Categories
Community News

FOG Tacoma Negotiations

HERE’S A CHANCE FOR PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT RIVERS TO HELP PROTECT THE GREEN (DUWAMISH) RIVER

If you believe rivers and their ecosystems and wildlife – including salmon — need protection, now is the time to do something to take care of the Green River. Friends of the Green River, a small non-profit organization, will need help once again from you and your friends to negotiate with Tacoma to get the best deal possible for the salmon, listed under the Endangered Species Act as threatened, for the instream flows on this river, for the boaters who love the Green, for the conservationists and recreational users who want to continue to enjoy one of their favorite rivers in Washington.

NEGOTIATIONS FOR SETTLEMENT OF LEGAL ACTION

BETWEEN FRIENDS OF THE GREEN RIVER

AND THE CITY OF TACOMA

BEGIN AGAIN

Friends of the Green River and City of Tacoma are about to start up another round of negotiations to nail down specifics of the “Settlement Agreement Between City of Tacoma, King County, and Friends of Green River.”

Way back in the mid-1990’s, Friends of the Green River (FOG) appealed the issuance by King County of a Shoreline Substantial Development Permit to Tacoma to build a 2nd water transmission pipeline that would divert approximately 100 cubic feet per second (cfs) of water from the Green River. This would be in addition to the 100 cfs of water they had been diverting from the Green since they built a dam and pipeline in the early days of the 20th Century.

Friends of the Green went through the process of an Appeal to the King County Hearings Board and then appealed to the State Shoreline Hearings Board. At some point during the process of getting ready for that hearing, FOG decided to try negotiating a settlement with Tacoma. We reached an agreement with Tacoma at the end of 1995, after about a year’s work.

Rachael Paschal of Center for Environmental Law and Policy (CELP) was our most faithful advisor through this long process and found us an attorney to do much of the formal work preparing for the Shoreline Hearings Board hearing and then writing the Agreement. So thanks to Rachael, we had, in effect, 2 attorneys guiding us through the process.

One point in the Agreement said that it would not go into effect until Tacoma had built and commenced operation of the Second Supply Project. The Pipeline that is the subject of this Agreement was not completed until approximately 10 years from the date the parties signed the Agreement.

Once it was in effect, both sides looked at the Agreement and decided that what we had written 10 years previously, now needed some details that would clarify what was meant in the original Agreement. FOG began a series of meetings with our constituents and members – primarily whitewater boaters and conservationists. These meetings preceded and then ran parallel with the negotiations sessions between Tacoma and FOG (and included FOG members and constituents). Eventually the negotiations petered out because of personnel changes in Tacoma and then because of difficulties getting started again.

Now, Tacoma has asked us to again resume negotiations, and is proposing some changes of its own. One point Tacoma makes is that they owe us, by terms of the Agreement, $123,000 which they would pay to American Whitewater to be held as a source of funds to be used for grants for purposes to be determined by FOG. It’s possible that a close reading of the entire Agreement could yield even more dollars than Tacoma has indicated. We need your eyes to be sure FOG and our allies get everything the original Agreement grants us.

Additionally FOG needs you to help us think creatively in asking for the kinds of things that would be best for the Green River and its Friends. Some items in the original Agreement no longer make sense and Tacoma recognizes that. We need to consider increased Land Use in the Middle Green River area and its effects on the river, its salmon and other aquatic life, and on aesthetics and recreation. And what about the increasing impacts on water quality and adequate – even optimal – flows on the Green River? And think about the effects of Climate Change on this river – how can we work with Tacoma to make things better for the river and its ecosystem? For its wildlife and the humans who love it? Could the Green River be an example of how to think about other rivers of the State, to protect them all better for all of us and our wildlife and fish?

Please contact Friends of the Green to help with this new phase of our efforts.

For more information, please see the original FOG/Tacoma Agreement here:

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Document/view/documentid/250/

Thanks,

Pat Sumption, president

Friends of the Green (Duwamish) River

sumptionp@gmail.com, 206-525-1708

Categories
Board Meeting Minutes WRRR Board

May 2014 Board Meeting Minutes

  1. Call to order @ 7:05
    1. Board Present: David Elliott, Nancy Douty, Jason Cohen, Brenan Filippini
    2. Directors at Large: Adam Schierenbeck
    3. Members: Pat Sumption, Rebecca Post
  2. Review minutes and approve
    1. approved
  3. Review agenda
  4. Officer’s reports
    1. Chairperson/President – David Elliott
      1. Membership 140 (last month 147)
      2. No new members at the Green River cleanup (didn’t put out forms until mid-way through the BBQ)
      3. 21 about to expire, 18 expired in the last 90 days.
    2. VP River Ops – Brenan Filippini
      1. See agenda below
    3. VP Business – Jason Cohen
      1. See agenda below
    4. VP Finance – Nancy Douty
      1. Balance in checking $6281.10, stuff still outstanding though
      2. Nothing about CPR and flip practice
      3. Owe money to David and Mary still
      4. Money from Rebecca deposited, still needs to be entered into the spreadsheet.
      5. Money for food and $135 for shirts deposited
      6. Brennan reimbursed for camping (except for White Salmon which we pay at the event), haven’t submitted for the prizes yet
  5. Standing Committee Reports
    1. Waterlog – Brian Vogt
    2. River Watch – Chris Herman
    3. Safety and Education – Jason Cohen
      1. Have brain dump from Pixie, planning on same 1 day class as last year. Targeting a date in June
    4. Communications – Adam Schierenbeck
      1. WRRR forums on website, will promote them in the newsletter
      2. Put out message about the Rendezvous
    5. Membership – Mary Koncikowski
    6. Programs/Volunteers – Jim Johnson
    7. WRRR Wear – Nate Dickison
  6. Special Business
    1. Nominate and vote for Rebecca Post to fill empty Director position
      1. David Nominates Rebecca Post, Nancy 2nds. Vote:
        1. David: yes
        2. Nance: yes
        3. Brenan: yes
        4. Jason: yes
        5. Adam: yes
      2. Approved
  7. Old Business
    1. Flip Practice roundup
      1. Good event, little bit of rain, but not bad.
      2. About 15 or more people.
    2. Green River cleanup roundup
      1. Everything went great
      2. What was the deal with the red cones?
        1. Trying new things, marking spots to pick up trash until some people picked up the cones thinking they were trash. Going to mark the cones, but didn’t have the sharpie. Just did word of mouth, need to do better communication next year. Announce next year and better signage.
      3. Didn’t put out the WRRR bucks.
      4. Throw bag golf went well at the pick nick. Went on for about 2 hours.
      5. Probably biggest boating turnout, about 224 registered volunteers (lots at the BBQ – roughly checking membership sheet, but probably need to have someone fulltime checking next year). Least trash (< 1 cubic yard), most rain, and highest flow.
      6. Ideas for next year
        1. Permanent kiosk at the park with list of years/volunteers and aerial map. Rangers are for it, so Brennan and Jay will work on it.
        2. 2015 camping
          1. Shangri-La
            1. Looks like we can get it, but should we pay a little money so we get it? As long as we are before May, we should be good. We just need to call them frequently next year.
            2. Giving us Halloween weekend as a make-up.
          2. Kanasket-Palmer
            1. We thought we had the group camp a few months ahead of time, but there was a mistake they donated it to the girl scouts that same weekend.
            2. They gave us 8 spaces this year, and then 7 more when we raised a stink. There were plenty of sites, so remained empty all weekend but some may have stayed away because we didn’t have the group camp.
    3. Pat Sumption – wants 10 minutes to speak
      1. Jay, Brennan, and Pat agree we need to do something spectacular for the 30th Anniversary
      2. Pat organizes the ground crew and wants to coordinate with WRRR better next year. Pat wants to hand off ground crew duties. Ground crews are the best way to get the most trash. If members have people in groups (scouts, churches, etc.), contact Pat help coordinate. Best if we have someone who lives near the river for more credibility. Let us know who has helped in the past, maybe Volunteers of Washington since they started the event. Pat looking for intern/community helper to try to get paper notes into list to use for cleanup and city of Tacoma. David suggest we start this in January, but we could do some stuff now. Brian going to add pictures about the cleanup, but good to get articles from different people. Pat handed out pamphlets to try to get personal stories about their experience, but none back yet.
      3. The FOG agreement with Tacoma is up for renegotiation again.
    4. Wenatchee Rendezvous status
      1. All good. Still want to find 2 people for membership, 2 people for raffle tickets, 1 person for potluck time (6:30) reminder (Nancy/Randy volunteer, can do membership also if now one else volunteers). Usually get these at the event, but nice to have these ahead of time.
      2. Not sure about the Hyrdro-flasks for prizes, but still should be okay.
    5. White Salmon status
      1. Aaron and Kat are trip leaders (want to do more trip leader model going forward so river ops can take care of loose ends).
      2. Camping cost is based on head count, non-members will need to pay.
    6. Poker Run planning
      1. Need helpers for River Ops
      2. Jason to take care of the cards
      3. Any worry about the rangers being there ahead of time because last time they warned that we are not allowed to land and setup along the river. Not too worried about it.
      4. Are cash prizes budget separate from the prize budget? Yes it is. Usually have cash from the hand sales, but we can bring cash. Do we have the laminated cash prizes from last year? David to plan on making new ones unless he hears otherwise (he has them already)
      5. 5 poker stations, 1 at put-in and the others along the river.
        1. Meet ahead of time so they can launch at 9.
        2. Idea to do appetizers at each station, but they are pretty hectic.
        3. Try to bring back lunch if we get volunteers.
        4. Brennan, Nancy, David, Rebecca are tentative station volunteers.
        5. Do we need to write down hands
      6. Can we do something for the volunteers (aprons have been done in the past)?
    7. Tieton Rally discussion
      1. David talked to Brenda and Bruce from OWA at the Green River Clean-up
      2. Actually get 5 toilets (1 for Big Wave Dave, 1 for OWA, 3 for WRRR) this year.
      3. Anything special like the costume contest we did a few years ago?
    8. Review Waterlog ads and sponsorship program
      1. Have the same ads, no one has expired (Jim and Casey are updated). River Booty considering sponsor, David to hook them up with Brennan
    9. Stickers
      1. 18 small @ $2.30 – charge $5 each. 5 large @ $10 – charge $20.
      2. Will have them for the Rendezvous
    10. Hydro-flasks
      1. Not sure on the status, need to talk to Nate.
  8. New Business
    1. 2015 Proposed Calendar – get it done now so we can start reserving
      1. Cedar New Years – Jan 1
      2. Tilton – Feb 14-16
      3. April Flip Practice – Apr 19 (Easter is Apr 5)
      4. Shangri-La Cleanup – Apr 25
      5. Green River Cleanup – May 2
      6. Wenatchee Rendezvous – June 6
      7. Sauk Overnighter – June 27
      8. White Salmon – July 18 (Nancy – make sure it doesn’t conflict with Arlington Fly-in)
      9. Poker Run – Aug 15 (Nancy – make sure it doesn’t conflict with market anniversary event)
      10. Tieton – Sep 12
      11. Rogue – Sep 24
      12. Sauktoberfest – Oct 24
      13. Cispus is not here because we don’t control / get the dates till January (contact Eric and Gina), great entry level event.
    2. Cable Drop work this weekend – May 16/17
      1. Found out a little late from Phil, finishing up some more steps and guard rails this weekend. David not sure where Brennan is putting the events, they are not up on the WRRR web site (or Facebook), just on Yahoo groups. Will run the river after if it isn’t too high. Will be the only real legal put in except for the confluence. At the bridge in index is mostly private property. Roomer is there is an old park that could be developed as a put in and another one on the Sauk at Bachman park (money to put in more facilities) or maybe the mill.
      2. Brennan is okay with his pinky email posted on Facebook.
    3. President and VP River Ops need to contact the President of OWA to discuss plans for the Tieton
      1. See above
    4. Patches and more stickers
      1. David requests permission to use the WRRR text logo to create iron on patches. Brennan 2nds the motion. No one opposes, approved!
      2. The stickers Jason is getting are fairly expensive, but we have done cheap ones to give out in the past. David looked into getting more, 2×3 water proof stickers @ $.45 if we get 250. Can use them to logo the prizes. David will get together a quote to talk about next meeting.
    5. Waterlog articles needed by 5/20
      1. VP River Ops
        1. White Salmon full article
        2. Poker Run teaser
      2. Need to talk about the overnighter.
        1. 4 years ago we got feedback about more trips and overnighters. Need to make it clear it is an overnight on the river.
        2. Need groover and cooking gear coordinated.
        3. May need to limit the size of the group, but can split into pods.
        4. David, Brennan, and Jason to work on the article over email, and can do more planning at the Rendezvous.
  9. Announcements and good of the order
    1. Middle-middle on Friday, should be a decent flow (about 2800, but could be higher).
    2. Pat writing 2 things for the newsletter, will send them to Brennan and Adam for review, and then Brian as text (or email)
  10. Adjourn @ 8:14
Categories
Club Events

Green River Cleanup BBQ Donations

We hope you are having a great time at the WRRR Green River Cleanup BBQ! If you want to pay your donation through PayPal, using your account or a credit card, you can do that here.

One person ($5):


Two people ($10):


Three people ($15):


Or you can go to http://www.paypal.com and use paypal@wrrr.org as the recipient.

 

Thanks!

Categories
River Safety

Green River Safety Map

Brenan has put together a great map showing Mercury, the Nozzle, and Let’s Make a Deal. This should help people run this section of the Green Gorge without some of the problems we’ve seen in the past. See you on the river!

PDF: Green River Mercury Nozzle Safety Eddy Map

Here’s a screen capture of the map for people having problems with the PDF. Click the image to enlarge.Green River Mercury Nozzle Safety Eddy Map

Categories
Club Events

Brenan’s Beta – Green River Edition

With the Green River Cleanup coming up in a few days, we thought it would be nice to republish the Waterlog from 2013 with an article about the Green River. Be safe and have a good time out there!

April 2013 Waterlog

The Waterlog, with articles like this, is one of the great benefits of you WRRR membership.

Categories
Board Meeting Minutes WRRR Board

April 2014 Board Meeting Minutes

Washington Recreational River Runners
Board Meeting April 9, 2014

  1. Call to order @ 7:05
    1. Board/Directors Present – David, Marry, Nancy, Brennan, Jim, Adam, Jason (phone), Nate (phone)
    2. Members – Stephanie, Lyles
  2. Review minutes and approve
  3. Review agenda
  4. Officer’s reports
    1. Chairperson/President – David Elliott
      1. Membership 147 (last month 152)
    2. VP River Ops – Brenan Filippini
    3. VP Business – Jason Cohen
    4. VP Finance – Nancy Douty
      1. Balance: $6195.40
  5. Standing Committee Reports
    1. Waterlog – Brian Vogt
      1. Nothing (not present)
    2. River Watch – Chris Herman
      1. Nothing (not present)
    3. Safety and Education – Jason Cohen
      1. See below
    4. Communications – Adam Schierenbeck
      1. Web site forums not really used, Yahoo site is going down hill (lots of ads), and Facebook is getting used more.
      2. Add information about the Cispus the weekend after the cleanup (not official WRRR event)
    5. Membership – Mary Koncikowski
      1. David and Mary to do membership email
    6. Programs/Volunteers – Jim Johnson
      1. Nothing new
    7. WRRR Wear – Nate Dickison
      1. Haven’t heard anything since last talking with Hydro-flask. Said the price was going to increase and we probably missed the deadline.
  6. Old Business
    1. Flip Practice status
      1. All good to go, just need funds for food.
    2. Green River Cleanup status
      1. Doing fine until Shangri-La backed out. Have Kanaskat-Palmer as backup.
      2. Reached out to a lot of clubs and people.
      3. Throw bag thing at paradise or flaming geyser?
      4. Maps are printed up to help reduce the confusion of the past.
      5. Brennan to run early and try to setup rigging in hard to stop places
      6. Stash WRRR bucks to encourage cleanup (not all found last year)
    3. Wenatchee Rendezvous status
      1. Agenda for general membership meeting
      2. No changes to bylaws (wait till Poker Run), just introduce officers
      3. Try to get a better time so we know when the pot luck and raffle will be at.
      4. Haven’t talked to mark about the piñata.
      5. Article about policing dogs off leash
    4. Safety class status
      1. Nothing much new, reached out to Pixie to get info from last year.
      2. Try not to schedule for 5/17-5/18 weekend
    5. CPR class status
      1. Not a lot of people confirmed at this point, the idea was about 20 people. Deadline CPR class in one week (next Wednesday)
    6. By-law changes – David fallen behind – new goal is Poker Run vote
    7. Stickers
      1. Will do same order as last time, decide on price at cleanup
    8. Hydro-flasks
      1. Suggest we do the order if we can get the original price.
      2. David, Brennan, and Nate to hash out details and place order Friday.
  7. New Business
    1. Oso mudslide donation
      1. Donation for our club member who lost his wife, grand daughter, and house and has been working out there as fire fighter.
      2. Motion to approve $500 to donate to fund. Approved.
    2. White Salmon planning
      1. We have the camp ground, but last year we got hosed with the fire pit with the other RV group.
      2. Still do the noon meet for put in
    3. Poker Run discussion
      1. Camp ground is reserved for Thursday night on.
      2. Jason to do the forms
  8. Waterlog articles needed by 4/20
    1. NOTE: Please do not ignore the date and requests for articles – if you don’t get them in in time, the President has to write them, not the newsletter editor
    2. VP River Ops
      1. Wenatchee Rendezvous full article
      2. White Salmon teaser
  9. Announcements and good of the order
    1. Questions about the Shangri-La cleanup. Last year they were going to give away our weekend, even though we had it because we were not paying and they prefer paying customer. But the other party just moved to another weekend. This year Jason (the caretaker) just double booked while he was out on vacation. Still doing the pre-clean, just smaller group that is boating down.
    2. Do we move it next year to April to avoid conflicts? Probably don’t need to.
    3. Renew American White Water membership ($75 plus $100 extra) is budgeted and approved.
    4. Old guide books donated for Poker Run last year.
    5. Water Log – still doing paper for a few old members which costs about $25-$30.
    6. Nancy needs a little help with reconciliation of finances – David will help.
    7. Jim – who is getting Hydro Flasks? About half will be spoken for, others will be sold. It went out on email, but we need to put Jim in the subject line.
  10. Adjourn @ 7:47
Categories
Board Meeting Minutes WRRR Board

March 2014 Board Meeting Minutes

  1. Call to order @ 7:02
    1. Present on phone: David Elliot, Nancy Douty, Jason Cohen, Mary Koncikowski, Nate Dickison, Adam Shierenbeck
  2. Review minutes and approve
    1. Minutes approve
  3. Review agenda
  4. Officer’s reports
    1. Chairperson/President – David Elliott
      1. Membership 152 (last month 151)
        1. 10 people to expire this month, expect all to renew
    2. VP River Ops – Brenan Filippini
      1. On a vacation (cruise)
    3. VP Business – Jason Cohen
      1. nothing
    4. VP Finance – Nancy Douty
      1. Bank balance $5854.40, everything paid up except Brenan
  5. Standing Committee Reports
    1. Waterlog – Brian Vogt
      1. nothing
    2. River Watch – Chris Herman
    3. Safety and Education – Jason Cohen
      1. Timeframe earlier the better (last year April) shoot for May (both 1 day and 2 day)
      2. Only 8 people responded, so just set date for a class and contact the people personally. Run second article announcing date.
      3. Cost only about $10 for the cert card and first add supplies. Suggest $20 cost to confirm for class with a $10 refund in WRRR bucks. Can pay by check, cash (to Mary’s address), or PayPal. Nancy and David can tell who paid via PayPal.
      4. Shooting for April timeframe (maybe tight with the waterlog coming out end of March)
    4. Communications – Adam Schierenbeck
      1. Will setup stuff for CPR class
      2. Setup events for the Green Cleanup (pre-clean and main event)
      3. Still need to setup events for flip practice
      4. How far in advance? If too far, need to remind people. Go ahead and setup for the year and setup a reminder just before the event.
      5. Cannot logon to the WRRR forums, will contact David to get that setup.
    5. Membership – Mary Koncikowski
      1. Nothing new on membership, nothing really to do – no new physical letter this year. Could just do an email if we want them back?
    6. Programs/Volunteers – Jim Johnson
      1. April Board Meeting info
      2. Plan to try and get Bogart’s but no word from Jimmy. Nancy will call and find out the status.
    7. WRRR Wear – Nate Dickison
      1. Bought speakers for the raffle events
      2. Still looking into hydro-flasks.
      3. Will swap gear at the cleanup and make sure and submit receipts then
  6. Old Business
    1. Tilton Trek roundup
      1. No one present went, so nothing to talk about it
    2. Flip Practice status
      1. No Jimmy
    3. Green River Cleanup status
      1. No Brenan
    4. Wenatchee Rendezvous status
      1. No Brenan
    5. Status for getting donations of prizes
      1. Brenan has what he needs from David
    6. By-law changes
      1. David falling behind
    7. Stickers
      1. No status, try to have them for the next event
    8. Hydro-flasks
      1. Have the artwork we are going to use, just need to contact the company
      2. Going to sell them at cost – need to buy 25 for minimum order. Several sizes and colors. Couple for prizes and sell the rest.
  7. New Business
    1. White Salmon discussion
      1. Nothing new, know the date and need to secure the same camping
    2. Status of safety class planning
      1. See above
    3. Waterlog articles needed by 2/20
      1. VP River Ops
        1. Green River Cleanup full article
        2. Wenatchee Rendezvous teaser
        3. Brenan knows to get these both out
      2. Programs Chair
        1. Flip Practice Announcement
        2. Nancy to remind Jimmy
  8. Announcements and good of the order
    1. Mary – do we pay for the room at the Round Table? — No
    2. Consider location for Round Table instead of hanger since it is more centrally located and heated -but may not work well if not ordering food
    3. Conference call is very efficient – next meeting in person
  9. Adjourn @ 7:28
Categories
Board Meeting Minutes WRRR Board

February 2014 Board Meeting Minutes

Washington Recreational River Runners
Board Meeting February 12, 2014

  1. Call to order @ 7:02
    1. Present on phone: David, Nancy, Brenan, Jason, Mary, Nate, Adam, Jim (late)
  2. Review minutes and approve
  3. Review agenda
  4. Officer’s reports
  5. Chairperson/President – David Elliott
  6. Membership 151 (last month 150)
  7. VP River Ops – Brenan Filippini
  8. Tilton this weekend
  9. Ops just providing fire wood, potluck breakfast on Sunday
    1. Green River
      1. waiting for dump vouchers
      2. camping officially donated
      3. Flag areas for concentration
    2. Pre-clean on 4/26 at 9:00 Shangri-La
      1. Brenan write article for waterlog
      2. Bring gloves and yard tools
      3. Some run the river beforehand, usually take out at Shangri-La instead of continuing down to the park.
    3. Skagit
      1. Camping all set, $225 needs to be reimbursed to Brenan (was too excited to go get the WRRR card)
    4. Talking about work party for cable drop, going to get back to us with dates that don’t conflict with ours (sometime in spring)
  10. VP Business – Jason Cohen
    1. nothing
  11. VP Finance – Nancy Douty
    1. $5693.32 – $41.50 for pizza
    2. Locked out of PayPal – password no long works
    3. David to deal with getting that reset
    4. Picking up mail every two weeks.
    5. Got the checking and credit card accounts combined
    6. David setup the credit card to fully pay
    7. David to take care of paying it online
  12. Standing Committee Reports
    1. Waterlog – Brian Vogt
      1. Not present
    2. River Watch – Chris Herman
      1. Not present
    3. Safety and Education – Brenan Filippini
      1. Jason to take over
      2. Do the normal 1 day club sponsored and maybe a couple 2 days not sponsored, but get discount.
      3. Mary has a CPR trainer that can do the class for free
        1. need to pay for the cards
        2. Does the club cover the costs? Yes
        3. 15-20 per class
        4. Have the dummies, need some space. Would take about 4 hours.
        5. Randy’s hanger in Auburn is an option, as well as Jason’s garage in Woodinville
        6. Need to know how the space is setup
        7. Start with a leader article with a deadline for interest (get in by 20th for February Waterlog), work with Adam to communicate (goal to do it in the next couple months)
        8. Non-members okay if they pay the fee – no, charge them $30 for a membership
      4. $1600 is the budget
      5. No longer calling it swift water training or whiter water rescue technician (not to be confused with guide certification), instead whitewater safety training
    4. Communications – Adam Schierenbeck
      1. Flip practice changed from 4/20 to 4/27 because of Easter
      2. Any concerns of water level this weekend on the Tilton? – yes, looking at alternates but the meet time and location will not change.
      3. Do we communicate all locations (website, website forums, waterlog, Facebook, and Yahoo groups)? – yes, need to keep them all in sync
      4. Brenan: The poker run date is not on the website, David will update it now that we have the campsite.
    5. Membership – Mary Koncikowski
      1. Nothing new, just cooking a new member
    6. Programs/Volunteers – Jim Johnson
      1. Jim: Is David the contact for the flip practice? Adam will change it to Jim, just get the info from contact info.
    7. WRRR Wear – Nate Dickison
      1. Need to pick up the gear from Nancy still.
      2. Nancy will just bring it to the next event (Cleanup)
      3. Costco stuff – no profit donation / sponsorship
      4. Hydro-flasks
        1. Send info to Nate
      5. Stickers – budget for about $100
        1. Get it for flip practice or at latest green river cleanup
      6. Need to do inventory on the half synthetic shirts, but haven’t really been to any events yet – just the gear swap
  13. Old Business
    1. January membership roundup
      1. Everything went well, good turnout.
    2. Tilton Trek status
      1. Thing still up in the air, the river fluctuates quite a bit. Upper is the backup, but meeting time (10am) and location doesn’t change
      2. David not planning to be there
    3. Green River Cleanup status
      1. See in river ops
    4. 2014 Budget
      1. Did we approve the budget? We went over it and there were no proposed changes.
      2. David motioned to approve, Nancy second. Approved.
    5. By-law changes
      1. Items include member conduct rules, webmaster position, paper requirements
      2. Draft proposal by end of February
      3. Introduce in April
      4. Vote at Wenatchee Rendezvous
  14. New Business
    1. Discuss budget – approve if possible (already done)
    2. Flip Practice discussion
      1. Do a BBQ like last year
      2. Need to double check that it is reserved
    3. Wenatchee Rendezvous discussion
      1. Anything we need to start discussing. The camping is reserved for the last day in May.
      2. Brenan: trying to streamline the events and setting up a river chair for each event. Still need volunteers for Wenatchee and Skagit (help out with communications) – Nate will help out with the Rendezvous
    4. Status for getting donations of prizes
      1. Nate working on it
      2. Mary will ask to see if she can get anything from her work.
      3. Try to get something from first aid. Offered Adventure Medical Kits to do an article but they never did, can offer again.
      4. Nancy has stitch kits from Mary (1 or 2 in the bag)
      5. Any prize requests?
      6. Nancy typed up a list from the gear swap and emailed it to the board, David to reply to the mail so it bumps up to the top.
      7. Costco has the waterproof Bluetooth speakers for $80 that will probably go first. Also have had the pelican case type for $30.
    5. Status of safety class planning
      1. Nothing new (see above)
  15. Waterlog articles needed by 2/20
    1. Pre-clean
    2. CPR
  16. Announcements and good of the order
    1. Brenan: how is the phone in working – so far so good except for those that are late (Jim can’t find the agenda)
    2. David will send out the minutes
    3. April will be the next physical meeting, where do we want to have it?
    4. Concerns about doing the phone call in the Renton Roundtable, Jim to try and get the room at Bogart’s for 4/9/2013
    5. David is putting an article together about Ecuador with pictures
  17. Adjourn @ 7:59
Categories
News

New WRRR forums

Not a fan of Facebook? Tired of the ads on the Yahoo list that doesn’t always work? We have a new forum system that is owned and operated by WRRR! You can find them by using the “Community” menu above, or by going to wrrr.org/forums.

Categories
News Uncategorized

Sauk River Gauges

Over the past couple of years, two new gauges have been added to the Sauk River drainage – one at Darrington and one on the Suiattle.

You can find out about all of the Sauk River area gauges by clicking here.

In the future, you will still be able to find this page by going to the River Info menu.

Categories
News

Revised By-Laws

On June 1, 2013, WRRR members voted to revise the club by-laws.

The revised by-laws are available at the page WRRR By-Laws, which can be reached from the About WRRR menu above.

Categories
News Trip Reports

Brenan’s Beta: Wenatchee (May 2013 Waterlog)

bbwen1

(This article was originally published in the May 2013 issue of The Waterlog)

This months’ Rapid segment focuses on the Wenatchee River. Most all the “tough” carnage happens at Boulder Bend. At high flows there are some nice hit and huge holes over on river center spread all the way across to river left. At far river left there is some pretty hairly “code red” in the form of logs and other junk that accumulates in high water. Most paddle rafts get wiped out in the Geary Hole (River Center) and end up having a very long swim, get pushed over river left, and get thrashed. For me, I have a nice Green Highway on river right that I prefer to use. To enter the highway I take my exit right after the hwy 2 bridge at the Bent tree on river left. That is my cue to start working right. With a nice easy forward paddle, we end up about 40 feet off the river right bank at the start of the 120 degree turn. Once there it’s an easy shot around the bend and we find a few of the larger holes and cut back river center right after the huge rock(river center/ rapid center). There’s some nice ledge waves to hit and usually gets everyone on the paddle team fired up for the rest of the river.

I’ve seen lots of carnage and boats rolled up after this rapid. The most spectacular is engraved in my mind though. Everytime I run the rapid I chuckle a little. I had just made my way back into the center of the river to hit all the big wave trains at the bottom left, looked back to see an empty boat. I quickly blew the whistle and got our boat ready to go pickup and assist the swimmers. With my paddlers ready to receive, I took a quick glance back to make sure we were on the right track and WTH, they were all back in the boat. What had been maybe 10 seconds, Koker had climbed back in the raft and already had 4 paddlers in the boat. In the next 2 paddles strokes we took heading his way, he had grabbed them all. Cool I thought, gave him the OK, got one back and we turned around to go finish out the rapid. What must have been 20 seconds later I looked back to check on the other rafts to see the most spectacular swiftwater dive ever. He was full on horizontal like a little missle wearing a PFD. Not knowing what was going on, I started to worry. Back to rescue mode. I thought maybe he was missing someone underwater? What could he be doing? His crew which was having a tough time moving the boat at the beginning of the rapid was now looking like an all star paddle team even with their guide in mid air. Another whistle blow and by the time I turned around the guy was back in the guide seat guiding again!!! Lucky for me, He was after my favorite guide stick and he got it! Wow, I couldn’t stop laughing and wow.

I told the story the next day at my guide safety talk. I also colorfully describe my swims there, and that I really don’t mind it and kind of enjoy swimming the wenachee at most places. Wouldn’t ya know it, they were paddling like banchees through Boulder Bend………..

In conclusion any description wouldn’t be complete without my favorite places to get paddlers wet. Right after the Dam is probably my favorite spot on the Wenachee. Most call it Upper and Lower Gorilla falls, but I call it the Gopher Holes. Reason: If you see a hole, you go fer it. The best one for our Aire raft is River Center Left right under the bridge. This thing hits hard and usually sends me up to the front of the raft. After getting rocked around we get our raft drifting to the outside of the river to line up for some other big holes on river right at the outside of the bend. Whether you like running big or conservative there’s a line for you on the Wenatchee.

Here’s to having some fun in the sun this summer!!!!!

     -Pinky

Perhaps the most ill conceived trip of my long whitewater career was on the Wenatchee. It was 1988 and I was 30. I had recently gotten my first IK and run the usual class 3-4 rivers on the west side for a year or 2. I had rafted and canoed before getting the IK. One fine hot spring day, my river buddy and I both had the day off. Everything on the west side of the mountains was running too high. So my buddy says, “let’s go do the Wenatchee.” I said, “it’s running 21,000 and he replied, “yeah but it’s the Wenatchee – like it was no big deal. So we went, mid week, 2 IKs, no one else on the river. The boat ramp and the parking lot were under water, and it was mostly up the front steps of the house next door. Maybe I shouldn’t even be writing this cause I honestly don’t remember very much about the run, but it WAS memorable.

Lack of visibility is what I remember most, due to the huge waves. I knew if I lost hold of my paddle, I probably wouldn’t find it again, and I didn’t have a spare. So I tied it to my boat with some line that I figured I could break, if needed. I only took 1 swim that day and it was in Rock ‘n Roll. I self rescued very quickly without having to worry about holding onto the paddle. Now the yarn spinner in me would love to tell you how the string broke, I lost my paddle and hand paddled through Gorilla and Drunkard’s Drop. But it didn’t, and the next thing I remember was going into Snowblind. We planned to run down the left side but somehow there was a monstrous hole that we hadn’t counted on, so I ruddered just a tad-I thought. The entrance current grabbed my boat and surfed it 30’ sideways in a heartbeat and I was going down the middle. I remember paddling, as hard as I could, into a trough and craning my neck to see the crest of the next wave. I swear it was like looking up at a 3 story building, and knowing you had to paddle over it. Quite a rush when I caught air at the top. I saw my Buddy for an instant 2 waves down, turned sideways. I thought, “don’t swim here.” Then I remember thinking, “I hope I don’t hit Suffocator”, cause I had little clue where I was in relation to the banks or anything else. And maneuvering was really not an option, without being able to see. I was in a canyon of waves with no sight of anything but what was in my immediate vicinity. I knew the rapid would end and I had a hell of a ride. We took out at Monitor because we thought the park take out would be hard to catch. We ended up paddling between the cottonwoods, but at least there wasn’t too much current. When we got off the river, I knew that I would not do that again, and it was one hell of a ride.

     -Chris Herman

Boulder Bend: To make it through without any terror, hug the right shore. As you move left you increase the possible terror factor. There is a nice hole near the beginning and center right. At higher levels it can keep you and even flip you if you are not on your game.

Rock & Roll:The current is trying to pull you into Satan’s Eyeball. That is not advised. As you enter the rapid you will probably pass right of an exposed rock. Immediately start pulling left. The current will have other ideas. If all goes well you pass the eyeball on the left, hopefully far enough for comfort. Take a good look at what you avoided. If that is not possible to stay left, try to get right of the eyeball. After that, enjoy the waves but make sure to miss Satan’s Asshole center left near the end of the wave train.

The Dam: Stay left approaching the dam. Look for the sloping boulders. Don’t go too soon or you will be at the concrete part of the dam and will probably die. As soon as you can push over the boulders without hitting wood, do it. Make sure you don’t wait too long or you could go over the high steep part with unknown results. Once over the drop, enjoy the hydraulics and avoid the few (very few) rocks.

Snowblind: Some people say the left side is easiest. Others say the right side is easiest. Still others say the right side is a guaranteed flip. I just head into the middle and push like hell as I hit the holes.

      -Ken Gersten

bbwen2

Categories
News Uncategorized

WRRR Needs You!

You could be the next WRRR President!

The WRRR Board of Directors is looking for people who want to become club officers in the future. In order to make this possible, we need people to join the Board as Directors-At-Large and learn the procedures. Many of the current board members have been on the board for years, and we can’t just keep going back to the old board members to keep things going. If you have enjoyed being a WRRR member, consider becoming part of the board.

Categories
Uncategorized

WRRR CSS problem

After upgrading to iFeature Pro 5.1.0.7, the white background css broke. The wrapper div that I was setting up is no longer on the pages, so I can’t set it. I was able to set these attributes on .container :

  background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);
  background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);
  box-shadow: 2px 2px 3px 2px #333333;

The box shadow had some problems, in that it meant a shadow around every container, rather than around the whole thing. I was able to mitigate this by not having bottoms and tops on the shadows, but this requires using multiple shadows, which may not work on all browsers: box-shadow: 6px 0 4px  -4px #333333, -6px 0 4px  -4px #333333;

This helped fix almost everything. Here is a partial image of the page:

 wrrrcss

The color of the menu is all wrong. It should look like the dark green “Upcoming Events” header. That is what I need help with.

Categories
Upcoming Events

After-work runs

Snowmelt has begun, and sundown is late enough to allow for after work runs. There are several options, with the most common being the Middle Middle (MF Snoqualmie), the SF Stilly (Wiley Creek to Verlot), the SF Snoquamie (below Twin Falls), the Upper Green River Gorge, and the Cedar River. Most trips are announced on the Yahoo group and/or Facebook page.

Middle Middle

We meet at 5:20PM  at the takeout on Tanner Rd (see map below) and head to the put-in. The put-in is either the Granite Creek access or the First Island Drop access depending on flows and water level. You can find a description of the run and flow information here.

For more details, contact David Elliott at dce@dcell.com


View Larger Map

Categories
News

Get Your WRRR Wear

Show off and brag about being part of the best whitewater club. We will have WRRR club shirts, hats, hoodies on sale at our upcoming club events. If you want a particular color or style shirt, fleece, etc.. we are doing a speicial order this month. So now is the time to tell us the exact WRRR wear you have been dreaming of. Please email (Nancy Douty <pinkclouds@comcast.net>);or call Nancy Douty (425.413.0948) as soon as possible for custom orders. See you on the River!  

Categories
Club Events News Upcoming Events

39th Annual Green River Cleanup – May 6, 2023

Thankyou all for helping us with the 2022 Green River cleanup!!

Save the date for the 39th ANNUAL Green River Cleanup!!!! Saturday 5-6-23

Join WRRR, Paddle trails, OWA, WKC, BeWett, Nature Nuts, Boy Scouts, MGRC, WA state parks, and other several local clubs (If we missed your group let us know!) , neighbors and friends at the 39th Annual Green River Cleanup on Saturday May 6th!!! Every year lots of outdoor enthusiast enjoy the day recreating along the river, and cleaning up trash at the same time. As always, there will be lots to do for boaters and non boaters. River stretches are rated class 2-4. The last 3 years proved that we will boat no matter the flow! Hiking and ground crew sections are available from flat trail to adventurous river corridor cleaning. We found some huge trash areas and have local neighbor’s helping out as well!

Categories
Upcoming Events

Bob Johnson Memorial Wenatchee Rendezvous – May 31-June 2

Bob Johnson was one of the founders of WRRR, and every June we get together at the Wenatchee River to celebrate WRRR and its founders. We have a potluck, prize raffle, and lots of fun!

WRRR members can enjoy free camping at the Tumwater Campground, and enjoy a fun weekend of rafting and kayaking on the Wenatchee and nearby runs such as the Chiwawa River and Peshastin Creek. The main put-in is the river access in Leavenworth. See the map below for the campground directions.

 


View Larger Map

Categories
About WRRR News River Safety

Safety Scholarships

WRRR has safety scholarship money available! WRRR will pay up to 1/3 of tuition costs for river-related safety classes for our members. NOTE: Classes required for professional guide training are not covered by the scholarship fund.

How can you get in on this action?

  • Be a WRRR member
  • Email or tell a Board member what class you want to take in order to get pre-approved – please allow at least two weeks for approval
  • Attend and complete/pass course
  • Send/give your receipt for reimbursement along with an article about your experience to the Board

Remember these are first come first serve funds, so don’t delay.

Categories
Past Events

2013 New Year’s Trip – Report and Photos

wrrrnyd02ch

Several years ago (2003 or 2004), a group of inflatable kayakers in WRRR started a tradition of running the Cedar River on January 1, and this tradition is still going strong. For 2013, we had quite a large group of around 23 people come out on a sunny winter day to get their boating year started.

There are photos from the trip in the photo gallery – photos courtesy Chris Herman and Erik Smith.

View the gallery

 

Categories
Uncategorized

Holidays are Coming – Get WRRR Wear

If you have been dreaming of a WRRR hoodie all year, now is the time to drop hints and get your loved ones to buy the WRRR wear of your dreams. Of if you want to be sure that your family and friends are showing their WRRR pride the holidays are a great time to give the gift of WRRR wear. We have t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, hats, and don’t forget the beverage cozies! We can even do custom orders. Please contact the WRRR wear genie (aka Nancy Douty) by eamil pinkclouds@comcast.net or call 425.413.0948.

Categories
Uncategorized

Gear Swap and Boat Repair

The WRRR Board is planning a get together on October 6, 2012 to repair boats and gear.  We hope to have some gear swapping going on too. We believe it would be very helpful to provide a space and the know how to help our members repair their gear.  So we have found a location and have invited Steve Dumanis to advise us.  If we are lucky, maybe our editor will join us as a mentor too. We are inviting you to bring your gear, and whatever supplies you will need….glue,  D-rings, patches and valves, and we will attempt to fix it on the spot.  We recommend you bring your repair kits Please be sure that you have new glue.   We are offering a prize for the BEST repair kit. We are hoping to put together a GLUE POSTER, which would show all the different glues and their best uses. We encourage you to bring along any gear you no longer use to sell or trade to other club members. This can be a great opportunity to clear out your storage space and pick up some needed items.  Even if it’s not in prime shape, it may be perfect for someone starting out.  Steve has been repairing boats for years and will be available to help you with your repair [if you are glue-challenged] for a minimal fee.

We will be meeting at the Auburn Airport where Randy Rogers has a hangar that will be available to us for shelter.  The address is 2527 “E” St. N.E., hangar # 503.  There is a locked gate so if you have a trailer, you can contact Randy on his cell phone and he can open the gate to let you drive in. 206-669-1877

We will start at 11:00 am so we will have plenty of time for the glue to dry.  WRRR will be providing pizza and you should provide you own beverages. Any questions, comments, ideas or needs, please call me at 425-413-0948 and leave a message on my home phone

Categories
Club Events

WRRR Tieton Weekend Sept 7,8,9

Come Join WRRR for camping at the dustbowl.  Primitive camping available for all!  WRRR provides toilets.  All are invited to join a river community potluck at the wrrr camp Saturday night – Bring your favorite dish to share.  Trips are running all week usually with several launches a day through the wrrr camp.  The wrrr camp is just downstream of BlueSky.  Stay tuned for more info, directions and details. 

Trip Leader:  WRRR board, or hop on any trip floating.  Just make sure to arrange a shuttle, before you get too excited!!!

Categories
Club Events

Carey Berger Memorial Skagit Poker Run Aug 11th.

Camping: New camp location this year at Newhalem Campground Loop C, August 9th – 12th.  Please note this is different than before.  We missed the reservation time at our usual place.  We are excited about this new area, as there is pull through sites, trailer turnaround, and maybe even more room than before.  Look for the wrrr signs, or Pinky. Remember camping is free for WRRR members but non-member guests need to pay.

Poker Fun: A poker game played with skill, you draw cards at river stations while you float the Skagit River at Newhalem. Not to be missed, the WRRR Poker run is one of the club’s most popular events. The Skagit River is one of the few rivers still running late in the summer, the run is rated easy class 2-3 at most levels. Other activities include camping and a potluck dinner in the North Cascades National Park.  Bring the family. There are usually groups running the river on Friday and Sunday also. Contact any board member for more information or check out the YahooGroup (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wrrr)

Logistics: Meet at the Upper Skagit River put in @ Goodell Creek Campground.  Poker hands go on sale at 10:00am.  Safety Olympics Registration at 9:30am.  Poker hand sales close at 11:30 and the sweep boat launches at 11:30.  Don’t get behind the sweep boat or you will miss out on this game of skill.  For the 3rd year in a row, the wrrr safety olympics will be happening.  Sharp skills will lead the champion to victory. 

TRIP LEADERS:  Lyles Larkin, VP River Ops at 425-894-5465 or ik4fun@comcast.net or any other board member for more information.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:  Anyone interested helping with this event by running a river station please contact any board member.

Goodell Creek Put in Directions: Located south of SR 20 at mile post 119. 13 miles (21 km) east of Marblemount, 74 miles (119 km) west of Winthrop. http://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/upload/Goodell.pdf

Newhalem Campground Directions:  To reach the North Cascades, drive State Route 20, the North Cascades Highway, from Burlington on the west or Twisp on the east. Newhalem Campground is located at Mile Marker 120 on State Route 20.