Canoecopia 2025
by Anthea Halpryn, IPC External Affairs Committee Chair
Canoecopia is the largest paddle sports convention in the Midwest. If you haven’t been, it’s a great weekend filled with all things paddle-related, from 100+ vendors on the expo floor to lots of opportunities to hear talks on topics from wilderness camping, paddle stroke instruction, detailed information about specific areas (Sylvania Wilderness, Great Lakes, etc) and just being around thousands of like-minded people.
The IPC always has a table in the foyer and we were excited to talk to hundreds of people, interested in paddling Illinois waterways, or curious about our low head dam simulator. We try to point people to places they may be less familiar with, such as Illinois’ only “Wild and Scenic” River, the Middle Fork near Danville, or our African American Heritage Water Trail on the Calumet. Illinois has a rich and robust river system, providing enjoyment in all areas of the State.
Scott Hays, IPC President said, “The dam simulator is our biggest ‘show stopper’, it always inspires curiosity in anyone happening by – which is a lot of people given our location by the main vendor entrance. I love helping people put the little model canoeist in a canoe in the calm upstream water then watch him go over the low head dam, capsize and then get trapped endlessly rolling in the hydraulic. It always impresses people, especially when I send in the little “lifeguard” diving in for a rescue and he gets trapped, too. People always walk away with a very vivid sense of the dangers of low head dams, which is the point of course.”
This year, 3 of the IPC Board Members, Anthea Halpryn, Christine Chabot, and James Tracy, took to the stage and presented a session titled “When a good trip goes wrong”, recounting a 126 mile trip on the Upper Iowa River, which ended in a river rescue and a kayak wrapped around a tree.
The session highlighted what went well, decisions that were made, and equipment you want to have in a crisis. The room was packed to capacity and the feedback from people was extremely positive, especially for discussing something that did not go as intended. Anthea said “it was a little scary to get up and share something that went wrong, with 150 strangers but we knew, even at the time of the incident, we wanted to use this story to share with others as a learning experience.”
We received a lot of interest in supporting House Bill 1873. “We had tons of questions about Illinois’ river access law and the status of our legislation. I had many lengthy conversations about that. I’m always glad to enlighten people about how backwards our river law actually is here in Illinois and what we’re doing to change it. “, remarked Scott. The bill clarifies that the citizens of Illinois will have access to paddle all navigable rivers and streams in Illinois. Under a questionable interpretation of navigability found in the Illinois Rivers, Lakes and Streams Act, 98% of all rivers in the state of Illinois are designated as “non-navigable” and are the property of the landowner that owns the land along that section of the river’s banks.
It was a wonderful weekend sharing the IPC’s mission with many people and we are already looking forward to next year’s convention.