Dear fellow paddlers,
If you are already an American Whitewater (AW) member, that's great. If not, please consider becoming a member:
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/membership/
Increasing the number of paddlers that support American Whitewater is the best way to ensure American Whitewater can continue its important mission, and benefit the entire river community. Please take the time to learn more about American Whitewater today at
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/ and consider adding your membership to help support their efforts.
American Whitewater's mission is "to conserve and restore America's whitewater resources and to enhance opportunities to enjoy them safely." The work of American Whitewater is largely supported by individual memberships and the efforts of local volunteers.
American Whitewater
Founded in 1954, American Whitewater is a national organization with a mission "to conserve and restore America's whitewater resources and to enhance opportunities to enjoy them safely." American Whitewater is a membership organization representing a broad diversity of individual whitewater enthusiasts, river conservationists, and more than 100 local paddling club affiliates across America. The organization 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 activities fall into four main areas.
Stewardship: American Whitewater river advocacy work and success relies on a network of grassroots volunteers spread across the country to protect and restore whitewater rivers. American Whitewater firmly believes local paddlers and their clubs possess important knowledge about their local resource and a firm commitment to protect and restore these rivers in their backyard. Over the years, American Whitewater's network of volunteers has grown to more than 100 clubs dedicated to river protection and restoration. Examples of river stewardship efforts include:
Alberton Gorge Land Transfer, MT
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/archive/article/1361/
Middle Fork Snoqualmie, WA
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/archive/article/1341/
River Access: To assure public access to whitewater rivers American Whitewater arranges for river access through private lands by negotiation or purchase, seeks to protect the right of public passage on all rivers and streams navigable by kayak or canoe, and resists unjustified restrictions on government-managed whitewater rivers. Examples of access work include:
Gauley River Access, WV
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/archive/article/1369/
Grand Canyon Management Plan Summary, AZ
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/archive/article/1257/
Safety: American Whitewater promotes paddling safety, publishes reports on whitewater accidents, and maintains both a uniform national ranking system for whitewater rivers (the International Scale of Whitewater Difficulty) as well as an internationally recognized whitewater safety code. An on-line accident database is coming soon.
American Whitewater Safety Code
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/ar...ty/safety.html
International scale of river difficulty
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/ar...rating%20scale
Communication: The American Whitewater web site,
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/ is a resource for paddlers and includes a wealth of information on local paddling opportunities. The AW Journal is published six times a year as a member benefit and contains information written by boaters, for boaters. A historical archive of the Journal is available to members at:
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/journal/archive/
Hybrid Mode
