Check out our EVENT CALENDAR for more info on these trips & events September 4-6 Labor Day Trip - Colorado River (TX) September 11-19 Boundary Waters Trip September 12 Prairie Man Triathlon September 16 DDRC Monthly Meeting September 18 TRC Watermelon Cleanup September 25 TRC XV October 9-11 Goose island Trip October 23-25 Caddoween November 6 Paul Boling Memorial at Winfrey Point (White Rock Lake) November 6-21 Boquillas & Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande Trip South Llano River Slideshow Medina River Slideshow  Newsletter Update Starting with the August issue our club newsletter will return to a monthly publication to better serve our interests and keep us informed about events we are planning. Eric Neilsen needs content on a regular basis, so if you want to contribute your favorite recipe, a camping or paddling tip, a trip anouncement, photos or other content of interest to other members, then please send your submisions to Eric via e-mail. Help make our newsletter more dynamic through your contributions. For the past ten years or more motor boaters have been causing problems of canoeists and kayakers on the Lower Mountain Fork and Little Rivers in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. Their actions, which are partly the result of drinking alcohol while operating motor boats with 150-300 hp motors on narrow, shallow rivers, have risked serious bodily injury, death and destruction of watercraft to recreational paddlers who make up 99% or more of all boat traffic on those rivers. Recently, physical threats have been made against canoeists and kayakers, and Marc McCord has been the recipient of one such threat for publishing info on Southwest Paddler advising people to report such legal violations to law enforcement officers in order to protect non-motorized boaters. Outfitters and elected legislators from the SE Oklahoma area are on our side because they see these activities as an endangerment to the fragile economy of McCurtain County and the outfitters, local paddlers and tourism guests who come to Broken Bow to enjoy those gorgeous rivers. Existing law already gives law enforcement officers the tools they need to stop these actions by motor boaters, but some of those laws need strengthening. To accomplish that objective the local area state representatives and senators need to hear from YOU about issues you have witnessed while on the river. Contact Marc McCord via e-mail for contact names and methods. A new page will soon be added to our website detailing this issue and providing contact information to address this critical issue, hopefully before somebody gets seriously injured or killed by a motor boater who think that we have no right to be there. For now, please direct any comments you wish to make to Rep. Dennis Bailey via e-mail. If you wish to follow up with Rep. Bailey via telephone, then please call his office at 800-522-8502. You can also call the Little River National Wildlife Refuge and speak with either David Weaver, Refuge Manager, or Stephen Cruse, Law Enforcement Officer, at 580-584-6211. All of these men are familiar with this problem and are working to resolve it as quickly as possible, but they need YOUR help to make that happen. We will address this matter and give updated info at our July and August club meetings. We intend to enlist the support of Arkansas Canoe Club and other clubs and organizations, as well as many of the local outfitters, to bring this matter to a successful conclusion, hopefully before the Labor Day weekend. Mar 6, 2010 - San Marcos River Apr 10, 2010 - Brazos River May 1, 2010 - Medina River Jul 24, 2010 - Guadalupe River Sep 18, 2010 - Trinity River Texas river cleanups are a coordinated effort led by Texas Rivers Protection Association in conjunction with various Texas paddling clubs and river-friendly organizations   The NEW DDRC T-Shirts are HERE! Sizes S-XXL available for $10 each. Pick one up at the next meeting, or send $10 plus $2 S&H to: DDRC T-shirts P.O. Box 820246 Dallas, TX 75382-0246 |
DDRC meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month at the Circle Grill located at 3701 N. Buckner Blvd just north of IH 30. Click Here for directions. Meetings begin at 7:00 PM.
 Boxley to Ponca on the Buffalo (L to R) Mike Butler, Stan Pully and Tim Stanton prepare to launch with Marc McCord for an eventful 6.3 miles in 1 hour 15 minutes on the very flooded Buffalo National River. This was the first day of a 10-day trip that ended at Rush Landing. Those who arrived early got a rare opportunity to experience the Class IV to IV+ Upper Buffalo in all its grandeur, and the river did not disappoint us! In fact, it flooded twice during our trip of 111.1 miles, which included an unplanned layover day and a take-out 15 hours ahead of schedule.
The US Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from the City of Dallas, which was attempting to block the National Wildlife Refuge designation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service on the Neches River in Deep East Texas.
For over three years DDRC members have led the battle against Fastrill Reservoir, a planned water resource for Dallas starting in 2060 that would have destroyed the largest contiguous hardwood bottomland forest remaining in the Lower 48 states. The result would have been irreparable damage to fish, animals, birds and plant life along the river in Anderson and Cherokee Counties. Today's Supreme Court decision means that plans for Fastrill are now dead and we have won a tremendous battle against a city that refuses to save water by plugging leaks in its water distribution system, xeriscaping to save water usage and encouraging water conservation, as well as other actions that would provide far more water than was going to ever be available from Fastrill. Thanks are in order for everybody who wrote letters, sent e-mails, made phone calls, attended meetings or otherwise worked to prevent this travesty from becoming a reality. It is another environmental victory for us all, and will hopefully serve as a wake-up call to city managers who refuse to address the root causes of preventable problems. Click HERE for information Any DDRC member that participates in
any two TRPA river cleanups will receive a FREE DDRC T-SHIRT. In addition, 25 miles can be credited toward the 2009
"Most Miles Paddled" award for EACH cleanup. 2 cleanups = 50 miles. The more you clean the more you earn.
Any DDRC member that participates in any two TRPA river cleanups and one of either Trinity River Cleanups (tree removal or the Watermelon Cleanup) in preparation for TRC XIV, races for free in TRC XIV. What a deal, what a concept! Clean rivers, be a friend to the environment, get free stuff! Cleanups will be posted in the newsletter, on the website and in email reminders.
For more information about DDRC, or any questions about membership or paddling in general, please contact us.         |
Illegal Fences Blocking Access Along Texas Rivers More and more, our rights of access at state and federal highway river crossings are being denied by construction of illegal private fences. Recently, Kathy Smith and I encountered such fences blocking access to the San Marcos River on US Highway 90A in Gonzales County. Go to Texas Illegal Fences for what you can do and who you can contact to express your concerns. Paul Boling Succumbs  Paul Boling passed away on June 22, 2010, while riding his bicycle at White Rock Lake. A memorial service will be held for Paul on November 6, at Winfrey Point at White Rock Lake. Details will follow when available. Please keep Ann in your thoughts as she deals with this terrible tragedy in her life. We need your help! An emergency situation exists in our backyard and across the nation that we must address promptly, and time is of the essence! Natural gas well producers are using a technique called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" for short, that pumps water combined with over 500 highly toxic chemicals into wells to fracture the earth causing mini-earthquakes to release gas trapped in shale layers. This process started in the Barnett Shale formation of Johnson and Tarrant Counties where more than 10,000 such wells are in existence today. The process is now being used in 34 states.
Fracking has been directly linked to polluted and contaminated water wells, aquifirs, lakes, ponds and other water sources for human and animal consumption, as well as for agricultural irrigation. Many people have died as a result of this process, and many more are deathly ill because of it. The 2005 Energy Bill ramrodded through Congress by the Bush Administration specifically exempts gas well producers from having to comply with provisions of the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, and allows them to refuse disclosure of exactly what chemicals they are using for their process. Josh Fox has produced a documentary airing on HBO and On Demand (free of charge) that addresses this issue. The video is entitled "Gasland", and it is required viewing for anybody interested in knowing what is happening and what the dangers are for communities where this process is being used. The EPA is holding a public meeting seeking comments on regulating oil and gas industries on Monday, August 2, from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 PM and again from 6:00 - 10:00 PM, at Council Chamber of the Arlington Municipal Building, 101 W. Abram Street, Arlington, Texas. PLEASE view this critical documentary and then attend the meeting to express your concerns about "fracking" in close proximity to residences, schools, hospitals, livestock grazing lands, agricultural lands and other critical areas. This is one of the most serious threats facing Americans today! There are several options for submitting comments to EPA: Dr. Robert Puls, Nat'l Risk Management Research Lab, puls.robert@epa.gov Jeanne Briskin, EPA Office of Research and Development, briskin.jeanne@epa.gov A couple of critical Texas environmental issues are brewing, and your personal involvement is needed to help set the direction for where future environmental efforts lead us. Details are on the Environmental page and a subpage at the Current Texas Issues link. Join DDRC Today! Dues are just $20.00 per year (due in January or pro-rated for new members $20 to 6/30 $10 after 7/1) which includes a monthly newsletter of current trips, reports and events. You can join by completing the application for membership.
WE WANT YOUR HELP! These pages are a free riversport information resource. These are your pages. Please share your experiences, your trip reports, new web links, river conditions, etc. If you find any dead or changed links, let us know. What trips are happening? What paddling clinics are planned? Got a boat or some gear for sale? This is the place to let others know about it. For problems, suggestions or other matters relating to this web site, its function or contents please e-mail the webmaster.
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