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< July/August 2001
	Letter from the ACA

Safety Education and Instruction
New National Paddlesport Safety System Videos Released
This past spring the American Canoe Association released three new safety videos dealing with whitewater kayaking, coastal kayaking and whitewater rafting. Produced under a grant from the Aquatic Resources (Wallop-Breaux) Trust Fund administered by the U.S. Coast Guard, the new videos are part of the ACA's National Paddlesport Safety System (NPSS), first developed in the early 1990s. The program primarily serves customers of liveries or outfitters who either rent a boat or participate in a guided trip. Each year an estimated 10-15 million Americans—many of them paddling novices—go canoeing, kayaking or rafting in the U.S. with the help of a livery or outfitter. The first phase of the NPSS (then the "National Livery Safety System") was launched in 1993 and used videos and other resource materials to specifically target canoeists. Still in use by hundreds of canoe liveries across the country, to date the original program has served an estimated 24 million livery customers. The new 15-minute videos were produced by Performance Video, a Colorado-based production company headed by world-recognized paddler and ACA Instructor Trainer Educator Kent Ford. Any U.S.-based livery, outfitter or retailer is eligible to request a free copy of one or more of these new videos by contacting the Safety Education and Instruction Department at the ACA National Office (703- 451-0141). Supplies are limited and free copies will be distributed on a first-come-first-serve basis; individuals may also purchase copies of the tapes for a nominal fee.

Waterway Conservation and Access
Bluegrass State is focus of latest ACA clean-up effort
At a recent meeting, the ACA national board of directors authorized a series of new enforcement actions under the Clean Water Act against a number of municipal and industrial polluters in Kentucky. Seven new enforcement actions have been initiated by the ACA against the following Kentucky-based defendants: Buffalo Trace Distillery (Frankfort); Turfway Race Track (Florence); Ponitiki Coal Company (McClure); municipal treatment plants in Carrollton, Eminence and Louisa; and a campground run by the Army Corps of Engineers. "As we've seen in other cases around the country, it's all too easy for industrial and municipal polluters to knowingly violate their Clean Water Act discharge permits and get away with it," says David Bookbinder, ACA's General Counsel and Director of Environmental Enforcement. "When these polluters harm the rivers and streams enjoyed by paddlers, you can bet that the ACA will work to bring them to justice." The Kentucky cases are the latest in a series of Clean Water Act enforcement cases brought by the ACA over the past five years. Under the Act, polluters are issued discharge permits designed to limit the amounts of pollutants they are able to legally discharge. Unfortunately, many polluters violate their permits and face few if any consequences as a result, unless a group like the ACA comes in and pushes for enforcement. If a waterway you paddle is teeming with pollution, contact the ACA Conservation Department and maybe we can help.

Programs and Events
Subaru Outback Rendezvous return to Syracuse and Washington, D.C.
Now in its fourth great year, the Subaru Outback Rendezvous series for 2001 will include return visits to two popular venues from past years. September 8-9 we'll be rendezvousing once again at Green Lakes State Park in Fayetteville, N.Y., on the outskirts of Syracuse. The following weekend (Sept. 15-16) the Subaru Outback Rendezvous returns to Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, Va., just outside of Washington, D.C. Produced by ACA Outdoor Events (a program division of the ACA) for sponsor Subaru of America, these multi-activity outdoor adventure festivals feature paddling, mountain biking, rock climbing, backpacking, fly fishing and more. Outdoor experts are on hand to teach you about various activities, but this is your chance to actually try all of the activities and equipment represented at the Rendezvous. Best of all, admission is FREE, so bring the whole family for a full day of fun! Registration for both events opens at 10 a.m. each day, with exhibits open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information or directions, call ACA at (800) 929-5162 or check out the ACA (www.acanet.org) or Subaru (www.subaru.com) Web sites. Call today to be put on the mailing list for the free Subaru Outback Rendezvous Event Guide, due out later this summer.