AW is proud to announce that Eric Marksz is the winner of the Jackson Kayak AW Membership Drive. For all of his hard word Eric will receive a Jackson Kayak of his choice. In total Eric raised 24 memberships for AW. Kalten Walter also participated in the program. He raised 10 memberships for AW and for his efforts he will be able to sport an AW lifejacket from Lotus Designs. AW wants to thank Jackson Kayak for helping to develop
Now that the John Day Navigability Study is nearing completion (see www.americanwhitewater.org/archive/article/1192), the Oregon Department of State Lands has intiated its next navigability study on the Rogue River. American Whitewater has long supported a navigability designation on this popular whitewater and float fishing river, and also successfully supported its designation as a Wild and Scenic River. If you are interested in learning more, the State encourages you to visit www.oregonstatelands.us and click on the “navigability” link. A final decision to
Sixth Annual American Whitewater Ohiopyle Over the Falls FestivalSeptember 10-12, 2004www.Fallsrace.com This will be the 6th year for this event and this year promises more activities in addition to whitewater paddlers running the Ohiopyle Falls on the Youghiogheny River. Here is a sample of the events we have scheduled: You can run the Falls Friday thru Sunday. Race and Free-Style competition takes place on Saturday. There are numerous competition categories. Registration fees have been reduced for this year and you
The Olympic Games start in earnest for the paddling community today and continue through August 20th. American Whitewater wishes our Olympic team success. Our national team consists of Rebecca Giddens, Chris Ennis (the son of an AW board member), Scott Parsons, Brett Heyl, Matt Taylor, and Joe Jacobi. These atheletes inspire and serve as role models for all of us.For more information about America’s 2004 Olympians, we encourage you to visit www.DaveyHearn.com for a no-nonsense look at coverage of the
Oregon’s Department of State Lands is seeking your comments on the draft navigability study report for the John Day. Comments are due September 3, 2004. Your comments will be incorporated in a revised report, which will be completed in mid-October.American Whitewater has been a long-time supporter of navigability on the John Day, which is one of the state’s most popular fishing and floating runs. The study was requested by the John Day River Chapter of the Northwest Steelheaders in 1997 and
The Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest recently announced a temporary ban on paddling 2.5 miles of the North Fork of the Nooksack River from the Highway 542 Bridge (at Douglas Fir Campground) to the National Forest Boundary (affecting the intermediate run from Douglas Fir Campground to Mt. Baker Highway mile 27–access to the Horseshoe Bend run upstream remains open). These closures have taken place since the 2000 paddling season and will likely continue. Each year the closure has been announced in
The Powerhouse run on the Snoqualmie River is one of the most treasured assets for whitewater paddlers in Western Washington, convenient to a population of over 2 million people. The river is less than an hour drive from downtown Seattle, making it a popular after work destination. The whitewater is class II and only a mile in length making it the region’s best beginner training site, and one where you can easily jog the shuttle. Although the run is short,
The concept of the Whitewater Symposium originated with Bruce Lessels and the Zoar Outdoor team. “We were talking about the flattening of playboat demand and what the next trend would be and how few river runners there were any more,” says Lessels. “We were also talking about how many little fiefdoms there are in whitewater and how interesting it would be to get them all together in one place exploring what they have in common.” Bruce pitched the idea to
Little River Canyon was running again this 4th of July weekend and the boaters were there in mass. New addditions to the area were “No Tresspassing” and “Private Property” signs surrounding the put-in for Johnnies Creek (an Alabama classic Class IV creek run with one awesome Class V, Gorilla Constrictor). This is a beautiful put-in with the entrance rapid being a 30′ slide to a 10′ drop into a big pool. Unfortunately, the land owner and local trustees got sick
The Deerfield River Festival was created 11 years ago to celebrate the re-licensing of the river’s many dams and to raise money for American Whitewater to continue this work on additional rivers throughout the country. If you have never experienced the Deerfield River Festival, it is well worth the trip to see why this festival does “Get better every year!”The festival fun started on Saturday morning when several paddlers joined the first ever “Dryway Scramble”. This paired paddlers’ competition, is
Help Stop the Bush Administration from Giving Away Our Last Roadless Lands 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 to encourage Clinton to sign the Rule into law and now we must all step up again to voice our support for the protection of our roadless lands. A public comment period started
American Whitewater and the Academy of Huge Experiences are proud to announce a $5,000 academic scholarship to the kayak high school. The scholarship contest is open to any whitewater kayaker under the age of eighteen. The winners must submit an essay describing a personal river experience. A panel of faculty from Huge Experiences will evaluate each essay for both style and content. The panel will look for writing that is creative, clear, articulate and logically organized. All entries must be
American Whitewater’s Deerfield River Festival July 30th – Aug 1st Charlemont, MA (in the field across from Zoar Outdoor) Admission: $5.00 American Whitewater and F.L.O.W. started the Deerfield River Festival in 1994 to celebrate the successful dam relicensing process that took place on the Deerfield in 1993. The event focuses on bringing people to Charlemont, MA to enjoy a weekend of outdoor activities while showcasing whitewater paddlesports and raising funds for AW. The main activities take place on Saturday afternoon/evening
AW is thrilled to announce the 2004 winners of the AW “Flowing Rivers Grant Program” supported by Clif Bar. We received three times as many proposals this year as last. Consequently, the committee had many strong proposals to choose from. The projects that we did select for funding were selected because:they directly affected access, conservation, and safety the projects were likely to have a lasting effect the funding would contribute to the project’s completion the benefits of the project would benefit
American Whitewater members can now read the latest issue of the AW Journal as a PDF online in Full Color, even before it arrives at your doorstep. Check it out now. If you aren’t a curent AW member, Join Now for full access to the journal archive.
Where: Original channel upstream from Xcel Energy’s Jim Falls Hydro Project on the Chippewa River. A spillway gate will be opened so peak flows occur at the old bridge area, midway down the channel. When: Whitewater flow releases will occur four times annually. This year’s dates are: July 10, 24, and August 14-15. Releases are from 10 AM to 3 PM. Flows: 650 cfs Description: This river segment is characterized as class II and Class III pool-drop rapids, requiring an
Roughly twenty-four paddlers attended this first release on the Swan. Nineteen of these paddlers were not American Whitewater members. After paddling this fantastic whitewater resource eighteen of the nineteen paddlers recognized the importance of supporting American Whitewater’s river conservation work and quickly joined up. Burgers and beer were provided to all members in appreciation of their support. Thank you! In early 1998 PacifiCorp started the relicense process for the Bigfork hydropower project. American Whitewater got involved at the outset in the
2004 AW Member-Get-A-Member Campaign…Continues!So far the campaign has been a great success, but due to slow mailing we have decided to continue the program until July 31st.If you still know someone who is not a member and you would like to receive an AW Nalgene Bottle then get busy!“When you experience something good, you want to share it with others. It’s the natural thing to do.”Well the paddling season is in full swing and that means, that AW is about to start its bi-annual
In spring of 2002, the Forest Service announced a plan to develop a new put-in access for the Upper Sauk run. This project was proposed as part of the recreation mitigation package for relicensing of Seattle City Light’s Skagit River dams. The existing access for paddlers is in the Bedal Campground. This access point consists of a one vehicle pull-in within the campground. The campground access road consists of a single narrow lane. The Forest Service has identified potential congestion
10:00am-2:30pm, July 10, 2004University of Oregon, Knight Law SchoolSponsored by the Hydropower Reform Coalition IMPROVING THE MCKENZIE RIVER The McKenzie River meets the Willamette River in Eugene, Oregon, but 50 miles upstream in the Cascades lies the Carmen-Smith project. The project consists of three dams which reroute the confluence of the Smith and McKenzie rivers. The hydropower dams are owned by Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB), and their collective operating license expires in 2008. Right now, agencies, Tribes, and stakeholders have begun
American Whitewater and the Beartooth Paddling Club are partnering with PPL Montana to conduct a Whitewater Flow Study on West Rosebud Creek, Montana. The purpose of the study is to identify a preferred range of whitewater boating flows. PPL Montana operates the Mystic Lake Hydroelectric Project in the upper West Rosebud drainage. The Project regulates flows into West Rosebud Creek affecting whitewater boating opportunities. The Project is undergoing relicensing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and PPL Montana, American
Americans Outdoors Act Introduced in Senate On Thursday, June 24th, Sen’s. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) introduced a bill that funds a variety of outdoor recreation programs. The Americans Outdoors Act, S. 2590, would provide a permanent funding stream from Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) revenues for wildlife conservation, coastal protection, the stateside Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program (UPARR). The bill would direct $1.4 billion to be spent each year for
SALARY: OpenLOCATION: Silver Spring, MD (2 blocks from metro)TYPE: Regular Full-Time, SalariedPOSITION SUMMARY: Reports directly to the Executive Director, manages and coordinates American Whitewater’s business operations and satellite locations, bears responsibility for multiple fiscal sub-units and functions, which may include budget preparation and control, human resources administration, accounts payable, accounts receivable, contract and grant accounting, business resources and assets, cashiering, bookkeeping, preparing the annual report, and/or recordkeeping for the annual audit.DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Manages the daily financial activities of the
Contact: Thomas O’Keefe, okeefe@riversandcreeks.com, (206-527-7947) University Kayak Club, a local American Whitewater Affiliate Club, Receives $5000 Grant from National Park Foundation and Tom’s of Maine For Release: July 1, 2004 Seattle, WA – The University Kayak Club announced today that it has received a $5000 grant from the National Park Foundation, the official nonprofit partner of America’s National Parks, to be used to formalize river access sites to provide public access and address bank erosion issues. In addition the funds
