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Oregon river and outdoor lovers can honor the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act with three great events this September 18th-20th at the Oregon Natural Desert Association’s Wilderness Weekend in Bend! American Whitewater will be there, and if you can't make it to Gauley Fest, we look forward to seeing you! The events will kick off with the Wild & Scenic Film Festival on Thursday, September 18th. The evening will feature the best outdoor films of the year, and you

While the decades long struggle to secure releases on the West River in Vermont continues, the Army Corps of Engineers has modified its operating procedures for the Ball Mountain Dam in Jamaica, VT, resulting in new opportunities for boaters in the northeast to enjoy this whitewater treasure. Over the past two decades, releases have been largely eliminated due to the unsuccessful Atlantic Salmon restoration effort, extended ramping rates, and other factors that have resulted in only a single annual fall

Sullivan Lake in northeastern Washington State has long been drawn down in the late fall for hydropower generation at other dams downstream on the Pend Oreille River.  Through collaborative negotiations with American Whitewater and a suite of local, state, and national groups the fall releases were spread out and changed to begin in September.  The new schedule is better for whitewater paddling, downstream irrigation and hydropower, economics, and fisheries. This year the releases will begin on September 3 and will

Lake Mead, the nation's largest reservoir, has been making a lot of national headlines lately. Its water level has dropped to its lowest level ever, and, it continues to drop every day, as the drought that's gripping much of the American West marches on. And though the lake itself is hundreds of miles from us here in Colorado, we have a lot at stake in the Colorado River and the reservoir's record-low levels have implications for our local communities. American Whitewater

Due to an unscheduled outage at Butt Valley Powerhouse on the North Fork Feather River, which is located at the top of PG&E’s system near Lake Almanor, PG&E will be unable to supply water down to the Rock Creek reach for the recreation release this weekend.  After consulting with American Whitewater, Forest Service and other resource agencies, the recreation release will move to next weekend, August 30th and 31st.  This is Labor Day weekend and we expect there to be

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Recently American Whitewater provided a statement for the Mokelumne River documenting the outstandingly remarkable recreational values of the reach for California State Senate Bill 1199.  This bill proposes to designate 37 miles of the Mokelumne River as State Wild & Scenic affording the watershed many of the same protections of the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System. One of the outstandingly remarkable recreational values highlighted in American Whitewater’s statement is the Annual Mokelumne River Races hosted by Sierra Club Loma

PG&E has been forced to postpone the August 9th & 10th whitewater releases on PIT 5 due to the proximity of the Eiler Fire that is burning in the Burney-Cassel area.  The rescheduled dates for PIT 5 will be September 20th & 21st.   All dates, including the next scheduled releases for September 6th & 7th are subject to the conditions on the ground. Whitewater releases will be based on the conditions present in the area during the preceding week.

On Monday, August 4th American Whitewater submitted testimony to the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks in support of three bills that, if passed, will protect important whitewater rivers in Colorado, Montana and Washington. Our testimony follows the committee hearing held on July 23, 2014 that we called on the public to speak out on. You can read our full testimony here. American Whitewater supports the following bills… Browns Canyon National Monument and Wilderness Act (S. 1794) (Colorado) People from across

American Whitewater's August 2014 Volunteer of the Month is Joel McCune!   It is really fun to watch the careers that AW interns eventually grow into, and Joel McCune is certainly no exception. It's been over a decade since his likely unpaid and overwhelming stint working with AW's then Conservation Director John Gangemi. Joel is now working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at ESRI, the nation's leader in developing GIS software, based in Charlotte, NC. This is all to say

On Friday, July 25 American Whitewater submitted comments to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council on its Draft Amended Fish and Wildlife Program. The Council's Fish and Wildlife Program is the largest fish and wildlife recovery program in the U.S., designed to protect and enhance fish and wildlife in the Columbia Basin, and mitigate the impacts of the Columbia River hydropower system. The Program covers a wide range of topics that apply to the Columbia River Basin and other areas

In follow up to an article published in the Mar/Apr 2014 American Whitewater Journal (Page 10), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has finally issued the License for the Upper American River Project (UARP) #2101. This is great news for paddlers in Central California who have been working and waiting for this moment for over a decade.   This license restores ecological, pulse and recreational streamflows for the High Sierra Class IV South Fork Silver Creek below Ice House Dam Run

The 23rd Annual Feather River Festival (CA) will be held during scheduled releases on the Feather River September 26-28, 2014. The Feather River Festival is the second largest American Whitewater fund-raising event in the country! The benefit event will be held at "Indian Jim School" campground located two miles upstream from the small town of Tobin and one mile upstream from Tobin Vista. Free camping and ample parking will be available.   This year's Feather Fest will continue the tradition