It is run only by experienced boaters with special equipment and a state permit. The Savage had previously been the site of the 1972 Olympic whitewater trials and continues to attract annual championship races. While the Potomac and its tributaries offer quality trout fisheries and whitewater boating opportunities in highly scenic natural settings, fishery declines in the lower Potomac have long been a source of concern. The 1993 oyster season for the Potomac was an all-time low. The effort includes improving fish passage to spawning areas in freshwater streams and abating water-quality problems.
Some improvements are already evident.
Largemouth bass returned to the upper estuary in 1976, and now national bass tournaments are held there. Rockfish populations have also rebounded. Aquatic vegetation has begun a comeback as well, spurring a chain reaction of water quality improvements. Recreation enthusiasm continues to run high however, as in 1990, the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, the bistate commission that manages the Potomac's tidewater fisheries up to the District of Columbia, issued about 29,000 recreational fishing permits. Federal and state agencies are not the only groups working to restore the Potomac watershed.