Update (Oct. 26, 2022): Since we first reported our success in March 2022, the utility responsible for trail construction appealed the decision requiring it to build the trail. American Whitewater remained engaged in the fight for the trail, and in late October, the utility was issued a final order to construct the trail. The latest details have been added at the end of this article.

American Whitewater’s commitment to enhancing opportunities to enjoy our rivers extends beyond the water, and we’re thrilled to announce that we just secured the construction of a riverside hiking trail along the Poe Run of the North Fork Feather River in California. Once constructed, river lovers will be able to hike for three miles along the river in a section of canyon that is away from Highway 70, which runs parallel to most of the North Fork Feather.

We already succeeded in gaining new, scheduled whitewater boating releases for this run, and the trail will offer an additional way to enjoy the river canyon even when whitewater releases are not taking place. We anticipate that the first scheduled releases will occur in the fall of 2022. The timeline for completion of the Poe Hiking Trail has not yet been determined.

A trail sounds simple, but we had to fight for several years to have its construction added as a requirement to the new license for the Poe Hydroelectric Project owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). Not only did we advocate for the trail during the relicensing process that began in 2000, but we also had to challenge the new license that was issued in 2018 because it omitted the trail requirement. We won that battle in 2019, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) added the trail as a required mitigation for the hydroelectric project’s impact to river-related recreation.

But PG&E resisted, claiming that it wasn’t feasible to build a trail, not because it’s impossible, but because they didn’t want to pay for it out of their hydropower profits. We fought back with a level-headed analysis of the trail’s feasibility and by rallying local, state, and federal agencies to weigh in with strong support for the trail. Still, there was the distinct possibility that FERC would side with PG&E and let them off the hook for building the trail.

To show FERC that building the trail was, in fact, feasible, we needed to show that the construction of the Poe Hiking Trail was actually just the reconstruction of an abandoned trail from the gold mining era—this was key to proving that its costs would be significantly lower than PG&E claimed. To do this, we used the same technology that the National Geographic Society uses to discover ancient Mayan villages buried beneath jungle. Using bare earth LiDAR data and GIS analysis, we accurately located and mapped the abandoned mining trail even where it was covered by thick vegetation (see our interactive trail map and comments). PG&E could no longer claim that the old trail did not exist, and their inflated cost estimate began to look even more suspect.

On February 28, 2022, just two weeks after we submitted our trail map and comments to FERC, the agency ruled that construction of the trail was feasible despite PG&E’s claims and ordered the utility to begin planning its construction. FERC also ordered PG&E to consult with American Whitewater and our trail advocate partners on its final route. Soon, it will be time to go boating on the Poe Run and to take a hike along the river on the new Poe Hiking Trail!

Update (Oct. 26, 2022): In March 2022, PG&E appealed FERC's February 28 order to build the Poe Hiking Trail through an administrative process known as a "request for rehearing." While FERC was considering PG&E's appeal, the utility was still bound by the earlier order to consult with American Whitewater about the trail's route and to develop a construction plan and schedule. However, PG&E chose to disobey the order and didn't consult with American Whitewater or plan the trail by the deadline given in the order. 

American Whitewater remained engaged in the fight for the trail, and opposed PG&E's request to postpone all work on the trail until as late as the end of 2023.

On October 20, FERC responded to PG&E's request for rehearing and issued an order that completely rebuked the utility's assertion that the trail was not needed, would be too costly, and that it was therefore infeasible to construct. FERC's order was clearly built upon solid evidence and information in the administrative record for the PG&E's Poe Hydroelectric Project, and it made multiple references to the information and position statements we have submitted during the long history of our involvement with the project's licensing.

This should be the end of the saga of the Poe Hiking Trail; however, PG&E now has until January 18, 2023 to consult with American Whitewater and plan the trail. If the past is an indicator, the utility will delay this work and seek additional time extensions from FERC. PG&E may also file a lawsuit in a last-ditch attempt to get out of the trail requirement. We will remain engaged, as always, to ensure that our hard-earned work to obtain better hydropower project licenses bears fruit for rivers and the people who love them.