls” were first run in the mid 1970s and have maintained their status as an East Coast test piece for today’s expert boaters.  Thanks to the efforts of local

There’s still snow in the mountains and flows have been great all spring as boaters from across Washington state gear up to host the Wenatchee River Festival on one of the region’s premiere whitewater rivers. Boaters from across the Pacific Northwest will all converge on the town of Cashmere the weekend of June 10 and 11th for a great weekend of fun and activities on the water. The weekend will kick off with the Stewardship Roundtable sponsored by Keen Footwear

Are you an outfitter, rafting guide or boater on the White Salmon River? Are you passionate about the conservation of the White Salmon River? If so, please join us for the first White Salmon RiverFest this Wednesday (6/7)–a program of the Headwaters Institute hosted locally by Wet Planet. The goal of the event will be to bring the river community together to advance our collective knowledge of the White Salmon River watershed, its ecosysetm and the major issues facing the

On May 10, 2006, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) staff issued a Draft Environmental Assessment (DEA) for the relicensing of the Bryson, East Fork, and West Fork Hydroelectric Projects and for the surrender of the Dillsboro Hydroelectric Project.     Comments on the DEA are due June 9, 2006.  The DEA evaluates the environmental consequences of the operation and maintenance of the Tuckasegee Hydroelectric Projects in North Carolina.  The DEA also evaluates the environmental effects of implementing the applicant’s

CKS first PaddleFest event in Buena Vista Colorado on May 19, 20, and 21st was a river festival with on water instruction, boat demos and an international group of pro paddlers on hand to teach skills and share knowledge with the 1,000 plus in attendance. Jointly celebrating the grand opening of the newest Colorado play park at South Main, this kick off event for the Colorado paddling season provided an opportunity for 4 AW Athlete Ambassadors to talk as a group about American Whitewater to a capacity crowd at

The Army Corps of Engineers announced that they will be providing an 800 cfs release on Maryland’s Savage River on Sunday, May 28th, from 9am to 3pm.  The release is the result of maintenance activities but is scheduled to support recreational boating.  Please check the following link prior to attending the release, to assure it has not been modified or cancelled. http://www.nab-wc.usace.army.mil/wc/projected_Q.html The Savage River, once a major whitewater boating destination, has recieved little use in recent years due to dam regulated flow manipulations. 

Four years ago AW signed the Settlement Agreement for the removal of Marmot Dam and PGE’s Bull Run Hydroelectric Project (read article). This dam is the put-in for the whitewater run through the Sandy Gorge, one of the area’s most spectacular rivers representing a natural retreat just outside the city of Portland, OR. The Settlement Agreement represents a historic opportunity to restore this river for fish, wildlife, and recreation. We were proud participants in the negotiations leading to this removal

An important trails program, the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA), is facing significant funding cuts in next year’s federal budget. RTCA supports 300 projects around the country each year, and is the primary federal program that provides assistance with water trails and public access to rivers. AW has partnered with RTCA on projects across the country for more than a decade and specific recent projects have focused on these great rivers: Middle Fork Snoqualmie, WA: RTCA facilitated a

The crew of AW volunteers in Bellingham is bringing another whitewater kayak flick to town this year. The film is Hotel Charlie: No Big Names 4 and will be presented by film-maker and kayaker Ben Stookesberry. Includes footage from Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. Check out the trailer. Tuesday May 23rd Pickford Dream Space (1318 Bay Street, map) Doors open at 6:00 PM, film at 7:30 PM tickets: $5, students: $4 Beer will be served and there will also be a

In a 9-0 Decision released this morning the Supreme Court upheld the ability of States to protect water quality under the Clean Water Act at hydropower dams. SD Warren, a South African company with dams along the Presumpscot River in Maine, had attempted to circumvent the state approval process required under S401 of the Clean Water Act. They attempted to make the absurd argument that water released from a dam did not constitute a discharge and their dams were therefore

During the past year American Whitewater continued our efforts to increase paddling access to Ohiopyle Falls. After several meetings with key people at Ohiopyle State Park and the Pennsylvania DCNR we are making some progress. Unfortunately, nothing is happening as fast as we might have hoped. We initially proposed that the Falls be opened up outright. After this was rejected, we created a pilot program, which would open the Falls on days and times designated by new park management. This