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Here’s a short video about our Hybrid.Care program.
Posts Tagged ‘American Whitewater’
New Video Highlights KEEN Hybrid.Care Program
Thursday, October 27th, 2011KEEN Ambassador on the Playground: Jeremy Rodgers – Tales of an Elite Adventure Racer
Monday, April 11th, 2011Jeremy is a current member of the US Canoe and Kayak National Team and elite adventure racer from Boulder, Colorado. He races for Team Dart nuun SportMulti based out of Seattle, Washington.
Confluence Whitewater Park, Denver, Colorado
Outside of his real job as the director of Colorado Sports Chiropractic Center, he travels abroad providing mission-based health care to third world countries. Domestically, he and his family drive the Ultimate Multisport Van, a biodiesel burning solar powered Sprinter van in search of other Hybridliving souls.
Playground of Choice:
Arkansas River Valley in Buena Vista, Colorado
Preserving My Playground:
“I recognize that rivers are the lifeblood of the ecosystem and a summation of the net influences on that river. I am a guest on that ride called a whitewater river and after my ride I go back upstream and back to reality where it’s easy to forget the river doesn’t need me to be complete. It just needs to flow, meander, and breathe without a hint of lasting human occupation,” comments Jeremy. “For more information, read about preserving our recreational waterways with one of KEEN’s longtime partners, American Whitewater.”
Favorite KEEN Shoe:
On the clock: KEEN Austin is tough enough for the jungle but made for the city streets.
Off the clock: KEEN Yogui from Après race to early morning walks with my dog Mazzy, all five toes agree!
About the KEEN Ambassador Program:
At KEEN we are always looking for people in every community who are stewards of the outdoors and bring a new perspective to the idea of living a Hybrid.Life. At KEEN we strive to bring you closer to the outdoors by empowering our ambassadors to do the same for us!
Off to the races… Gravity Play Adventure Series Moab, Utah
HybridCare Partner Highlight: Conservation Alliance Celebrates Several Victories in 2010
Sunday, February 6th, 2011
When The Conservation Alliance supports an organization, the organization does so with confidence that they will succeed given adequate resources. Despite a challenging political climate, last year, 2010, brought many exciting successes from The Conservation Alliance grantees. Over the last 12 months, CA grantees delivered eight important conservation victories, protecting 1,564,000 acres of land and 700 river miles, removing two dams, and acquiring one popular climbing area.
Northern Green Mountains
The Conservation Alliance funded Trust for Pulbic Land’s Campaign for the Northern Green Mountains to permanently protect 6,700 acres of Vermont’s Northern Green Mountains including several miles of the Long Trail and other hiking and skiing paths. 5,727 acres of that goal, the Eden Forest, received protection in November. The remaining acreage, the 1022-acre Canada View parcel, will be secured in conservation ownership by Summer 2011.
Adirondack Lands
The Conservation Alliance supported the Adirondack Council’s Upper Hudson Woodlands Campaign to ensure the State of New York purchases a conservation easement covering 92,000 acres of land in the Adirondacks and develops a recreation plan that focuses on humanpowered activities and public access. The state completed the purchase in November.
Alleghany State Park
The Conservation Alliance funding supported Adirondack Mountain Club’s Save Alleghany State Park Campaign to protect Alleghany State Park from proposed hydro-fracking natural gas extraction. The New York Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has designated 85 percent of the 65,000-acre park as Park Preservation Area, meaning it will be maintained in a near-wilderness state. This protection was made final in July and will prevent any oil & gas drilling and development in the park.
Piscataquis Preserve
Thanks in part to The Conservation Alliance funding, Northeast Wilderness Trust’s Piscataquis Preserve Project to conserve 1,200 acres of habitat in Atkinson, Maine has been successful. As a result of this land acquisition, 1,200 acres of protected land will be added to an existing matrix of 20,000 acres already in conservation ownership.
Removal of Gold Ray Dam
The Conservation Alliance funding supported WaterWatch’s Free the Rogue Campaign to complete the removal of three major dams on the Rogue River, freeing the lower 153 miles from recreational and fish passage barriers, boosting salmon and steelhead runs by an estimated 114,000 fish and finalizing the largest instream transfer of water in Oregon’s history. The removal of the third and final dam, the Gold Ray Dam, was completed in September.
Removal of Dillsboro Dam
The Conservation Alliance support of American Whitewater’s Dillsboro Dam Removal Project led to a comprehensive settlement agreement with Duke Energy calling for the removal of the Dillsboro Dam and subsequent watershed enhancements including enhanced flow releases, public river access areas, parks, trails and land conservation. After nearly a decade of negotiations, the Dillsboro Dam on the Tuckasegee River in North Carolina has finally come down, allowing this river to flow freely for the first time in more than 100 years.
Index Town Wall
The Conservation Alliance was one of the lead funders of Washington Climbers Coalition’s Index Lower Town Wall Acquisition Campaign to purchase the Index Lower Town Wall a popular climbing crag in Washington State. WCC completed the acquisition in August and transferred the property to Washington State Parks.
Wild Forests, Wild Waters Campaign
The Conservation Alliance support of the Wild Earth Guardians’ Wild Forest, Wild Waters Campaign has lead to the designation of “Outstanding Waters” for more than 700 miles of waterways, including 199 perennial rivers and streams, and 29 lakes, and approximately 6,000 acres of wetlands throughout New Mexico under the Clean Water Act. The “Outstanding Waters” designation prohibits activities that would contaminate these 1.4 million acres of wetlands and waterways, including grazing, logging, off-highway vehicles, mining and energy development.
HybridCare Partner Highlight: A Recap of American Whitewater’s Work in 2010
Monday, January 3rd, 2011
As the new year approaches, the staff of American Whitewater would like to share some important milestones from 2010. Support for this success came from its members, major donors, industry partners and foundations. The efforts below and many more are supported through your membership in American Whitewater.
Dillsboro Dam Removal
After 100 years impeding the Tuckasegee River’s flow and fish, the Dillsboro Dam has finally been removed. American Whitewater worked for 10 years to see this project through to fruition and we couldn’t be more happy with the result. Read More…
Ausable Chasm Access
Another decade-long fight for river access that finally came to an end in 2010. For years, the local power company saw fit to ban paddling on Ausable Chasm, based on no legal authority. American Whitewater fought for paddlers and finally succeeded in June, 2010. Read More…
AW tackles Dolores River Flow Management!
Over the past 2 years, American Whitewater has received several requests for assistance from our affiliate clubs, volunteers, and partner organizations in the Dolores River basin. Given the current staffing and success of our stewardship program, we are now in a position to meet this need. AW’s Dolores River Project is using information from our recreational flow studies to defend boating opportunities and to negotiate reliable and predictable boating flows each year. AW has worked hard to secure the funding and resources necessary to hire additional staff and a team of consultants to help advance our strategy on the Dolores River. Read More…
First ever scheduled releases for the North Fork South Platte!
This year, Colorado paddlers had the opportunity to enjoy scheduled releases for the North Fork of the South Platte River, outside of Denver, Colorado. These kayaking flows were delivered in accordance with the South Platte Protection Plan, which was developed by water providers, environmental groups, recreation groups, governmental organizations, local landowners and many other interest groups as an alternative to Wild and Scenic river designation. One of the goals of the plan is to enhance whitewater recreation flows on the North Fork when possible but this is the first time a weekend event was scheduled. Read More…
Developed better tools in determining river flows
In 2010, American Whitewater in California helped to develop better scientific tools that will be used to restore better flows in rivers across the country. The snowmelt hydrograph dominates the flow patterns of most rivers in the West. Working with academics in river research, as well as resource agencies, we have helped to define how fast flows can recede from the spring snowmelt and not cause harm to the river ecosystem. We are putting this knowledge to use on rivers such as the McCloud, the Yuba and the Rubicon.
Progress on Boating-Banned Rivers (Merced, Tuolumne)
In July, American Whitewater had the opportunity to meet with the National Park Service to discuss the Wild and Scenic River plans for the Merced and Tuolumne Rivers in Yosemite National Park. This meeting was a valuable opportunity to inform and educate the Park Service on our interest as well as well as helping us to better understand the challenges they face in putting these river plans together. It is our hope that this process will lead to a lifting of the blanket ban on boating that currently exist in the Park. Providing opportunities for people to experience what is truly one of the most amazing places on the planet, while protecting it for future generations, is a task that we welcome and to which we look forward to working on with the National Park Service.
Condit Dam Removal Moves Forward
Ten year river battles seemed to be a recurring theme in river stewardship this year. Condit Dam is finally moving through the final stages for its removal, slated for Fall 2011. We couldn’t be more pleased to see this river-stifling derelict finally coming out. Read More…
Condit Dam Campaign Launched
American Whitewater joined several other partners working to protect wild forest and river watersheds on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. These watersheds are vital to the health of Hood Canal and Puget Sound and are critical habitat for wildlife, steelhead and salmon. Read More…
A Cool Piece of River Inspiration! 2011 American Whitewater Calendar Now Available
Thursday, December 9th, 2010The annual American Whitewater Calendar is now ready for purchase online!
The calendar is more than just a cool piece of river inspiration to hang on your wall, but also a neat AW fundraiser. All the photos are submitted by AW members and supporters. American Whitewater then takes the best of these photos and crafts a cool calendar out of them and sells them online.
See for yourself…
Conservation Alliance – 2010 Summer Funding Cycle $500,00 to 17 Organizations
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010The Conservation Alliance is pleased to announce the results of its 2010 Summer funding cycle, contributing $500,000 to the 17 organizations listed below.
2010 Conservation Alliance grantee Sierra Club of British Columbia is working to protect grizzly bear habitat from development in B.C’s Purcell Mountain Range.
- Alaska Wilderness League: Washington, DC $35,000
- American Rivers: Seattle, WA $20,000
- American Whitewater: Cullohwee, NC $30,000
- Colorado Environmental Coalition: Denver, CO $32,000
- Colorado Mountain Club: Golden, CO $20,000
- Forest Ethics: Vancouver, BC $30,000
- Friends of the River: Sacramento, CA $30,000
- Los Padres ForestWatch: Santa Barbara, CA $30,000
- Oregon Natural Desert Association: Bend, OR $30,000
- Oregon Wild: Portland, OR $30,000
- Save our Canyons: Salt Lake City, UT $25,000
- Sierra Club of BC: Victoria, BC $35,000
- Trout Unlimited Alaska: Juneau, AK $35,000
- Trust for Public Land: Montpelier, VT $30,000
- West Virginia Wilderness Coalition: Morgantown, WV $28,000
- Wild Salmon Center: Portland, OR $30,000
- Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative: Canmore, Alberta $30,000
Many great conservation opportunities lie ahead, and we’re pleased to be able to support the work of the Conservation Alliance and these important initiatives.
Click here to read a description of each project funded.
Taylor River in Colorado – American Whitewater and The Right To Float
Saturday, September 11th, 2010Nathan Fey of American Whitewater has been working on issues with access in Colorado. This film focuses on The Taylor River and the public’s right to float on this pristine Colorado waterway. Colorado is at the forefront of the water rights debate.
This short film pertains to all paddlers. . .
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About American Whitewater
Since in 1954, American Whitewater works to conserve and restore America’s whitewater resources and to enhance opportunities to enjoy them safely. American Whitewater is the primary advocate for the preservation and protection of whitewater resources throughout the United States, and connects the interests of human-powered recreational river users with ecological and science-based data to achieve the goals within its mission.
American Whitewater’s Year-End Review of River Stewardship Projects
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
Cresta Flows Again! North Fork Feather, California
Our Hybrid.Care program has supported American Whitewater and its River Stewardship Program for the past three years, helping to preserve and protection whitewater rivers throughout the United States.
“Here is a year-end review of American Whitewater’s river stewardship projects. Support from KEEN was instrumental in these efforts.”
Mark Singleton, Executive Director of American Whitewater
Review of 2009
Flows Return to the Chelan Gorge and North Fork Rogue
It took a decade of effort but paddlers finally had the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of our labors on two spectacular rivers in the Pacific Northwest this past summer. For the first time ever paddlers had the chance to enjoy great weather and summer boating on the Chelan Gorge (WA) and the North Fork Rogue (OR). Dependable flows through the summer made rivers like these targets for early hydropower development but now paddlers have the opportunity to enjoy these rivers over a few weekends each summer.
North Fork: Read More…
Chelan: Read More…
Hemlock Dam Removed, Savage Rapids Dam Removed
The trend of removing outdated dams that have major environmental impacts relative to the historic benefits they once provided continues. This fall saw the removal of two dams, Hemlock on the Wind River’s Trout Creek (WA) and Savage Rapids on the Rogue River (OR). With these removals came the restoration of two sections of river paddlers had never seen before. While opportunities for fish restoration led to the initial discussion to remove these dams, paddlers emerged as leading voices for the recreational benefits of restoring these rivers and our efforts in this regard were featured in a New York Times article earlier this year.
Sultan River Settlement Signed
Paddlers first requested provisions to address whitewater recreation on the Sultan River in 1980. Trying to sneak past the watershed patrol was a common occurrence during rare spills in the 80′s and 90′s. In 2001 we initiated our first conversations with the utility controlling flows on this river and were told that whitewater recreation would not be a part of a future license. It took 8 years of sometimes challenging discussions and negotiations but in fall of 2009 we signed a settlement agreement that recognizes whitewater recreation as a legitimate activity on the Sultan River and calls for restoring key elements of a natural flow regime including high flow events that will restore habitat and provide whitewater recreation opportunities.
86 New Wild and Scenic Rivers
The omnibus public lands bill that included 86 new wild and scenic rivers was truly a community effort involving dozens if not hundreds of organizations across the country. We all know that paddlers are among our nation’s most passionate river advocates and American Whitewater played a key roll in rallying our community to tell the personal stories and share the powerful imagery of wild rivers that deserved long term protection. Our board, staff, and our army of stellar volunteers took on leadership roles in many of these campaigns across the country.
Saluda River Flows and Access Settled
American Whitewater has been protecting and restoring rivers using the federal dam relicensing process for over a decade. This year we signed another large scale relicensing settlement agreement in the Southeast, this one on the Saluda River in South Carolina. Similar agreements on the Tuckasegee, Nantahala, and Catawba will all be implemented soon, and the Cheoah is already thrilling paddlers. The Saluda will complement these other efforts by improving flows and access on a treasured deep south whitewater river. Special thanks to Charlene Coleman for her tireless work on this project on our behalf.
Ausable River Access Granted
Based on nearly a decade of work, next year paddlers will be able to enjoy the Ausable Chasm in New York. The river was blocked by an unscrupulous dam owner for decades, but now the gates must open May through October each year. Have fun out there! Lear more at:
Sullivan Creek Dam Removal Agreement Reached
What should be done when a dam no longer serves a purpose? American Whitewater collaborated with local and national stakeholders to decide that one dam in the Northern Rockies, Millpond Dam on Sullivan Creek, should be removed. An initial legal challenge followed by monthly meetings have resulted in a win-win solution that will see the restoration of Sullivan Creek into a thriving stream for bull trout and creek boaters alike. Check out what we think the restored creek will look like at:
Returning Flows to the North Fork Feather River
After three years of negotiation flows were restored to Cresta reach of the North Fork Feather River. This new flow schedule will be more protective of frogs and other aquatic species by mimicking the natural flows of the river. These flows will also provide for whitewater recreation from May through June. Restoring more natural flows in rivers is one of American Whitewater’s top river priorities of 2009 (see AW Journal January/ February 2009). Getting this new flow schedule approved and in place is an important milestone in achieving this goal, not only for the Feather River but rivers across California and across the Country.
Dynamic Flows in the Upper Colorado defended
American Whitewater has defended the Upper Colorado, from Gore Canyon to Glenwood Springs, from large scale water develoment and transmountain diversions, by negotiating cooperative releases of water to provide boating opportunities across a full range of flows. By leveraging science-based data on high flows and the importance of dynamic rivers to private and commercial paddlers, AW has provided our partners along Colorado’s western Slope with the right tools to join in negotiating releases in the Colorado from future projects that will remove over 70% of the rivers natural flows. Defending flows in the Upper Colorado requires other efforts to protect treasured whitewater rivers like the Blue, Byers Canyon, and South Boulder Creek.
Flow Studies Open Up New Runs On the Yuba
In 2009 American Whitewater completed the first year of flow studies for the Yuba /Bear relicensing in Northern California. Covering a land area that is 33% larger than the State of Rhode Island, containing over seventeen different whitewater runs, this is by far the largest and most complicated project that American Whitewater has ever worked on. In this first year we collected study data on eleven river reaches, where 41 paddlers filled out online surveys. We also uncovered some new gems such Yuba Gap section of the South Fork Yuba or the Arctic Mine run on Canyon Creek. Many paddlers ranked these new runs as among the best in the State.
What Does It Mean to Be New to Rivers? American Whitewater Looking for Your Stories
Monday, December 14th, 2009
Less than two week (December 21) it’ll be the submission deadline for the March/April edition of American Whitewater. For this issue, AW is looking for stories about what it means to be new to whitewater rivers.
If you’ve been paddling for many years, consider looking back to your first season in a boat and reminiscing about the good old days. For those who are currently novices, what do you like about the sport? Why do you want to get more involved in it? How have you been learning the ropes? Who got you into rivers? What challenges do you face as a beginning paddler? What would you like experienced paddlers to remember about their own humble beginning?
Pretty much anything goes. Just write it up, collect some photos (please don’t forget to include captions and credits!), and send it off to: editor@americanwhitewater.org.
Help American Whitewater Win $10,000 with just a click!
Friday, September 4th, 2009
Currently, New Belgium Brewing Company is running a contest among water advocacy groups. The top vote recipient is eligible for a $10,000 grant.
Click on the image to the left and vote for American Whitewater.
American Whitewater has been a partner with New Belgium Brewing and their Skinny Dip for a Cause Campaign. Skinny Dip For A Cause is New Belgium’s advocacy and awareness initiative for water conservation, clean water, and saving our rivers.
The company has directly supported efforts like the Clean Water Restoration Act to restore protections to our nation’s headwater streams, the Hard Rock Mining and Reclamation Act the help clean up streams polluted by past mining activity, and the efforts of groups like American Whitewater to restore rivers throughout the West.
