Articles

  Last month President Obama nominated Sally Jewell for the post of Secretary of the Interior, but she must first be confirmed by the Senate and her hearing is scheduled for March 7th. The Department of the Interior is central to much of the work that we do here at American Whitewater, and the Secretary has critical oversight over many of the projects we are engaged in across the country.   Among the programs housed within the Department of Interior

  American Whitewater, New England FLOW and the Appalachian Mountain Club today filed comments and study requests with FERC in response to the proposed Connecticut River hydroelectric license application by TransCanada and FirstLight.  The companies are seeking to relicense their projects at the Wilder, Bellows Falls, and Vernon dams in New Hampshire and Vermont, and at the Northfield Pumping Station and Turner’s Falls Dam in Massachusetts.  We are asking FERC to require the licensee to study the feasibility of providing

In response to calls by American Whitewater, New England FLOW and the Appalachian Mountain Club, FERC today ordered FirstLight and TransCanada to study the potential for whitewater boating on the Connecticut River at Turner's Falls and Bellows Falls. The companies are seeking to relicense their projects at the Wilder, Bellows Falls, and Vernon dams in New Hampshire and Vermont, and at the Northfield Pumping Station and Turner’s Falls Dam in Massachusetts. FERC responded to the comments and testimony provided by

  The U.S. Army Corps Engineers' Philadelphia District will host a meetingto announce the 2013 Francis E. Walter Dam recreation program on March 7 in White Haven, PA. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the MountaClass II-III Lehigh River Gorge, one of the most popular intermediate runsin the Mid-States. In 2012, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held 22 of 24scheduled whitewater events and numerous releases for fisheries throughoutthe recreation season. For more information, visit the USACE

On Tuesday, February 5, 2013, former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt gave a speech to the National Press Club calling for more balance between the amount of public land leased for oil & gas and the amount set aside for conservation. (Read the prepared speech, "On Equal Ground.") Babbitt noted that the U.S. has a long history of protecting our federal public lands and rivers through the National Park System and Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Acts, but

Get your story out there. The American Whitewater Journal is the oldest publication of its kind, and yours can be the next story it tells! Whether you’re an explorer of rivers, a passionate river steward, or someone who likes to blow off steam on the local run every weekend, you’ve got a story to tell and we’d love to hear it. To submit a story and photos, please go to our Journal Submission Page. Our deadline for the topics listed

Yesterday a landmark stream recreation bill for the commonwealth of Virginia was reported out of subcommittee and will now go to the full Senate for a vote.  The vote could come as early as next week.  This is the closest the public has come to gaining clarity on our rights to float down Virginia's rivers in a very long time. The bill would ensure that paddlers would not be liable for trespass for simply floating down second order or larger streams,

American Whitewater, along with New England FLOW and the Appalacian Mountain Club, filed comments and provided testimony this week at FERC scoping meetings held in New Hampshire and Massachusetts to discuss the five dam relicensing proposals filed by TransCanada and FirstLight for hydroelectric projects on the Connecticut River.  The projects are located at Wilder, Bellows Falls, Vernon, Northfield Mountain and Turner's Falls.  AW, along with Tom Christopher from NE Flow and Norm Sims from the Appalachian Mountain Club, asked FERC

Last month, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the release of the Colorado River Basin Study – a joint effort by the US Bureau of Reclamation and the seven Colorado River Basin states – that projects water supply and demand imbalances throughout the Colorado River Basin and adjacent areas over the next 50 years. Already, water supply falls short of demand, creating what water managers refer to as a system imbalance. With Colorado River flows likely to decline by

Western Maryland is home to the Marcellus Shale formation, now infamous for burgeoning natural gas production accomplished by a controversial technique known as hydaulic fracturing or "fracking."  This region is an important headwaters and freshwater resource for millions of people that depend on water from both the Potomac and Youghiogheny River basins.  These rivers also offer paddlers incredible recreational opportunities, and provide the regional economy with a significant and sustainable recreation-related stimulus. Currently no permits for fracking have been issued

U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA8) have reintroduced their Alpine Lakes Wilderness Additions and Pratt and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers Protection Act (H.R. 361/S. 112) along with cosponsors Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA1). "We are thrilled that Congressman Reichert, Senator Murray, and Senator Cantwell have once again made this popular bill a top priority and to see new Congresswoman DelBene join them," said Thomas O'Keefe, American Whitewater's Pacific Northwest Stewardship Director. This legislation

The Wall Street Journal released an article today outlining the current threat to the Wild and Scenic Merced River. While the effort to de-designate part of the Wild and Scenic Merced failed to make it through the last Congress, we have every expectation that a bill will be reintroduced this next year.  The Wall Street Journal article correctly describes this as not just a battle for the Merced but rather a threat to the entire Wild and Scenic Rivers system.

First Published in Site Zed, a web site for essays on paddlesports. http://www.sitezed.com/life-and-death-beyond-the-edge/ Please check the link for more articles and thoughtful comments on this essay. Used by permission Life and Death Beyond the Edge   I watched a man die, for the first time, on the Green River.  Witt was vertically pinned against a tombstone shaped rock at the bottom of Chiefs.  I was scouting Gorilla when I heard shouting. “He’s pinned” a panicked voice rang out.  I turned and

The Bureau of Land Management manages more than 2.5 million acres in western Oregon. These lands provide forest products, fish and wildlife habitat, and countless recreation opportunities including whitewater recreation. Unlike national forests, BLM western Oregon public lands are generally not large contiguous blocks. A "checkerboard" of lands make up these federal lands. Currently the BLM is updating their management plan for these lands and the associated rivers and as part of this process they are evaluating rivers for their eligibility