Articles

In late March the Utah Governor passed legislation that allows landowners to prevent paddlers from traversing many of the state’s rivers and streams.  When the law becomes effective in May of 2011, Utah residents and visitors will likely have to leave the state to enjoy public waters.  The new law crafted was in response to a 2008 lawsuit that confirmed the legal right to paddle rivers in Utah.  Unhappy with the decision, powerful property rights interests convinced the legislature to

A proposal to ship massive pieces of oil extraction equipment from Korea across back roads in Idaho and Montana to Alberta is raising concerns from paddlers, conservation groups, businesses, public safety officials, and everyday citizens.    The project would move roughly 200 huge "modules" between the fall of 2010 and 2011 along the Wild and Scenic Lochsa River, the Blackfoot River, and through Missoula, Montana.  The Forest Service and Department of Transportation completed a road widening project along the Lochsa

The May/Jun issue of the AW Journal features Boating Beyond Youth and includes:  One Paddler Lives his Dream Paddle to Stay Fit, or Stay Fit to Paddle? Whitewater Boating Begins at Mid-life A Little Wiser  . . .plus much more!   Want to read the AW Journal online: You need a current membership and you must be registered with the AW website and have your membership associated with your website user account. Current members – Read the Boating Beyond Youth

Join Mountain Whitewater Descents to help clean-up the banks of the Cache la Poudre River. The clean-up will take place all along the Poudre trail from Taft Hill Road to College Avenue. When: 5/22/10Clean Up: 9:00 amVolunteer Appreciation Party: 12:30 pm Where: Meet at Lee Martinez Park in the dirt parking lot on the northeast corner of Cherry Street and North Mason Street All you need is gloves, sunscreen and the desire to make a difference in our community. Bike

We’re excited to announce that the next version of the American Whitewater Journal, and all future editions, will be printed in full color!   After years of being only partially in color, we’re making the change in 2010 to full color. Plus, we’ve made a few, minor visual improvements to the appearance of the Journal that we hope folks will appreciate. The next edition of the Journal, the 2010 May-June edition, will be the first to feature this new look.

The folks over at Benchmark Outfitters made a recent donation of $400 to American Whitewater! In addition to this, they’re also offering up a coupon to help you save a few bucks off of Patagonia gear in their store, cool. Check out the coupon for full details. Enjoy!

The 16th Annual Cheat River Festival is coming on Saturday May 1st from noon to 11pm. The place is Albright, WV at the head of the Cheat Canyon. This year’s festival is dedicated to Keith Pitzer, who died this past winter after leading Friends of the Cheat for the 8 years. It’s the biggest little river festival in the country! Check out the gear and food vendors, conservation exhibits, climbing wall, kids area, and art market! Then sit back and

The International Paddling issue is upon us. The theme is pretty self-explanatory–any topics that include rivers outside of the United States qualify. Truly exotic locations are less important than good photos and tales. So brush off those Canada photos and take a stab at narrative. Deadline’s April 26th–less than a week away! Please use our new online Journal Submission Page. Contact the editor (editor@americanwhitewater.org) with any questions or concerns. Happy Travels!

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As paddlers, we have the opportunity to help in creating a long-term vision and plan for the wilderness and backcountry of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area in Colorado. The landscapes under consideration include the Inner Canyon of the Gunnison River which contains some of the best backcountry whitewater in the West. There are many opportunities to explore, as well as issues to examine. What is a wilderness and backcountry experience at the units?

Beginning in 2010, KCCNY’s traditional Annual Esopus Slalom is being enlarged and enhanced by the addition of a diverse array of other activities for whitewater paddlers, creating the Esopus Whitewater FunFest! This expanded event is designed to engage whitewater paddlers with a wide variety of interests and abilities. Following are some of the highlights of this exciting new event:   44th Annual KCCNY Esopus Slalom2nd Annual KCCNY Downriver Sprint RaceNew “Head-to-Head” Boater Cross CompetitionRiver-Running Clinics (on Esopus Creek)Paddling Fun &

Hanover, NH, March 4, 2010 ­ Ledyard Canoe Club of Dartmouth College is hosting its second annual river festival the weekend of April 16th-18th. The festival will take place in New Hampshire’s Upper Valley with competitions on the Wells River as well as the Connecticut and Mascoma rivers. In addition to the 7th annual Wells River Rumble race, competitions will include a kayak rodeo, a triathlon, and the longest consecutively held whitewater slalom race in the country.  There will be festival party

Keeping Wild Rivers Wild: Opportunities for Conservation through Wild and Scenic River Designation in Washington State Despite the tremendous abundance of free-flowing rivers in Washington State, segments of only six rivers are protected under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act: the White Salmon, Klickitat, and Skagit and its major tributaries, the Cascade, Sauk, and Suiattle rivers. In contrast, our sister state of Oregon has protected reaches of sixty of the state’s rivers as Wild and Scenic. With legislation currently in

Eastern Washington University’s Epic Adventures, Post Falls Parks and Recreation, NWA, and the local Clubs/Shops of Spokane are enthused to announce the Fourth Annual Spokane River Kickoff. This event received so much positive feed back in previous years, that a group of kayakers from the community just had to get together to make things happen again this year. We are looking forward to this year’s event, as the event and participation continue to grow. The Spokane River Kickoff will take

Over the last three events nearly 600 rafters, kayakers, cyclists and pedestrians have successfully removed over 6 TONS of garbage from Denver’s South Platte River and bike path. The event garnered local and regional media coverage as the lead story on several news channels, as well as appearing in the local papers. When: 4/25/10 Registration starts at 9 am Clean Up: 11 am – 3 pm After Party: 3 pm – 5 pm Raffle & Product Giveaways start at 4

Administration officials announced that they will host a White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors on Friday, April 16, and American Whitewater has received an invitation to attend. Conference organizers are still shaping the agenda, a press release issued late last month says “The discussion will center on the conservation opportunities in communities, the challenges facing them, and the innovative solutions they are crafting from the bottom up.” The conference seeks to "start a new dialogue about conservation in America

American Whitewater would like to recognize Brian Jacobson as our April Volunteer of the Month.   Brian Jacobson has been an integral part of the AW volunteer team working towards resolving the mismanagement of the Upper Chattooga River in the Southeast. Brian is an environmental engineer by profession and has brought an important technical skill-set to the team, assisting with complex data analysis and presentation as well as a rich understanding of the NEPA administrative process. Brian is also extremely