Statement on the Presidential Inauguration of Joe Biden

Today, January 20th, 2021, Joe Biden was officially sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. Inauguration day is one of the most important symbols of the strength of our democracy and a peaceful transfer of power is critical for maintaining the public’s trust in our democratic institutions. These institutions hold the power to protect and enhance our ability to enjoy the rivers and watersheds we love, and we see an abundance of opportunities to positively influence the future of our country's whitewater streams and to ensure access to rivers and clean water for all as we move forward in 2021. 

In relationship to our work at American Whitewater, we’re looking forward to collaborating with the new administration to make tangible gains for whitewater rivers across the country, protecting rivers through conservation legislation, cleaning up and restoring instream flows to rivers through strengthening water regulations and oversight, and improving and increasing access to rivers through the Great American Outdoors Act. We see opportunities to positively influence climate policy, especially in our work in hydropower, and we’re envisioning a future where tribal consultation plays a larger role in the federal government, to the benefit of public lands. Finally, we look forward to working with Federal agencies to renew an approach to managing public lands that prioritizes the public interest and critically reviews development on public lands with respect to environmental, historical, and economic impacts.

Here’s a quick overview of some of our policy and legislative priorities for 2021:

RIVER CONSERVATION

Wild and Scenic Designations and Watershed Conservation

• – Thousands of miles of Wild and Scenic River designations in Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, New Mexico, and North Carolina.
• – Up to 4 million acres of landscape level protections for whitewater watersheds in Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and North Carolina.
• – Revise Forest Service Handbook to clarify that suitability determinations that “release” eligible rivers from further consideration are not appropriate unless explicitly directed by Congress.
• – Restore administrative protections that include designations under the Antiquities Act and backcountry landscapes under the Roadless Rule including for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments in Utah, and the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. 

Clean Water Act

• – Restore the central role of the states in protecting rivers under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act.
• – Restore protections for headwater streams and wetlands under the Waters of the U.S. Rule (WOTUS).
• – Further develop Outstanding Resource Waters as a river conservation tool in Washington, Oregon, and Colorado.

Public Process

• – Reverse recent actions by the Forest Service and Council on Environmental Quality that have undermined the National Environmental Policy Act’s bedrock principles of government transparency, accountability, public involvement, and science-based decision-making.
• – Reverse recent finalized regulations by the Council for Environmental Quality that limited consideration of alternatives and cumulative impacts under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Mining 

• – Reform antiquated 1872 Mining Law which continues to threaten rivers with projects proposed in sensitive headwaters of some of the nation’s finest wilderness whitewater drainages. 
• – Support legislation with mining withdrawals for critical whitewater landscapes including the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act which would protect over 1 million acres of federal land surrounding the Grand Canyon from new mining claims.

Climate Policy

• – Support Outdoor Alliance efforts to slow the mass leasing of public lands for oil and gas development.
• – Address impacts from historic 2020 wildfires and develop a programmatic approach for future work related to wildfires and whitewater resources.
• – Advance our thoughtful approach to hydropower in a Clean Energy Economy utilizing our partnerships with industry, the Department of Energy, and other conservation organizations. 
• – Pursue policies that incentivize and support decommissioning and removal of hydropower facilities where the social and ecological harm they cause outweighs their benefits. 

Great American Outdoors Act

• – Ensure the Great American Outdoors Act is implemented as intended and promote projects that support the whitewater recreation economy. 

Recreate Responsibly

• – Work with federal partners and organizations to actively promote Recreate Responsibly guidelines which we helped develop.
• – Work with federal agencies and industry partners to promote a paddler-specific campaign encouraging responsible whitewater recreation.
• – Strengthen partnerships that have developed to promote responsible and sustainable whitewater recreation.

Outdoor Recreation on Public Lands

• – Continue efforts to advance Recreation Not Red Tape legislation. 
• – Support the Modernizing Access to Our Public Land Act to accelerate efforts to digitize recreational access information into geospatial files and make data available to the public.
• – Enable Congress to protect places for their recreation value with a new organic designation for National Recreation Areas
• – Direct land managers to inventory for areas where there is valuable recreation and help Congress move toward protecting these recreational experiences;
• – Make it easier to buy national and state recreation passes
• – Extend seasonal recreation opportunities where appropriate
• – Make recreation a bigger part of how land managers do their jobs by directing land management agencies to develop recreation performance metrics for evaluations;
• – Add recreation to the mission of some land management agencies that don’t already have it;
• – Help land managers accept volunteers to conduct stewardship activities and facilitate trail maintenance across agency jurisdictions