Articles

Federal relicensing of 21 hydropower dams in the Adirondacks begins this month on the Moose, Beaver, and Black rivers, home to iconic whitewater boating runs treasured by paddlers throughout the northeast. We’ve been paddling these rivers for the past four decades thanks to the efforts of dedicated paddlers including Pete Skinner and Chris Koll that resulted in historic settlement agreements providing scheduled boating releases on the Moose and Beaver. We celebrate those victories each year at Moosefest and at the

April 2021, Charity Navigator, America’s largest and most-utilized independent evaluator of charities, announced that American Whitewater has earned its eleventh consecutive 4-star (highest) rating. Receiving four out of a possible four stars indicates that American Whitewater adheres to good governance and other best practices that minimize the chance of unethical activities and consistently executes its mission in a fiscally responsible way. The letter from Charity Navigator informing American Whitewater that it was awarded a eleventh 4-star rating from Charity Navigator

Throughout the pandemic American Whitewater, managing agencies and Pacific Gas & Electric have been following a collaborative COVID protocol for scheduled recreational releases taking the lead from the local counties.  We are happy to report Plumas County supports moving forward with planned boating flows for the NF Feather River below Cresta provided paddlers continue to follow COVID guidelines.  Paddlers can expect recreational releases of 750 cfs for the NF Feather River below Cresta on April 10th and 11th.   Please

We’re pleased to announce that we have a new Membership Join/Renew form as well as a new Donation form . We also have a brand new Affiliate Club Membership Join/Renewal Form.  We’ve spent the last several months switching to a more robust Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform to better meet the needs of our membership base and to funnel your information into our membership database more efficiently. Additionally, we’ve gone green with new Digital AW Membership cards! Some highlights/changes include:

How will your voice contribute to the conversation around the importance of wild rivers? American Whitewater is proud to announce our 2021 Freeflow Institute scholarship opportunity for up to two emerging outdoor communicators. The winning applicant(s) will demonstrate a capacity to research and craft a compelling story with the goal of enhancing and expanding public awareness of an issue facing a particular watershed or landscape; igniting public dialog; and encouraging citizens to celebrate, experience, and protect the rivers of our

American Whitewater and a wide ranging group of partners and stakeholders met recently with members of Congress and their staffs to educate, gain the support of, and strategize with policy makers about Wild and Scenic Rivers legislation. This week long advocacy campaign is a product of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Coalition, a partnership between like-minded organizations American Whitewater helped found in 2019, with the goal of promoting and supporting the importance of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, new

We’re stoked to announce that we have brand new Platinum Paddler hoodies available as a membership incentive gift—we’re introducing our first ever sun hoodie! You’ll definitely want to add this piece of technical gear to your boating and lifestyle arsenal. We’ve partnered with NRS to offer the H2Core™ Silkweight Hoodie with both men’s and women’s-specific sizing available. There’s an AW logo on the front of the hoodie as well as the sleeve, and they come in a fjord blue color—you’ll

As the first action on public lands legislation this Congress, the House just passed on a 227-200 vote (see how your Representatative voted) an impressive package of river conservation bills, many of which include priorities for the whitewater paddling community. The bills that formed this package, known as Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act (H.R. 803), include 1079 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers, over 1.5 million acres of new Wilderness, and more than 1 million acres of sensitive

American Whitewater and our affiliate clubs have spent the past 25 years working to restore flows to incredible Southeastern rivers impacted by dams. A lot of our work has focused on Class II and III rivers like the lower Nantahala, Tuckasegee, Hiwassee, and Catawba, but we also secured releases in some classic steeper reaches previously dewatered by hydroelectric diversions. Each year we meet with power companies and agencies to schedule future releases, review ongoing ecology studies, and discuss any issues

Late last year you may remember our push to pass over a thousand miles of Wild and Scenic designations and millions of acres of protections for some of the most storied whitewater landscapes in the West, including the Grand Canyon (AZ), the Dolores (CO), the Olympic Peninsula (WA), and several whitewater rich watersheds in California (Trinity Alps, Central Coast, San Gabriels) under the banner of the Protecting America’s Wilderness Act (PAWA) by attaching it to the end of year must-pass

Thirty New Mexico State Representatives have introduced two resolutions asking voters to amend Section II of the state’s Constitution (“New Mexico’s Bill of Rights”). Both resolutions ask voters to approve elevating hunting and fishing into constitutional rights.  Its title “Protecting the Right to Hunt, Fish and Harvest Wildlife” would be more accurately described as “Protecting Property Rights over your Right to Hunt, Fish, or Float.”  These ballot initiatives are designed to preempt stream access rights litigation currently being considered by

In August, we asked our members to take action to help protect flows in the Cache La Poudre (CO). The County Commission was analyzing the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) for its adherence to the Larimer County Land Use code under an application for a 1041 permit. Despite the 203 letters from our supporters and the majority of all comments raising concerns about the project, the Commission voted 2-1 to approve the permit.   Since then, the November election results

The media is reporting that the new fee program affecting river access areas owned and managed by Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources river access areas has been delayed one year, from starting in July of 2021, to instead starting in July of 2022. The delay is to allow for additional input and reconsideration of how the program should be implemented, apparently specifically to reduce impacts on outfitters. A committee will review the new law and make recommendations on possible improvements. American