The Hudson River Watertrail Association

To provide necessary insurance for our paddling and other events, HRWA has become an American Canoe Association Paddle America Club.

To take advantage of this insurance a participant can either join the ACA, which costs our members $30/year or $40 for a family membership (discounted from the usual $40 / $60, or pay a $5 fee per event. If you are already an ACA member individually or through another paddling org, you are already covered and need only sign an HRWA waiver once a year.

In addition to coverage for HRWA events, ACA membership benefits include:
* subscription to Paddler Magazine
* Exclusive access to ACA’s Sugar Island
* Significant discounts on Subaru vehicles and products from ACA’s industry partners
* Access to hundreds of ACA-sponsored events
* Regular updates on critical paddling issues
* coverage for events organized by other area ACA-insured organizations,
including Yonkers Paddling and Rowing Club, Sebago Canoe Club, NY Kayak Polo, and countless others throughout the US

To join or for more information, visit www.americancanoe.org

On the membership application on their site choose Hudson River Watertrail Association from the drop-down menu of PAC clubs to receive your discount on the membership fee.

Since we know our members would rather spend their Summer Saturdays paddling than attending Board meetings, we are trying a weekday evening schedule for our next quarterly session. And in an effort to hold our meetings at locations convenient to more of our members throughout the region, in keeping with our intention to change our location each quarter to a different part of the the Hudson River Valley, we’re moving this meeting north of our last one, which was in Yonkers.

So our 2009 Summer meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 25th, at 6pm, at The Annsville Creek Paddlesport Center, located at the Route 9/Route 6 traffic circle in Cortlandt, just west of Peekskill.
For directions please visit www.paddlesportcenter.com

All are welcome. We look forward to seeing you there.

If you haven’t yet heard, after much lobbying by environmental groups, the Hudson River Valley Greenway and Governor’s Island have survived the state budget cuts.

Amongst countless other activities, the Greenway organizes the Great Hudson River Paddle, provides grants and funding (including some for the publication and revision of the Hudson River Watertrail Guide), and is the agency which designates human-powered boat launches up and down the Hudson.
The Greenway’s stated mission:
Preserve, enhance and develop the world-renowned scenic, natural, historic, cultural and recreational resources of the Hudson River Valley. Emphasis appropriate economic development activities and remain consistent with the Tradition of municipal home rule.
for more information on the Greenway, visit: http://www.hudsongreenway.state.ny.us/
We’re thrilled that the governor and the legislators acted with some foresight and decided to continue to fund this valuable agency. According to the mid-Hudson news, initially, the Greenway and the Heritage Conservancy were to be placed under the aegis of the state Department of State, but that proposal has been struck from the budget, allowing the Greenway to continue as an independent entity.
For more information on this and other environmental victories, visit scenic Hudson’s site at: http://www.scenichudson.org/whatwedo/resourcecenter/publicpolicy/2009budget

Governor’s island, which was also in jeopardy, was funded, receiving $7 million in the 2009-10 budget, ensuring that the island will be open to visitors this summer. Governor Patterson: “Our commitment to Governors Island is clear. With this allocation, and the matching funds from the City of New York, the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation will have the financial support it needs to keep this popular recreational site open this summer season,”
The island will be open to the public Friday - Sundays from may 30 - October 11. Ferries to the island and admission are free.
For more info on governor’s island, visit: http://www.govisland.com/

As more info on both the Great Hudson River Paddle and activities on Governor’s Island, including City of Water Weekend (organzied by MWA) we will keep you posted.

Looks like this may be a great summer afterall . . .

by Andy Bicking Barney Molloy

It’s ironic that while the Hudson Valley is gearing up to celebrate the Quadricentennial, Gov. David Paterson has proposed eliminating one program essential to the region’s future well-being - the Hudson River Valley Greenway - and debilitating cuts to another, the Hudson River Estuary Program. The greenway offers one of the most effective ways of spurring the region’s economic prosperity while preserving our natural and historic resources. By folding its responsibilities into the Department of State, the governor puts at risk much of the $963,000 in grants the program currently receives, including nearly $600,000 in annual federal funding used to manage the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, the best tool for promoting the region’s assets and spurring its $4.5 billion tourism industry. Take away this money, and the move winds up saving next to nothing.

The greenway has helped countless communities steer development into downtowns, creating new businesses and jobs, while conserving working farmland that provides healthy local produce and other open space that mitigates the effects of climate change. It also has been instrumental in establishing trail systems along and on the Hudson River spanning the 13 greenway counties, offering residents and visitors exciting new ways to connect with nature.

Like the greenway, the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Estuary Program has benefited all valley residents and strengthened the region’s appeal to tourists. Through its grants program, it has enabled dozens of communities to create or enhance popular waterfront parks, providing a spark for downtown revitalizion. It manages programs to restore key species, such as striped bass and Atlantic sturgeon, and it’s spearheading the region’s approach to combating global climate change - a priority of the Paterson administration.

Perhaps most important, the Estuary Program develops and oversees the Hudson River Estuary Action Agenda, the state’s official blueprint for improving the health of the Hudson and communities along its shores - the linchpin of our tourism economy. The agenda’s goals include restoring the Hudson’s commercial fisheries, creating access to the river in every waterfront community and ensuring a swimmable Hudson from the Adirondacks to New York City. All stand to boost local economies.

The greenway’s regional, cooperative approach not only saves participating towns money but allows the valley to continue competing in the global marketplace. A recent nationwide survey by the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. proves that the greenway model is working. The 2,000 corporate executives and site-selection consultants polled said the words most associated with the Hudson Valley are “scenic beauty” and “nature.”

Respondents also regarded the valley’s quality of life - a top consideration in any firm’s decision to relocate - as one of the region’s greatest strengths. Competition for jobs will only get fiercer during the current economic climate. This is no time to tamper with proven formulas for success.

It’s not surprising that leaders in many municipalities, including Sleepy Hollow Mayor Philip Zegarelli and Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, have spoken out cogently against these proposals and about the many benefits communities derive from the Greenway and Estuary Program. So have state legislators on both sides of the political aisle, especially Sens. Suzi Oppenheimer and Steve Saland, assemblymen Marc Molinaro and Kevin Cahill, and U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey. Clearly, this is
a nonpartisan issue.

We recognize that the state’s staggering budget deficit must be reduced, but any cuts have to be economically and environmentally responsible. Legislators representing the Hudson Valley on both sides of the aisle have seen the wisdom in funding the Estuary Program and preserving the greenway.

It’s time for Gov. Paterson to articulate a vision for the Hudson Valley’s future economic prosperity based on its magnificent natural and scenic beauty. Actually, that vision already exists - in the missions of the greenway and Hudson River Estuary Program. With so much at stake, taking an ax to these invaluable programs makes absolutely no sense.

Bicking is director of Public Policy for Scenic Hudson, based in Poughkeepsie; Molloy is waterfront director, Historic Hudson River Towns.

Greetings and Happy New Year!
I hope everyone who’s not iced in is having as great and seal-ful a winter paddling season as I am!
We are getting back up to speed, post holiday season, and gearing up for some exciting late winter and early spring activities.
Our goal is to reconnect with our membership and to help our members reconnect with each other and with our environmental and historical resources all along the Hudson River and it’s Estuary.

Below are some of the events and projects the HRWA is working on for the next few months:

On March 19th we will be presenting a slide show and lecture by John Waldman, based on his book Heartbeats in the Muck. “As our knowledge of ecosystems and watersheds grows, and with it the possibilities of environmentally sustainable agriculture and waste disposal, the waters around New York offer boundless opportunities for doing the right thing. Waldman’s engaging survey of the harbor’s natural and human history points the way.” –Gregory McNamee, Amazon reviews. The presentation will be hosted by the Beczak Center in Yonkers. All are welcome and the event is free, a donation of $5 is suggested.

On March 27 - 29 we will resume our presence at Paddlesport at the Garden State Exhibition Center (www.jerseypaddler.com), which we’d let lapse. We look forward to meeting up with other environmental and boating groups from the region at this popular event that gets everyone excited for the spring paddling season! If you’re interested in helping staff the HRWA table in exchange for free admission to the show, please contact Lee at jlgold@aol.com.

On April 24 - 25th we will be participating in the Earth Day Fair outside Grand Central Station, sharing a table with our new daughter organization, the NYC Watertrail Association. The NYC WTA (www.nycwatertrail.org) is just getting ready for its official launch and will be an “organization of organizations”, its mission “to advance awareness of the public ownership of our waterways, and to foster maritime education, recreation and environmental stewardship” by promoting “the creation, improvement, and preservation of suitable launches, landings and boathouses for paddling and rowing in all five boroughs and the harbor at large.” We hope to have materials from local non-motorized boating groups from the Hudson and the entire estuary together in one place for the convenience and edification of the public. Come out and say hello, and get to know some of the other environmental organizations operating in the area.

Looking forward to the summer, we hope to resume the paddles the HRWA led in years past. We hope to kick off the series with a paddling trip to Bannerman’s Island (www.bannermancastle.org) with a tour of the Island. More details on this and other paddling events will follow soon.

Speaking of paddling, we are thrilled to unveil a list of the 28 new sites, 2 north of the Erie canal and one at 130th street in a new park in Harlem in Manhattan (to be designated this month), that have been added to the Trail since the last version of the Guide was published. That list will be included in the first edition of our new newsletter, and each issue will feature a piece introducing one of our new sites. The newsletter will be reformatted as an online publication to save costs and resources. Stay tuned for the first issue, to be released in the next few weeks.

In other news, the HRWA has joined the Trails Coalition of Parks and Trails NY (www.ptny.org). We feel the Coalition’s advocacy goals reflect our own, for instance protecting the NYS Hudson Valley Greenway from destruction by budget cuts, helping support the Bigger Better Bottle Bill which will channel previously uncollected bottle deposit fees into the state’s Environmental Protection Fund, restoring some funding for Summer activities on Governor’s Island, and may other important goals. We look forward to partnering with the Coalition to make the voices of like-minded Trails organizations heard loud and clear by state agencies in these times of budget cuts.

We are working now to update our website, with a new calendar function, possibly a gear swap area, and more information on membership benefits. We’re considering working with the ACA to offer our members discounts on their membership, which will allow you to participate in the activities of many local paddling clubs without an additional fee, plus all the additional benefits of that membership, including discounts, Paddler magazine, etc. More news on that will be shared as it develops.

As always, we welcome your input and suggestions. What would you like to see on our site? Do you have links you’d like to submit? Photos and trip reports to share? What paddling trips would interest you? What about training sessions? Lectures / films / presentations?
Drop us a line or come visit us at Earth Day or Paddlesport, or attend our first meeting of the new Board on April 4th (more details to follow).

More information on all this will be coming soon, both here and on our mailing list, NYC Kayaker.

We look forward to working with you to make the HRWA the living organization we need right now.

To the Members of HRWA

After much productive discussion amongst Directors and members at our November 8th meeting, the HRWA will NOT be dissolved. To the contrary, new ideas were presented, new Directors appointed to the Board, and a new slate of officers for 2009 were elected.

I and Nancy Brous will be joined by returning HRWA founder, Bob Huszar, to act as new officers. Several other current Board members will also continue to serve as Directors, and as always, all efforts and input are appreciated.

As the new President of HRWA, I bring a long history of paddling and HRWA involvement. I have been past president of national and state wide organizations and will bring that experience to the presidency.

Nancy Brous will continue as Metro Region Director and will assume the Vice Presidency of the HRWA in 2009. She has been active and instrumental in every aspect of the development of free public water access in the greater NYC area, including the creation of the NYC Water Trail, with which we hope to partner in the coming months.

Bob Huszar’s return to the Board as Treasurer / Secretary brings his history of activism on behalf of the Watertrail, his unparalleled personal familiarity with the trail itself, and a technical knowledge that will help us move our organization into the 21st century.

Jack Gilman, known to all for his involvement in YPRC, rejoins the Board, bringing his wisdom and experience back from the Advisory Board to direct involvement.
To better serve our members’ needs and reflect our priorities, the HRWA wants to move the bulk of our communications away from paper and onto the internet. We plan to use our website, blog, and NYCKayaker for more frequent updates and communication with you, our members.

To that end we’d like you to please provide us with, update, or confirm your preferred email address, by sending that information to Lee at Jlgold@aol.com. As always, your email address will kept within HRWA and used just to send messages to members.

For more information and details on our developing plan for moving forward, plus email contact information for our Directors, please visit us at www.HRWA.org

We look forward to working with you to make the new HRWA a vital organization that serves its members and advances our mission of providing free public access to the great Hudson River for generations to come.

Sincerely,
Lee Goldsmith, President HRWA

Check it out people! If you really want to have some fun check out www.artonhudson.com where the rubber meets the river!

There is so much to do on the Hudson… we are kayakers, BUT we collect driftwood up and down the river and create “art.” Our start point is Grand View/Nyack and on a day like today Saturday, August 9th when you see only TWO other kayakers it makes ya wonder, “where is everbody!”

So, I ask, where are you people hanging? I invite you to check out the website and get into the groove, we are only 20 miles north of NYC and there is a whole lotta of river up here (or down here if you are in the upper Hudson Valley)!

Look forward to your comments and input.

Rachel

12 Noon at St. Philip’s Church, 1101 Route 9D, Garrison, NY 10524.

All members are welcome, only board members may vote.

Does anyone know of a place in Albany - someone’s backyard would be ok - where we could store a small 5′ by 8′ kayak trailer for 4 days during the Albany to Manhattan paddle? July 3-6

Here’s your big chance… if you’ve put off joining the HRWA because, well, you couldn’t find the membership form, now there’re no more excuses. Download the form as a fillable PDF today. You can fill out the PDF in your browser, but you’ll still have to print it and mail it, were not 100% online just yet. But unlike most PDF forms you should be able to save the form once you’ve filled it out.