"Invasive plants are growing problem on Texas waters"

"As it has too many times in Texas, it took just one mistake - a single ill-considered, irresponsible action - to doom a wonderful little fishing and waterfowling Garden of Eden. And it involved a metaphoric snake in the person of whoever introduced the first sprig of giant salvinia to the oxbow lake and adjacent swampy/wetlands complex off the lower Trinity River.  Within a month or two after we noticed the first floating fist-size clumps of a strange plant with leaves that looked like they were covered with Velcro, almost every inch of open water was covered with a carpet of plants so thick it was impossible to get a boat, much less a fishing lure, through the mess..."

"Shut Up and Paddle"

"What makes The Texas Water Safari the world’s toughest canoe race? 260 miles of non-stop paddling? Triple-digit heat? Alligators? Snakes? Portaging mile-long logjams? A wild and unpredictable bay? Hallucinations from sleep deprivation? Hell, that’s just naming a few. And the only way to finish in less than 100 hours is to shut up and paddle..."

"Rivers of Song"

"In many ways, rivers define Texas.  They form our borders, and our cities were founded on them.  Our songs celebrate them.  Songs about Texas rivers have flowed melodically across the state for generations.  In fact, the first known English-language song written in Texas was a river song..."

"The Boys in the Boat"

"'The Boys in the Boat' celebrates the 1936 U.S. men’s Olympic eight-oar rowing team—nine working class boys who stormed the rowing world, transformed the sport, and galvanized the attention of millions of Americans. The sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers from the American West, the boys took on and defeated successive echelons of privilege and power. They vanquished the sons of bankers and senators rowing for elite eastern universities. They defeated the sons of British aristocrats rowing for Oxford and Cambridge. And finally, in an extraordinary race in Berlin they stunned the Aryan sons of the Nazi state as they rowed for gold in front of Adolf Hitler..."

"Douglas Tompkins, 72, North Face Founder, Dies in Kayaking Accident"

"Douglas Tompkins, a noted conservationist and founder of the North Face and Esprit clothing brands, died after a kayaking accident in the Patagonia region of southern Chile.  He was 72.  His death was confirmed by the hospital, where Mr. Tompkins was flown with severe hypothermia..."

"Artists Gone Wild: Réal Bérard"

"He’s a local treasure, mapping a labyrinth of canoe routes that crisscross Manitoba, and inspiring countless paddlers to discover the wilderness via river byways.  Many consider Réal Bérard’s hand-drawn maps to be works of art. Not intended as navigational charts, each is annotated with Be´rard’s illustrations, old trapper songs, botanical notes, recipes, historic anecdotes, biographies, as well as markings for every waterfall, rapid and portage—measured out in paces like the Voyageurs—along Manitoba’s rivers..."

"Kirk Wipper: The Passion of the Collector"

"Kirk Wipper is like a firefly—visibly shining, but hard to catch...  Kirk modestly takes advantage of every canoeing opportunity that his status as the world’s greatest canoe collector brings him. Though his name is inextricably linked to a museum collection, there’s nothing hushed or sedate about Kirk’s love of canoeing. In the past 10 years he has found enough time away from festivals and events to canoe—or raft—some of North America’s great rivers..."

"Hole found in San Jacinto Waste Pit cover"

"A dive team earlier this month found a large hole in the structure meant to contain toxic waste at the San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund Site, according to an Environmental Protection Agency spokesman. The EPA directed the companies responsible for the waste to submit a repair plan for the protective cap that would include confirmation sampling to make sure no toxic materials were emitted through the hole in the structure.  The waste comes from a Pasadena paper mill that 50 years ago deposited its waste along the San Jacinto River..."