Sent on 11/4/17

To: IDNR & Governor Rauner & Senator Pam Althoff

Chicago Whitewater Association (CWA) would like to thank the State for all the support for the paddling community in Illinois. We appreciate all your hard work. We also appreciate the removal of registration for human powered crafts starting June 2018. This is very helpful for many who have multiple boats that they don’t use yearly. We have 20 boats used for teaching and it would be very expensive for a small non-profit organization like ours to be able to afford licensing all the boats for 3 years when many never get used during the year. Thank You!!

CWA has a 40 year history and have over 100 members in Chicagoland. CWA would like to make your office aware that CWA has voted to remove its participation with the Illinois Paddling Council under its current administration. It has been confirmed that the IPC reached out to State Rep Laura Fine regarding the recent Water Usage Stamp registration. Sigrid Pilgrim did not consult with paddlers, other state paddling clubs or even current IPC board members. We have CWA board members on the IPC board and we were completely blindsided by IPCs involvement with the recent legislation until we saw a letter from Sigrid Pilgrim. We have requested details from IPC as to the events that led to the legislation and any participation from any paddling club or IPC board involvement. IPC has refused to provide CWA any details, therefore CWA has voted that IPC no longer represents CWA paddlers in Illinois.  

The CWA members would like to remain informed and provide input regarding state legislation that the state or other paddling groups may be contemplating that can directly affect us as paddlers in Illinois.

Once again thanks for all you do!

Best,