In the past few years, several hundred thousand people have splashed into rivers in
the northeast in inflatable rafts. Many of these adventurers were transported by com-
mercial outfitters through violent and dangerous whitewater. As more and more peo-
ple seek float trips or furious rapids, canoe outfitters, outdoorsmen, and small
businessmen have been able to take advantage of a rapidly growing market by offer-
ing a new service with only a limited capital investment. Rapid growth of commer-
cial rafting has also presented river recreation management problems to states, and
management studies are now under way in West Virginia and Pennsylvania to help
officials cope with increasing numbers of rafters.

This article analyzes the factors affecting the volume of commercial rafting in
the northeast (West Virginia to Maine), and reviews the major management considera-
tions resulting from high volumes of rafting traffic. Rafting in the northeast has
not been studied in any comprehensive way, and yet conflict situations arising from
large-scale rafting are now beginning to face recreation and natural resource agencies.
Hence, an overview of the activity and its effects is needed, especially considering
the prevalence of rafting on scenic rivers in primitive woodland environments.

The authors are with Abt Associates, a social science research firm in Cambridge, Massa-
chusetts 02138.

In the past few years, several hundred thousand people have splashed into rivers in the northeast in inflatable rafts.

EXTENT & NATURE OF RAFTING

In the northeastern United States rafting rivers fall into three use categories. Those rivers which offer violent whitewater and which regularly provide recreation for a large number of persons are adventure rivers. A trip down one of these rivers takes from a half-day to two days, depending upon the availability of whitewater and the demand for short or long trips. Most trips typically take six to eight hours, including launching time and breaks. Class IV and V rapids and sometimes Class VI rapids are present on adventure rivers, and these provide the excitement people are looking for. Adventure rivers in the northeast are the Cheat, New, and Gauley in West Virginia; the Youghiogheny and Lehigh in Pennsylvania; the Indian-Hudson in New York; and the Kennebec and West Branch of the Penobscot in Maine.

In contrast, family rafting rivers usually offer half-day trips on rivers that include little violent whitewater; Class II and III rapids generally are the most difficult encountered. These float trips can be enjoyed by children and older people. They are offered commercially on the Shenandoah in West Virginia and on the Sacandaga in New York. In addition, float trips are offered on the Lehigh during low flow in the summer months and on the upper part of the New River in West Virginia.

Occasional use rivers typically have violent whitewater but are rafted only a few times per year. These include the Moose River in New York, the West River in Vermont, the Dead River (Kennebec watershed) in Maine, the Tygart and Greenbrier rivers in West Virginia, Pine Creek in Pennsylvania, and the Upper Youghiogheny in Maryland, among others. These rivers may have only a few weeks of suitable flow for rafting, so they are not heavily used. Some may also be potential candidates for adventure rivers as demand for rafting increases and as operators become more familiar with navigating them.

Northeastern rafting provides two very different experiences for the recreationist. One is the excitement of paddling through violent rapids and of holding onto the raft while negotiating difficult whitewater. This activity demands the full attention of the rafter for successful navigation. But in quieter stretches of river or on the shore, the scenic aspects of the trip become dominant. The riverscape is typically primitive, having only a few signs of human activity such as roads, bridges, an occasional town or settlement, and power lines. Most of the view is of water, forest, gorges, hills, or mountains. Thus, the views that one may have on a rafting trip range from unbroken forest, mountains, or a gorge to occasional pockets of commerce or transportation. The greatest aesthetic intrusion is likely to be strip mines.

For the expert, adventure rivers, with their Class IV, V and VI rapids, can definitely provide a challenge.

Estimating the quantity of passengers carried by commercial outfitters on most of these rivers is quite difficult. Except in a few cases where passengers have to pass through checkpoints or are otherwise counted, estimates must be based on interviews of outfitters and state officials who may have no reliable records or who may be reluctant to divulge business information. Table 1 summarizes the estimates for the adventure rivers. Even as river management issues increase in importance, few good records are kept on this activity.

Flow: U.S. Geological Survey gauging station records for stations located as close as possible to rafted areas; upstream and downstream stations examined if none in rafted areas; data are from late 1970s.
Year first rafted commercially, months when rafting occurs, and proportion of passengers on weekends: interviews with outfitters, outfitters' brochures, and state officials in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Population: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1980 Census of Population and Housing Advance Reports for counties within 300 miles of the river, straight-line distance. Counties are included only if at least one-half their land
area is within 300 miles of the river. Canadian populations from Rand McNally Road Atlas.

Several factors bear upon the volume of passengers carried on the adventure and family rafting rivers. (Table 2)

• The availability of violent whitewater for adventure rafting. The average gradient
of the river can be used as a summary measure of the presence of whitewater.
The adventure rivers provide a steep gradient while the family rafting rivers offer a
gentler gradient. The New River, although having a rather modest gradient, makes
up for this with an impressive rate of discharge, often over 10,000 cubic feet per
second. Gradient is a crude measure of the presence of whitewater, however,
and more detailed descriptions of the rivers may be found in guides such as that by
William McGinnis (Whitewater Rafting, New York: Times Books, 1975); Bob
Burrell and Paul Davidson (Wildwater West Virginia, Ann Arbor: Thomas Press,
1975); and the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC River Guide, Volume I: Maine,
Boston: Appalachian Mountain Club, 1980) as well as in some outfitters' brochures.
The number of raftable days. Depending upon temperature and river flow, the raft-
ing season runs from one month to eight. In addition, the proportion of all passen-
gers rafting on weekends and holidays affects annual use. Weekend factors vary
from 50 percent to about 90 percent.

• The process of supplying increasing demand by bringing additional rivers into service.
This has tended to reduce congestion and has extended rafting to more rivers.
The Lehigh, New, and Youghiogheny have all been rafted since the 1960s. Other
rivers have been added since then to accommodate increasing demand.

• The presence of substitute rivers. If there are several rivers to choose from all close together, then demand may be spread over them, affecting the use levels of all of them. The extent of this effect is not known, however, given the scarcity of data on use.

• The population of the "market area" of the river. Since most rafters participate in this activity on weekends, a rough market area can be delineated around any river by a circle whose radius is 300 miles, about a one-day trip to the river. Some rafters come from farther away, of course, but 300 miles is a convenient distance for delimiting the primary service area of a river. Populations within 300 miles vary enormously—from about 10 million persons within a day's drive of the West Branch of the Penobscot to over 60 million within a day's drive of the Lehigh.

The rapid growth of commercial rafting has put pressure on the land along the rivers and generates conflicts with other recreation activities.