Currents 10

Our compadres over at Five2Nine recently put out episode 10 of Currents - if you haven't seen any of them have a look through their website for the first episodes of the series. Episode 10 is perhaps the best one yet, highlighting the story of how the ultra classic Moose River in New York came to be one of the first rivers in the US to have mandated recreational whitewater releases. It also explains how this process acted as a launch pad for American Whitewater's involvement in river access, and it focuses on how this success has been realized in part by the immense popularity of Moosefest held each fall.

Sadly, this video stands as a reminder to Canadians that we do not have a national body whose mandate is to protect recreational river value like AW does. We are 30 years behind the US on this front. Sure, there are individuals, local clubs and even some provincial/national level organizations who try their best and do have success, but we would have a much stronger voice were we nationally organized with a view for protecting these valuable resources. And I don't mean something like Paddle Canada or Canoe Kayak Canada taking up this role - I mean a whitewater organization whose primary mandate is to preserve rivers, not a coaching or racing mandate with river preservation as a secondary focus. It's time for this to happen.

And with that (and on a happier note) this link is where you can find river beta for the Moose - check out episode 10 below.