American Whitewater recently submitted testimony to the Water and Power Subcommittee, Committee on Natural Resources, U.S. House of Representatives for their Oversight Hearing on Hydropower.

On June 23rd, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the The Raw Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act (H.R. 2452). We are now one step closer to getting the information we need when there’s a sewer spill that could affect public health, an issue of particular concern to whitewater paddlers who are in direct contact with the water every time we get on a river.

Today the United States Forest Service released their new proposal for management of the upper Chattooga River, and an environmental assessment of their alternatives.  There will be a 30 day public comment period.  The USFS proposes to essentially maintain their ban on boating while allowing other uses unlimited access - again without any basis whatsoever. 

Earlier this month, the Upper Delaware Council (UDC) sent a letter asking the New York Department of Environmental Conservation to prohibit boating on the Mongaup River, except on scheduled boating release days. It is extremely unlikely that the DEC would take such an action, but AW and KCCNY will be responding just in case. 

The USFS has announced another 6-month delay in deciding on a new plan for managing recreation on the Wild and Scenic upper Chattooga River.  The announcement came in a certified letter to AW, in response to a letter AW sent the Chief of the USFS requesting an update and swift equitable resolution of this protracted issue.

American Whitewater is in Washington, DC today representing the paddling community as part of River Action Day. Several Wild and Scenic River bills are being considered that are of interest to the paddling community and we encourage you to take some time to speak up for your favorite rivers.

Friends of the Cheat wants to purchase an outstanding piece of riverfront along West Virginia’s Big Sandy, one of the state's most oustanding whitewater rivers. The Redwood Creek Wines “Greater Outdoors Project” is offering a $50,000 competitive grant. Friends of Cheat applied and finished in the top 5 out of 100. We need your help! On June 15th a description of the project and a photo will be posted on RedwoodCreek.com. You can vote every day, once per person/email address through July 31st. Bookmark the site and go there daily when you check weather and river levels. Vote early and often for the Big Sandy Project. The direct link for voting is: http://www.redwoodcreek.com/greatoutdoors/voting.asp

Oregon's Department of State Land issued a final ruling and determined that the Rogue River from RM 68.5 to 157.5 (Grave Creek to Lost Creek Dam) is indeed navigable. The finding confirms that the state is the owner of the river bed, and the public has the right to use the river.

The District Engineer from the US Army Corps of Engineers has scheduled an additional THIRD public hearing to be held in conjunction with the release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Northern Integrated Supply Project.The public hearing will be held MONDAY, JUNE 16th in Fort Collins, Colorado at 425 West Prospect Road. The open house will start at 4:00 pm, hearing to begin at 6:00 pm.

The paddling season is cranking up across the country, and AW would like to remind paddlers to respectfully share the road, the river, and public access areas.  We have received several reports of overly enthusiastic driving threatening river access.  Take it easy out there, and check out AW's recommendations for how to stay in the good graces of the folks living near the rivers we paddle.  

American Whitewater recently received a grant which provides an opportunity to explore the reintroduction of rivercane to the Cheoah River.  This grant was provided by Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources which is a Cherokee Preservation Foundation program ultimately funded by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian.  Rivercane is on the decline in the southeast due to development and agriculture.

AW is celebrating the first release on the Black Canyon of the Bear River, after over a decade of hard work.  We have created a short video of the release, and want to make sure paddlers are aware of other opportunities to paddle the Bear this summer. 

The park system will turn 100 years in 2016 and Congress and the President are poised to take major steps to make the parks ready for their next century. Legislation is currently being considered in the House that will establish a margin of excellence at our parks consistent with the high quality of recreational and natural resources they were established to protect. Paddlers can take action today to move this bill to a floor vote.

The National Park Service is purchasing property from two West Virginia landowners to improve public access to the Gauley River.  The sites, located at Woods Ferry and Mason Branch, are established put-in and take-out sites for boaters, kayakers, canoeists and rafters along the river between the public put-in at the Summersville Dam and the take-out at Swiss, almost 26 miles downstream.

Last week President Bush signed a bill making Wild Sky the first new wilderness area in Washington State in more than a quarter century. The new wilderness includes the headwaters of several whitewater runs including the North Fork Skykomish, Silver Creek, Rapid, and Beckler.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently rejected a formal challenge of their order to remove Dillsboro Dam on the Tuckasegee River (NC).  This decision clears what may be the final hurdle in the way of removing Dillsboro Dam.  The decision also supports the settlement agreement that AW signed with many stakeholders in 2003 calling for the dam to be removed, and releases from upstream dams enhanced. 

A mining company is proposing a new coal mine on a 588 acre tract of forest land near the Youghiogheny River in Pennsylvania.  The controversial mine would be adjacent to Ohiopyle State Park and would affect water quality and quantity on the Yough, Morgan Run, and on other Yough tributaries.  Comments are now being accepted on the proposed mine.

American Whitewater has reached an aggreement with Sportsman's Paradise, granting paddlers access to Wildcat Canyon. Historically, the act of floating through club property to access Wildcat Canyon has resulted in harassment by landowners, physical assault on paddlers and criminal prosecution. The new agreement secures permission for paddlers to enter and cross club property via vehicle, in order to access public lands to the north of Sportsman's Paradise property. The agreement will undergo a trial run this season, with the goal of formalizing the arrangement for 2009; ensuring many years of fantastic paddling through Wildcat Canyon.

Comments are need by May 1 on a massive, 3-decades-long, gas drilling project proposed for Desolation and Gray Canyons.  This proposed project would impact the first thirty four miles of Desolation Canyon, an area renowned for its remoteness, its unimpaired beauty and its wilderness characteristics.  The BLM anticipates major impacts if the project moves forward.

Representatives from the paddling community today reached an Agreement in Principle with the owner of the Holtwood Hydroelectric Project, Pennsylvania Power and Light.  This tentative agreement supports fish passage goals, power generation, and protects and/or mitigates whitewater boating opportunities.

Boaters in the northeast have good reason to be excited this month. The Rio Project on the Mongaup River (NY) will reopen this month after being closed to recreation for nearly three years.  Releases will begin this month!

The Pit 1 reach of the Pit River will have releases again this summer.   Many people got on this run for the first time two years ago and found it to be a great class III/ IV run.  This years releases will be for one weekend in June, July and August.  This year dates are June 21 - 22, July 19 - 20 and August 16 - 17.

Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released its Environmental Assessment (EA) of boating on the Ausable Chasm.  The EA marks a critical milestone in the paddling community’s efforts to secure access to the beautiful Class IV Ausable Chasm.  The EA fully supports year-round paddling despite the power company's request for permission to totally block all paddling.  While the access plan will require several months to implement, an interim access plan could allow paddling this summer.

Earlier today the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a new 30 year license for the Prospect Hydroelectric Project (P-2630) on the North Fork of the Rogue River in southern Oregon. FERC addressed our requests in the issuance of the new license for restored flows, public access to the river, and flow information.

Today Congressmen Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) announced their plan for increasing Wild and Scenic Rivers in Oregon this year. Their vision includes adding 79.6 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers on the Mt. Hood National Forest and 142.9 miles of tributaries to the Lower Rogue Wild and Scenic River.

On Friday, March 28th, hundreds of people gathered to watch the breaching of Milltown Dam just upstream of Missoula, MT. AW staff and friends were there to video the breach and celebrate the rebirth of a great river.  For the first time in a century the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers have a riverine confluence, and flow free.  Learn more about this historic event and watch the video.

AW is pleased to announce the schedule for new whitewater pulse flows on the Black Canyon of the Bear River in Southeastern Idaho.  At the same time we would like to recognize the volunteer largely responsible for these releases.  Sixteen whitewater pulse flows could begin as early as the first weekend in April.

Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission overturned a previous decision they had made that would have allowed the owner of the dams, flumes, and powerhouse on Sullivan Creek to simply abandon the project.  The ruling came in response to rehearing challenges filed by American Whitewater, the United States Forest Service, and the State of Washington.  The decision will likely lead to the removal of at least one severely outdated dam. 

Last fall a proposal surfaced to build 250 homes on a 650 acre tract of land along North Carolina's Wild and Scenic Wilson Creek.  Public support for protection of the land contributed to a withdrawal of the development proposal and negotiations between a land trust and the owner.  This week, it was announced that the land will be purchased by the Foothills Conservancy and transfered to public ownership!

Using data from the USFS we have published a Google Earth layer of eligible Wild and Scenic Rivers. We encourage paddlers to use this map, which can be displayed with our whitewater database in Google Earth, to learn more about their local run and agency management priorities.

Construction of Elk Creek Dam in the Rogue River basin was halted in 1988. Since that time the dam has remained as a barrier to fish and navigation. This week the Army Corps of Engineers awarded a contract to notch the dam this year.

American Whitewater is pleased to announce a fun new interactive website focused on the impacts dams have on rivers, as well as river restoration opportunities.  The new interactive website, www.dameffects.org, was launched today by the Hydropower Reform Coalition.  HRC steering committee members have spent several months developing the content of the website and we are thrilled with the outcome. Take a tour!

For the third year in a row two groups of West Virginia University students and staff from Greg Corio's Adventure West Virginia program joined forces with Friends of Cheat to maintain vital river access points. At the Friends of Cheat Access in Albright, the job was to harden a badly eroded launch site. At Jenkinsburg, the focus was on trash collection. Both efforts will improve these places for local and visiting whitewater paddlers

Paddlers have been negotiating a new release schedule on Maryland's Upper Youghiogheny River with Brookfield Power and other stakeholders for over one year.  The results have just been released in a new permit for the operation of the Deep Creek Dam.  This year, and for the foreseeable future, paddlers will be treated to upper Yough releases on every Saturday from mid-June through mid-September!

The report on paddling access to the Ausable River has finally been issued: late, incomplete, biased, and erroneous.  All of the data in the study support year round paddling access, and the data is generally accurate and defensible.  The dam owner, New York State Electric and Gas, has maintained its position however that no access should be allowed to the beautiful Class IV river.  It is now up to FERC, and AW and KCCNY will be filing comments this week  requesting year round access.