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Colorado’s Senate Bill  SB 62 passed another hurdle this week and moves to the Senate Floor with all Republicans and 2 Democrats (Isgar and Takis) supporting the bill. Now SB 62 heads to the House where it will be heard in Committee.SB62 allows only the minimum flow for kayaking, canoeing, inner tubing, boating and rafting, all other water can be diverted and even the minimum flow standard is weak as it requires, in all cases, that water flows exceeding 350

Jon Dragan, the first outfitter to offer trips on West Virginia’s New and Gauley Rivers, died suddenly on February 12th, 2005. He was 62. Jon began his commercial rafting career in 1964 on the Youghiogheny River, and in 1966 John Sweet took him down the New River Gorge. Dragan looked past the areas strip mines, junked cars, and ramshackle houses and saw the marvelous beauty of it’s mountains and rivers. Jon and his brothers founded Wildwater Unlimited in 1968 and

Jon Dragan, the first outfitter to offer trips on West Virginia’s New and Gauley Rivers, died suddenly on February 12th, 2005. He was 62. Jon began his commercial rafting career in 1964 on the Youghiogheny River, and in 1966 John Sweet took him down the New River Gorge. Dragan looked past the areas strip mines, junked cars, and ramshackle houses and saw the marvelous beauty of it’s mountains and rivers. Jon and his brothers founded Wildwater Unlimited in 1968 and

The Styrofoam Cup is back!  Warren Wilson College (WWC) is again hosting the Southeastern Intercollegiate slalom and rodeo championships.  This year WWC is holding the 7th Styrofoam Cup in conjunction with the 37th Southeastern Wildwater Championships. The 2005 Styrofoam Cup will be held April 23 and 24, 2005 at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) near Bryson City, NC.  This venue includes ample parking, excellent spectating venues,  reliable water, and facilities in which to conduct the raffle and award ceremonies.  The

The Twitch V West Coast Video Premiere will be hosted by Seattle Raft and Kayak in support of American Whitewater. Join producer Eric Link and athlete Tao Berman, who has starred in all 5 Twitch films, as they bring their film to the Seattle boating community. Your $5 donation will be collected by the Washington Kayak Club, local AW affiliate club and a long-time supporter of the Twitch Video premieres. 100% goes to AW, to support access, conservation, and safety

The Styrofoam Cup is back!  Warren Wilson College (WWC) is again hosting the Southeastern Intercollegiate slalom and rodeo championships.  This year WWC is holding the 7th Styrofoam Cup in conjunction with the 37th Southeastern Wildwater Championships. The 2005 Styrofoam Cup will be held April 23 and 24, 2005 at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) near Bryson City, NC.  This venue includes ample parking, excellent spectating venues,  reliable water, and facilities in which to conduct the raffle and award ceremonies.  The

The Twitch V West Coast Video Premiere will be hosted by Seattle Raft and Kayak in support of American Whitewater. Join producer Eric Link and athlete Tao Berman, who has starred in all 5 Twitch films, as they bring their film to the Seattle boating community. Your $5 donation will be collected by the Washington Kayak Club, local AW affiliate club and a long-time supporter of the Twitch Video premieres. 100% goes to AW, to support access, conservation, and safety

American Whitewater recognizes Richard “Ricardo” Martin as our March 2005 Volunteer of the Month for his leadership on Colorado River Management in the Grand Canyon.             Richard was one of the first Grand Canyon boaters to recognize the need for healing the boating community and compromising on certain key issues now for the long term health of the river and improvement of long-standing access issues.  Richard was key to securing the joint compromise letter between the private boating community and outfitters

The Lehigh River below the Francis E. Walter dam runs through a scenic gorge containing 26 miles of Class II-III whitewater. For the last five years Pennsylvania Senator Stuart Greenleaf has worked closely with American Whitewater, local outfitters and paddling clubs to relocate a low-lying road on the upstream face of the dam. This will increase the project’s managed storage capacity and give the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers additional flexibility to store and release water.  At a public meeting

The 22nd National Paddling film festival this past weekend was a tremendous success (no comma) for the festival, filmmakers, and American Whitewater.  This year the event was at a new location at the newly renovated Lexington Convention Center, which worked out perfectly. American Whitewater unveiled its new membership recruiting tool this past weekend, the Kokatat man purse full of swag.  Typically at an event like NPFF, AW has about 30 people who will sign up for membership.  We decided to stretch

The 22nd National Paddling film festival this past weekend was a tremendous success (no comma) for the festival, filmmakers, and American Whitewater.  This year the event was at a new location at the newly renovated Lexington Convention Center, which worked out perfectly. American Whitewater unveiled its new membership recruiting tool this past weekend, the Kokatat man purse full of swag.  Typically at an event like NPFF, AW has about 30 people who will sign up for membership.  We decided to stretch

Oppose Senate Bill 62 – Limiting Recreational Water Use The Senate will be voting on SB 62 on Monday, February 28th! We have a great chance to defeat this bill in the Senate, but we need YOU to call your Senator TODAY! Please call your Senator and ask him/her to VOTE NO on SB 62! For your Senator’s direct phone number:  http://www.leg.state.co.us/Clics2005a/csl.nsf/directory?openframeset The main Senate numbers at the Capitol are: 1-888-473-8136 (outside of Denver)303-866-2316 (within Denver) **Not sure who your Senator is?  Go to www.vote-smart.org and

Just four hours before the hearing that would have decided whether or not 2200 homes would be built on and near the rim of the New River Gorge, the developer withdrew their application. In a letter, the developer stated that “After careful consideration, the applicant has determined it will be necessary to revise its application … to more accurately reflect the scope and nature of the Roaring River project in Fayette County.”  The development company continued that it “remains confident that the Roaring River

When: Saturday, February 26, 2005, 12 PM to 1 AMWhere: Lexington Convention Center, Lexington, KY The NPFF started in a barn 22 years ago, received an education while held at the University of Kentucky, grew into the City Theater and now has evolved to our spacious new home here at the beautiful Lexington Convention Center. We hope the new location and program schedule will continue to be another positive step in the right direction for everyone involved – artists, volunteers, sponsors,

Saturday March 12th, 9:00pm Great Dane – DowntownMadison, WIIn Summer 2004, six kayakers set out to explore the upper reaches of Seven Sierra Nevada rivers, a feat never accomplished by a single group in one season. Plunging 25,000 feet of vertical descent in 150 miles of river, their path took them through some of the most unique landscapes found anywhere in the world.Dropping into un-scoutable, un-portageable, and quasi-navigable gorges is both breathtaking and terrifying, and losing your shoes in the

The following anouncement comes as the result of several years of advocacy by AW, the Lehigh Valley Canoe Club, and other user groups.  The process will allow the ACOE to propose changes to the management of the Lehigh River and recieve public feedback on those proposals.  There is a very good chance that different proposals will be on the table that could enhance whitewater boating opportunities or impact them.  It is very important that the paddling community participate in this opportunity to enhance

A developer is proposing to build upscale houses along a 10 mile section of the rim of the New River Gorge.  The 4300 acre development would impact vistas in the gorge and would forever change the character of this beautiful national treasure.  The development requires a zoning change by the Fayette County Planning Commission and approval of the County Commissioners in order to move forward.  The Planning Commission and County Commissioners can stop this project dead – but can also

American Whitewater expects to receive the USFS decision on whether or not to lift the ban on boating 21 miles of the Wild and Scenic Chattooga River no later than April of this year.  The decision will come at least 6 months past the agency’s legal deadline, however American Whitewater has chosen to accept this delay.  We feel that granting the USFS adequate time for analysis of our appeal of the 2004 decision to continue the boating ban will only improve the chances of

Jason D. RobertsonManaging DirectorAmerican Whitewater1424 Fenwick LaneSilver Spring, MD 20910E-mail: Jason@amwhitewater.org301-589-9453Joseph F. Alston, SuperintendentGrand Canyon National ParkP.O. Box 129Grand Canyon, AZ   86023Fax: 928-638-7797 RE: Grand Canyon DEIS Comments, January 31, 2005 Dear Superintendent Alston: Thank you for providing this opportunity to comment on the “Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Colorado River Management Plan for Grand Canyon National Park,” released on October 1, 2004.American Whitewater (AW) is a non-profit 501.c.3 public interest group that works to conserve and restore America’s whitewater resources and

On January 25th, after 5 years of intense negotiations between AW and other stakeholders, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a new 40 year license for the dam on North Carolina’s Cheoah River and 3 dams on the Little Tennessee River.  The new license will protect and restore the beautiful and diverse natural resources of the area, and will provide world class paddling opportunities on the 9 mile long class IV Cheoah River.  While subject to appeal, the license is

Come to the 22nd National Paddling Film Festival, February 26, noon until 1 am at the Lexington Convention Center, Lexington, KY.   The 2005 National Paddling Film Festival is running at high water.  No eddying out at this year’s competition with continuous action from the likes of Eric Link with Twitch V, featuring Tao Berman, Josh Bechtel, Eric Seymour and Ben Stookesberry on rivers from Alaska to Argentina.  And Olaf Obsommer’s Sickline 3 which takes us to Italy, Norway and New

The Membership Appreciation Tour2005= Year 2: Bigger and Better As part of American Whitewater’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2004 AW set out on a mission to thank members at a variety of events throughout the country.  The program was so successful and we had such a blast interacting with all of our members we brought it back for another round.The membership appreciation tour hit the gym over the winter, some steroids were involved, and it is now jacked up.  So what

American Whitewater’s success restoring rivers largely rests on our network of dedicated volunteers working with staff on local river issues.  This month we want to celebrate Charlie Vincent’s contributions to the paddling community.  Charlie is a dedicated volunteer working altruistically for the paddling community on restoration of the Bear River in Southeast Idaho.  Advocating to restore whitewater flows in the arid landscape of Southeast Idaho with it’s plethora of irrigation ditches does not make you the popular person in meetings. 

It’s been a long process but this week the Squamish Lilloett Regional District (SLRD) Board issued their decision and denied the re-zoning request required for construction of the proposed Ashlu Hydroelectric Project. This decision followed a long series of public meetings and emotional testimony. In reaching their decision, the SLRD Board recognized the numerous concerns put forward by those who expressed opposition to the project, noting that the project did not fit with the SLRD’s own policies on these projects,