UPDATE

In May 2022, we asked you to file comments on the Cispus River’s Copper Canyon take-out. You did and they worked! A formal complaint was filed with FERC and Lewis County PUD (the Licensee) responded to the complaint. The PUD noted they had heard from boaters and subsequently relocated the boulders to unblock the boat ramp. Thank you for taking the time to comment. Your voice makes a difference.

The new Copper Canyon take-out is open and nearing completion. It has a boat ramp, picnic shelter, picnic tables, trash receptacles, loop road parking, a gravel path to the river, and a large new upper parking lot.

The whitewater community has worked tirelessly for more than thirty years to make this public access user friendly and open to all water enthusiasts. The biggest win was gaining access through an agreement with a private landowner to cross their lands to this publicly owned facility. Maintaining access across the private land will be an ongoing concern; the landowner can close the gates at their sole discretion. Please respect the private lands and road that make this access possible.

The boating community continues to work on behalf of this access, as demonstrated by the attached letter to FERC. The current task is to get the PUD to accurately document their improvements. Unfortunately, the PUD has demonstrated in the past that undocumented improvements disappear and then we lose them.

Check out the event calendar and join WKC’s Copper Canyon Grand Reopening trip Saturday, May 13, 2023, and enjoy a beautiful class II+/III paddle. A barbeque is planned for after the trip on Saturday, supported in part by a donation from the Cispus Fund, a privately-run group supporting Cispus River access.

“It’s always sunny on the Cispus.”

Cheers,

WKC River Advocacy