The Canoe Cruisers Association is proud to announce that we have been selected as the 2019 American Canoe Association's Green Paddle Award Winner for Waterway Conservation.
We have been recognized with this award for our legal victory compelling the U.S. Coast Guard to ensure that there is no prohibition of reliable, predictable and continuous access to the Potomac waterways around the privately-owned members-only Trump National Golf Club. Only one award is presented annually, for "an outstanding contribution to paddlesport by protecting America's waterways".
The CCA lawsuit win is a result of two-plus years of hard work including over 600 supportive comments to the U.S. Coast Guard from CCA members and others who use that important stretch of the Potomac River. Our lawsuit and victory were covered in the Washington Post, New York Times, AP, USA Today, Bloomberg, Stars and Stripes, Outside Magazine, Canoe & Kayak, and local papers in almost every state. It was also mentioned through news outlets in Canada, France, India, Singapore, Malaysia, and many other countries in multiple languages.
Green Paddle Award past year winners include very effective and well-respected members of our national river community - we are honored to be among such an outstanding list of honorees.
Our legal victory - and this ACA Award - would not have been possible without the support and participation of our Board, many of our members, and our wider Potomac River family including Team River Runner, and Calleva. We are especially grateful to the nonprofit law organization Democracy Forward for representing us in court 'pro bono'.
In addition to ongoing efforts to protect the Potomac and other local waterways, CCA members lead several river trips each week, conduct low-cost kayak and canoe classes, promote and provide river safety training, and coordinate regular river cleanups and conservation events. It is also notable that CCA has hosted the annual Potomac Downriver Race since 1956, making it the nation’s second longest, continuously run river race.
The award ceremony was Saturday, October 5th at Shiplock Brewing Company in Richmond. Barb Brown, Miki Komlosh, and Kathleen Sengstock drove down to receive the award for CCA.