Whitewater News

Deschutes River Turns Deadly for Bend Family
July 10, 2006

A fun family outing turned deadly on the Deschutes River in Bend when a family drifted into treacherous waters.

Young-Sook Kuga, 48, was pronounced dead at the scene after she was trapped in the rapids of the dam at the Colorado Avenue Bridge.

On Sunday, July 9, the family of 10 was traveling in two rafts and two inner tubes. Lacey Fertello, 21, was rafting with two friends just behind the group, she says the family didn’t appear to see the warning signs and they weren’t alone.

SOURCE: www.bendweekly.com

Swift-water rescue team gears up for summer
July 5, 2005

On Feb. 22, 2003, flooding on the North Fork of the Roanoke River washed Brian Quesenberry's pickup from a bridge on North Fork Road. A good Samaritan used a boat to pull the 30-year-old from the river.

Later in the afternoon, Quesenberry and his father, Stewart Quesenberry, returned with a small boat to salvage Brian Quesenberry's rifle from the truck. The boat overturned, and the men held onto trees rising out of the swollen river while local rescue personnel made unsuccessful attempts to save them from the fast currents.

SOURCE: www.roanoke.com

Governor Kulongoski Signs Legislation to Enhance Passenger Safety on Commercial Whitewater Trips
July 22, 2005

Senate Bill 579 requires new training standards for guides; outfitters and guides to equip boats with throw bags; passengers to wear personal floatation devices

(Salem, OR) –Gov. Ted Kulongoski  today signed into law a bill to strengthen boat safety requirements for passengers on commercial whitewater trips. He was joined by the family of Chapin Clark, the State Marine Board, representatives from the Guides and Packers Association and State Legislators.

The bill had been championed by the Clark family in honor of Chapin Clark, former professor and Dean of the University of Oregon, School of Law, who lost his life in a boating accident during a guided fishing trip in October 2002.

Julia Clark, Chapin’s daughter, and attorney Don Corson, of Eugene, had initiated the legislation and worked with lawmakers to push it through the legislature.

“Chapin Clark was an outstanding teacher who also deeply loved Oregon and its natural environment,” Gov. Kulongoski said. “His untimely death has become the catalyst for teaching us once again – only this time it is about the value and purpose of water safety.”

The bill requires all guides and their passengers to wear a personal flotation device in Class III or higher rapids and that every non-motorized guide boat under the direct operation of a guide in Class III and higher whitewater carry a rescue throw bag.

The bill also imposes a new certification requirement for outfitters and guides operating in Class III and higher to require that all persons physically providing the boating services have completed at least one trip on the rivers they run in a non-motorized boat; and that the guides have been trained in the following: