Articles

Grand Canyon National Park Releases Plans to Reduce 26-Year Wait List for Rafting CommunityImportant first step for equity and river management. Contact: GCPBA, Richard Martin, President, leigh@sedona.net  American Whitewater, Jason Robertson, Acting Executive Director, Jason@awa.org, 301-502-4610 For Release: October 1, 2004  FLAGSTAFF, AZ  The Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP) has released it’s long awaited Draft Environmental Statement (DEIS) today, an important part of the process of revising the methods used for recreational management of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. The plan

The Ohiopyle Festival will be this weekend, Oct 1-3. Spread the Word. The Corps of Engineers have come through as stated in their web site: Yough Weekend Recreational Outlook! “We anticipate reducing the release to 200 cfs Friday morning, to facilitate that event. Criteria for the race requires Ohiopyle stage to be in the range of 1.5 to 1.8 feet. We expect to hold a release level to meet that criteria for the duration of the event.” Lets hear it

During summer 2003 Snohomish PUD constructed a new bridge across the Sultan River at the powerhouse. Unfortunately for river runners and fishermen, this bridge eliminated the historic social trails to the water that provided important river access. Paddlers continued to access the river but this involved climbing over sediment fencing, and with no clearly defined route, resource degradation issues began to develop in an area the PUD had identified for riparian restoration. New bridge constructed in 2003 Members of the

Ticket to Ride.‘Ladies on the Lower G’2nd Annual Fundraiser for American WhitewaterSeptember 24, 2004 (the day before Gauley Festival)The watery women of Lotus Designs will be hostessing this gathering of the girls as a gift to the good folks at American Whitewater. Any woman who is an American Whitewater Member and is comfortable paddling down the Lower Gauley are encouraged to sign up for tips, tricks, and take-out talk. $30 for permit fee and includes shuttle, a hot lunch catered

  The weather forecast for Gauley Festival is for partly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70’s.  Summersville Dam will be releasing 15,000 cfs all week until the lake returns to normal pool, and everyone anticipates a normal flow for the festival weekend. Summersville Lake will be at summer pool sometime Wednesday morning. They will continue to release water to get the lake below summer pool. Once the lake returns to summer pool the dam will begin to cut back to

CITIZEN-TIMES.comU.S. Forest Service to close recreation areas earlyBy FROM STAFF REPORTSSept. 16, 2004 12:29 p.m.ASHEVILLE – The U.S. Forest Service will close all recreation areas across the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests at 3 p.m.The areas will remain closed until Hurricane Ivan passes and storm damage can be assessed. This includes all campgrounds, picnic areas, boat ramps, viewing areas, trailheads and trails. Bike trails, horse trails and off-highway vehicle trail systems will be closed as well as hiking trails.All roads

Chico Paddleheads, your California kayak, canoe and raft club, is hosting its 1st Annual Chico Paddleheads’ Film Festival on Friday, September 24th at the Pageant Theater. This event coincides with a whitewater release weekend on the North Fork Feather River. The festival will promote the release, water sport athletes and enthusiasts, local river access, and conservation issues. The Film Festival will also serve as a fund raiser for American Whitewater Association and Chico Paddleheads. Two showings, at 6 PM and 8:30 PM,  will include a mixture of extreme, rodeo,  whitewater, sea

In September of this year, King County announced an agreement to purchase development rights on the Snoqualmie Tree Farm, more than 90,000 acres of working forest once owned by Weyerhaeuser and currently owned by Hancock Timber. This represents the largest public purchase of development rights in the region, and while Hancock Timber will continue to manage the land as working forest for the time being, the North Fork Snoqualmie River corridor will remain undeveloped. This includes two whitewater runs: the

“A River Festival with a Musical Flair” Never in the history of AW’s Gauley Fest has so much effort been put into the “scheduled” entertainment.  In 2004, three bands, the IR Big Gun Show, and the Wave sport Open will grace the Fest’s stage.  Music will start at 4:00 PM and continue until the wee hours of the morning. Each of the three bands playing the Fest has a direct connection to the whitewater world.   http://www.steepcreek.comWith a name like “Steepcreek” they have

News: Proposed Hydro rules enshrines energy industry access(Washington, DC) The Interior Department is poised to hand the energy industry another favor at the expense of fish restoration, outdoor recreation, and public lands protection, conservation and recreation advocates warned today. A new departmental rule, released for public comment today, provides electric utilities exclusive rights to appeal environmental and recreational requirements at hydropower dams. This policy provides hydroelectric dam owners with direct access to upper echelons of the Interior Department – but

AW Ohiopyle Over the Falls Festival Update September 9, 2004 We got inundated with rain yesterday and the Lower Yough hit 10 feet today. Even though the rain is just about done there is little chance of the level coming down enough for us to run the Falls this weekend. Because of this we are postponing the entire Festival to our cancellation dates of October 1-3, 2004. There will be no planned activities this weekend. If you pre-registered your registration will

Whitewater Classics Fifty North American Rivers Picked by the Continent’sLeading Paddlers A Summary To select the fifty rivers featured in Whitewater Classics Fifty North American Rivers Picked by the Continent’s Leading Paddlers, author Tyler Williams asked the most influential kayakers and canoeists on the continent to each nominate a classic river. The results were as varied as the paddlers themselves, from the alpine scenery of Nancy Wiley’s Animas River, to the tropical paradise of Kent Ford’s Santa Maria. Each entry in the

THE GAULEY FESTIVAL SUPPORTS THE AW MISSION THE GAULEY FEST VOLUNTEER TEAM SUPPORTS THE FESTIVALWE CAN’T HAVE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHERAW NEEDS YOU!WANT A FUN AND EASY WAY TO BE A PART OF WHAT MAKES IT HAPPEN?IN ADDITION TO AW’S GRATITUDE, WE’LL PRESENT YOU WITH A LIMITED EDITION “VOLUNTEER’S ONLY” SHIRT The 2004 Gauley Festival is going to be the best yet. It’s a showcase for AW and the top vendors in the whitewater culture. It’s a place to catch up

Wilderness Act Turns 40: and Needs Your Help TODAY. If you enjoy clean water, forested vistas, multiday river trips, and all things wild:  today is the day you need to take 5 minutes out of your day to protect your favorite wild places. In mid July, the Bush Administration proposed to repeal the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, putting 58.5 million acres of our national forests at risk to destructive road-building, logging and drilling.  The public spoke out in unprecedented numbers (1.6 million comments,

The National Park Service announced this afternoon that it is nearing completion on the Draft Colorado River Management Plan after a one year delay. The Park’s press release is posted below.National Park ServiceU.S. Department of the InteriorGrand CanyonNational Park   PO  Box 129Grand Canyon, Arizona86023-0129   USA 928-638-7779 phone928-638-7609 faxGrand Canyon National Park News Release  DATE:  August 26, 2004                              For Immediate ReleaseMaureen Oltrogge 928-638-7779  GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK NEARING COMPLETION OF DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT TO REVISE COLORADO RIVER MANAGEMENT PLAN              The analytical work to update

The put-in for the Numbers, one of the most popular in the United States, was closed during the 1990’s after an informal agreement with the landowner was abruptly terminated. River access is often arranged through the permission of local landowners. While these arrangements are important, they don’t assure long-term access and are often not adequate on high-use runs that continue to increase in popularity. American Whitewater and Colorado White Water Association (CWWA) stepped in to find a long-term solution to