Paddler News Feed

 

•	Features
•	Hotline
•	Surf Zone

< May/June
	Hotline
blurbs

Preserving the Lewis and Clark Legacy

As America prepares for the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the National Park Service is getting into the action by protecting historic riverfront lands in the Pacific Northwest. The service recently acquired a 1.47-acre parcel along Idaho’s Clearwater River, an expansion to the Nez Perce National Historical Park’s Canoe Camp where the Corps of Discovery made five log canoes in October 1805. The tribe helped the explorers regain their strength after journeying over the Rockies, and taught the party the art of "Burning out the holler of our canoes," wrote Clark. From there, Lewis and Clark paddled down the Clearwater, Snake and Columbia rivers.

Congress also authorized an expansion up to 1,500 acres at Fort Clatsop National Memorial, southwest of Astoria, Ore., where the expedition spent the winter of 1805-1806. This addition will accommodate a canoe/kayak landing for modern adventurers and a replica of their fort, complete with costumed interpreters. A future trail will enable hikers to cross the forested coastal range and view the Pacific Ocean. Locations in Washington are also being studied for protection (and perhaps a national center for the advancement of spelling), including Station Camp, where Clark declared that the party "…proceed no further by water as the Coaste becomes very (dangerous)…as the Ocean is immediately in front…"

ACA Releases Critical Judgment Safety Report

Report aims to help analyze and prevent canoe- and kayak-related fatalities

Between 1996 and 2000, 75 percent of all paddling-related fatalities involved canoeing and 83 percent of those victims were not wearing a lifejacket at the time of the accident, according to the American Canoe Association’s (ACA) recently released report on paddling fatalities. Titled Critical Judgment: Understanding and Preventing Canoe and Kayak Fatalities, the report aims to illuminate the risks of boating and the nature of paddling accidents. Says David Jenkins, ACA’s director of conservation and public policy, "Being armed with knowledge about which populations are most at risk, the role of specific hazards and what mistakes led to these tragedies will improve paddler awareness and ultimately help reduce fatalities."

The report states that the primary reason for all kayak-related fatalities—45 percent—was hazardous water/weather. In the canoeing category, 20 percent of all fatalities were caused by operator inexperience or error, and half of all canoeing accidents were caused by occupant movement and weight shift. Critical Judgment also outlines the ACA’s strategy to reduce canoe and kayak fatalities, and recommends safety policy changes such as increased training of state and federal marine patrol officers in paddling technique and safety and expanded education efforts to encourage all paddlers to wear lifejackets. Safety measures also include better signage at low-head dams and better accident reports, stricter laws regarding alcohol and boating and that a greater portion of Wallop-Breaux Trust Fund dollars be allocated to boating safety programs. Info: (800) 929-5162, www.acanet.org.

Tardy Teens Travel to School by Raft

Four tardy students at Wyoming East High School in New Richmond, W.Va., put a new spin on that old "our-school-bus-ran-late" excuse—it was their rafts that ran late. Coben Thorn, Adam Fulford, Eric McKinney and Jarrod Brewer shouldered two rubber rafts into the Guyandotte River at approximately 6:30 a.m. in Mullens, headed toward their high school in New Richmond. Armed with two homemade paddles, one for each raft constructed from sticks duct-taped to cookie sheets, the four began their trek.

With an early start, the boys thought they had plenty of time to make the eight-mile trip before the 9:15 a.m. bell. But their journey took longer than expected. Not only did they miss the first bell, they missed their first class before completing the four-hour adventure. Three of the group had rafted the Gauley and New rivers previously. The homemade paddles worked pretty well, Thorn says, but they had to do a lot of paddling, making the undertaking more exhausting than anticipated. After word spread down the hallways, about 50 students and four teachers were waiting when the boys finally made it to the school—and the principal’s office. "It was something we'd always wanted to do," Thorn says.

—Mary Catherine Brooks