What It Means to Be A Partner
The Northwest Indiana Paddling Association (NWIPA) is a 100% volunteer 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization that has accomplished some remarkable things since we began in 2009. We wouldn't be able to accomplish any of these things without building strong partnerships with remarkable organizations and individuals that we collaborate with. Some of these include regional and national partnerships with groups such as Shirley Heinze Land Trust, Save the Dunes, National Park Service, Friends of Indiana Dunes, Michigan City, Hobart, Hammond, the American Canoe Association, Jasper Co. Tourism, Newton Co. Parks Board, the Izaak Walton League, the Kankakee and Yellow River Development Commission, Causes for Change International, LaPorte Co. Soil and Water Conservation District, Everglades of the North, REI, Indiana Dunes Tourism, South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority, NiSource, Burns Harbor, LaPorte Parks, Lake Station Parks & Rec., LaPorte County Conservation Trust, Porter Co. Parks, City of Hobart, and countless others that have led to making NW Indiana a premier destination for paddling. If you have an idea for a project or partnership, please contact NWIPA's president..
Some of our more notable accomplishments include:
Spearheading the creation of the Lake Michigan National Water Trail;
Creation of more universally accessible ADA kayak launches than any place in the world in a given geographic area;
Spearheading the creation of Kankakee River National Water Trail;
Organization of a nationally renowned paddling community in NW Indiana that helps put forth a regional agenda for the advancement of paddling;
Organization of hundreds of community paddling events over the past decade of existence that have introduced paddling to tens of thousands of adults and youth;
Helping to catalyze efforts between regional conservation organizations which have helped lead to thousands of acres of natural areas preserved and permanently protected while providing public access along the East Branch of the Little Calumet River;
Organization of 100+ canoeing and kayaking educational programs that helps to provide instruction to thousands of new paddlers who have learned necessary skills to paddle safely;
Provide much needed ongoing stewardship opening hundreds of log jams and cleaning up thousands of pounds of garbage dumped into the East Branch of the Little Calumet River, Deep River, and Trail Creek;
Development of approximately 300 miles of new water trails in Northwest Indiana over the past decade;
Developed dozens of new public access points across Northwest Indiana;