Friends of the Cheat Celebrates 20th Anniversary

American Whitewater congratulates Friends of the Cheat as it celebrates its 20^th anniversary at the annual Cheat River Festival on May 3^rd. The organization, founded by a group of whitewater paddlers and local residents, has been a driving force in the river’s rapidly improving water quality. The river, which was badly polluted when the group was founded, recently passed a significant milestone: the lower 26 miles of the Cheat River main were removed from the state’s list of acid-impaired waters in 2012! In addition, FOC maintains four paddling access areas on the Cheat and Big Sandy Rivers. American Whitewater worked closely with FOC in developing these sites. For information on how to join the celebration at CheatFest use this link: http://www.cheat.org/our-work/cheat-river-festival/.