Articles

When American Whitewater goes to bat for river corridor protections, or to stop a dam or mining project before it starts, our main tool is the combined force of our voices giving public feedback on how these actions will positively or adversely affect the rivers we love and our enjoyment of them. Unfortunately, right now the Forest Service is set to make changes that would take away our right to have a say in how public lands and rivers are managed. We

American Whitewater is pleased to recognize Charlie Duffy as our August Volunteer of the Month. Charlie is a long-time kayaker and swiftwater rescue instructor who has worked hundreds of hours to help AW improve the Accident Database. He has gone over every single entry, checking each for accuracy and adding more information as needed. In the process, he uncovered a number of bugs in the way the new website handles the database. These have been reported and corrected. He also prepared

Many thanks those who have contributed to AW’s Sang Run Access Fund on line. We raised over $1200 to pay for the porta potty and gravel. Thanks to you, we’ve maintained this site for the State of Maryland for over 20 years! Let’s also give a special shout out to Don Millard, who has cut the grass in both Friendsville and Sang Run for many years to keep our access costs low. If not for him you might see a

I can’t keep my mouth shut any longer. I’ve been troubled the past couple weeks with the direction river surfing is going. I’ve been wrestling with bringing it up because I’m afraid of alienating myself and getting crucified online by the river surfing community. But this isn’t about me, this is about the future of our sport and the lives of others.  I don’t like surfing in the river alone. And lately, even with a 15 person deep line up

American Whitewater is an organization that prides ourselves on getting work done, both effectively and efficiently. Eighty-three cents of every dollar we see goes directly to our stewardship work, and in 2018 we succeeded in turning that work into favorable outcomes on projects across the country. For a concise and graphic look at the work we accomplished together last year, check out our 2018 Annual Report.

A group of students participating in the Rose Foundation Project, New Voices are Rising based in Oakland, California recently spent a day learning about water issues and playing in the waters of the newly designated State Wild and Scenic Mokelumne River with American Whitewater and Foothill Conservancy. California Stewardship Director Theresa Simsiman helped provide safety so the teens could enjoy swimming and wading in the Mokelumne, and gave a short talk on Pacific Gas & Electric’s Mokelumne Hydropower Project. Theresa

On June 17, the Forest Service released a Working Draft of the Revised Forest Plan for the Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forests. The Working Draft outlines broad management direction for the Forests and proposes new management areas including Wilderness to be Analyzed, high-use recreation areas, Roadless Areas, and more. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Eligibility process is not included in this Working Draft. Many of you commented on the Wild and Scenic Eligibility Evaluation Draft this winter

KEEN has been a longtime supporter of our river stewardship work and if you need a new pair of KEENs now is the time to get them – use the code AMERICANWHITEWATER in the KEEN online store to receive $10 off and KEEN will kick $10 our way to continue our stewardship work for rivers. It’s a win win and your feet will thank you! Our good friends at KEEN Footwear provide a tremendous amount of support for our American

SPOKANE – Late in the day Wednesday, June 26th, the Washington State Court of Appeals Division II ruled in favor of Spokane River advocates, finding that the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) failed to protect summertime flows needed by the river, and thousands of boaters, fishers, anglers, and businesses. The court, in rejecting Ecology’s Spokane River rule, underscored that the agency arbitrarily disregarded thousands of public comments, boater surveys, an analysis comparing the aesthetics of different flows, and testimony of river-dependent

Come join us at the North Fork Championship this weekend. Pacific Northwest Stewardship Director Thomas O’Keefe, Communications Director Evan Stafford, and Board Member Megi Morishita will be out for the event. The North Fork Championship is a great event that celebrates our sport and a reminder that the North Fork Payette was once proposed for hydropower development. A group of paddlers and river advocates fought to save this river. Through their efforts, Idaho Rivers United was born and in 1991

This week, Oregon House Bill 2835 re-passed the Oregon House on a 52-7 vote. Having earlier cleared the Senate, the bill now awaits a signature from the Governor to be signed into law. For decades, opportunities to protect and improve the ability of the public to access and legally use waterways for recreation have seen minimal progress, while efforts to severely limit access have been a consistent threat. Oregon House Bill 2835 is a pivotal piece of legislation in Oregon,

Come join American Whitewater at the 2019 Oh Be Joyful Creek Race in Crested Butte on June 22! “The World famous Oh Be Joyful Steep Creek Race is back on this year! Saturday, June 22nd is the day to come out and show your stuff on one of the steepest kayak races out there! Registration is now open, so sign up to race or just come out and watch one of the greatest shows on Earth!” – Paul Raymond, OBJ

Thanks to generous grants from the US Coast Guard and significant volunteer efforts American Whitewater has created a new modernized version of our website that works across mobile devices, has significantly updated programming systems, and works with our volunteer-created apps for both iOS and Android. We want to acknowledge that the new version of the site has had numerous bugs, and to share that we have worked to address them as quickly as possible. This work continues with a lean

Crested Butte, CO – Increased user conflict on the Slate River has led to a Floating Management Plan that proposes a “voluntary no-float period” between March 15 and July 15 this season. Since our last news post in November, the Slate River Floating Management Plan has been updated and revised for the 2019 season. An open house will be at The Depot in Crested Butte on Thursday, May 16 and it is critical that paddlers from the local community attend

Citing benefits to Olympic Peninsula salmon recovery, local jobs, economy, & clean water, the Quinault, Quileute, Elwha, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribes and mayors of Port Angeles, Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Port Townsend, Elma and Ocean Shores joined more than 800 local businesses, elected officials, farms, faith leaders, sportsmen, conservation & recreation groups now backing Wild Olympics  QUILCENE, Wash. (May 9, 2019) Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA-06) reintroduced the Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers