Georgia Committee Meets Wednesday to Consider Paddling Rights

The House Study Committee on Navigable Streams and Related Matters will host a final meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 9 a.m. in Newnan Donald W. Nixon Centre for Performing and Visual Arts in Newnan, GA. The committee is charged with making recommendations to the full General Assembly about where Georgians should have the right to boat, fish and hunt on the state’s rivers and streams. If the committee adopts a narrow view of this right as they appear to be considering doing, the public could lose access to almost all whitewater paddling in the state that is not on public lands. 

American Whitewater, Georgia Canoeing Association, American Canoe Association, Georgia Rivers and the Tennessee Valley Canoe Club are urging lawmakers to preserve existing recreational river uses and protect the public’s ability to float down the state’s streams that are capable of being paddled. The right to float down small streams in boats has been part of Georgia’s common law since before statehood, and we contend that right continues today.  Critically, the legislature must protect this right of passage to protect Georgia’s record-setting tourism and outdoor recreation industry. These groups submitted a letter to the House study committee in October that addresses topics raised at the September meeting and urges the General Assembly to confirm and clarify the right of passage on Georgia’s floatable streams. Read the letter here. 

Attend the Meeting: Paddlers are encouraged to attend the meeting and speak before the committee during the public comment portion of the agenda. Please share why public access on all streams is important to you, and why Georgia should protect existing uses on our rivers and streams. Sign up to speak before the committee by emailing Brock Perry at brock.perry@house.ga.gov.

Contact Your State Legislators: Let them know that you live and work in Georgia in part because of access to the State’s whitewater rivers, and that maintaining public access to rivers is an important value that you and your family hold. Ask them to contact their colleagues on the Georgia House Study Committee on Navigable Streams seeking support for paddling all rivers and streams in Georgia that are capable of being recreationally navigated. Take action here. 

Support This Work: Our work to protect the right to float rivers in Georgia is 100% funded by membership and donations from river enthusiasts. Please consider joining or renewing your membership here, or make an additional contribution via our donation page. 

---

Meeting #3 Agenda: Utilizing Mechanisms to Increase Public Access to Waterways: Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 9 a.m. in Newnan Donald W. Nixon Centre for Performing and Visual Arts in Newnan, GA.

• Welcome & Introductions by Host & Local Officials (approx. 30-45 minutes)

• South Georgia Waterways Perspective (45 min.; holdover from cancelled Waycross meeting)

• Chattahoochee Bend State Park: Creation and Future (30 minutes)

• McIntosh Reserve: Public/Private/Nonprofit Collaboration (45 minutes)

• Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program & Conservation/Land Trusts (45 minutes)

Lunch

• Public Comment (5 minutes per speaker + Q&A)*

• Discussion by Committee Members