The holidays are upon us and why not treat your friends and family to the gift of adventure this year! Memories of a river trip will last a lifetime and from bluegrass trips to wine tasting trips there is something for everyone! ECHO offers gift certificates for use on any of our trips. They are available in any dollar amount up to the entire cost of the trip of your choice and can be mailed to you or your loved one. Purchase before December 22 and receive 10% off the face value!

Gift certificates provide an excellent opportunity to gather your friends and family for a river adventure. ECHO trips are fabulous for special occasions, such as family reunions, bachelor parties, anniversaries or birthdays. Let them know of the adventures that await them this summer with an ECHO gift certificate!

Happy Holidays from the entire ECHO staff!

After running ECHO for 36 years, owners Dick Linford and Joe Daly are slowing down. Not disappearing, mind you. Just slowing down. Thanks to computers, phones, and instant messaging Joe will work from his home in Berkeley, California and Dick will work from his new home in Bend, Oregon. Sadly for all of us, Sue Kingsbury and Sadie (the brains behind the whole operation) are retiring. Sue will continue to work on a part time basis and promises to make a guest appearance at new office.

Zach Collier is our new general manager. Zach earned a degree in mechanical engineering from UC Davis in 1996 and an MS in the same from Stanford in 1998. He started guiding for ECHO in 1998. He managed our Tuolumne operation for four years, and ran a sweep rig in Idaho for four years. He spent most of his winters traveling in South America and Asia, and teaching high school math and community college engineering. He has worked in the ECHO office for the past three winters. Each year he has learned more about rafting and ECHO, and has convinced Dick, Joe and Sue that he can run the company. In fact, we know that he is bringing new energy and enthusiasm to the company.

Last year we had a trial run where Zach lived and worked in the town of Hood River, Oregon. It was a success. So we’re moving the ECHO World Headquarters there from Oakland where it’s been for the past 36 years.

Our new office will be in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge and is close to many nearby whitewater rivers including the Class IV White Salmon River. The new location is also geographically between both Rogue River and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

So next month when you call us at (800) 652-3246, we’ll be answering your call in beautiful Hood River. If you’re ever in town, stop by and say hi!

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act is turning 40 this year. Here at ECHO, we celebrate the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act because it provides unparalleled protection for both the Middle Fork of the Salmon River and the Rogue River. In fact, the Middle Fork and the Rogue were two of the original eight “charter” rivers designated by Congress when they signed the act on October 2, 1968. The Act declares:

“It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States that certain selected rivers of the Nation which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Congress declares that the established national policy of dams and other construction at appropriate sections of the rivers of the United States needs to be complemented by a policy that would preserve other selected rivers or sections thereof in their free-flowing condition to protect the water quality of such rivers and to fulfill other vital national conservation purposes.”

The original eight Wild and Scenic Rivers are Middle Fork of the Salmon and the Clearwater in Idaho, the Wolf in Wisconsin, the Eleven Point in Missouri, the Middle Fork of the Feather in California, the Rio Grande in New Mexico, the Rogue in Oregon, and the St Croix in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Today there are more than 165 rivers and over 11,000 river miles protected by the Act.

In order to be designated as a Wild and Scenic River, a section of the river needs to be “free flowing” and demonstrate “outstandingly remarkable values” such as scenery, geology, fish and wildlife, historic, or other similar value. Rivers can either be designated by an Act of Congress or by the Secretary of the Interior.

The main purpose of the Act is to protect the free flowing character of America’s rivers by protecting them from dams and water diversions that currently affect most rivers in our country. In addition, every river in the system is managed to protect the “outstandingly remarkable values” for which it was designated by a federal agency such as the Forest Service or BLM. The Act states:

“Each component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System shall be administered in such manner as to protect and enhance the values which caused it to be included without . . . limiting other uses that do not substantially interfere with public use and enjoyment of these values.”

Basically the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act provides unwavering protection for the rivers we run. Thank you Senator Frank Church!