The mission of the American Whitewater is to conserve and restore America`s whitewater resources and to enhance opportunities to enjoy them safely.
Our activities fall into five main areas.
EDUCATION: Through publication of its magazine, American Whitewater, and by other means, AW provides information and education about whitewater rivers, boating safety, technique, and equipment.
CONSERVATION: AW maintains a complete national inventory of whitewater rivers, monitors threats to those rivers, publishes information on river conservation, provides technical advice to local groups, works with government agencies, and –when necessary — takes legal action to prevent river abuse.
EVENTS: AW organizes events and festivals to raise funds for river conservation, including the annual Gauley River Festival in West Virginia, the largest gathering of whitewater boaters in the nation.
SAFETY: AW 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.
RIVER ACCESS: To assure public access to whitewater rivers AW 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.