Final Study Committee Meeting on Navigable Streams

Legislative committee hints at adopting policies that could stifle small businesses and chill Georgia’s outdoor recreation and tourism industry

ATHENS, GA, October 30, 2024 –The special House Study Committee on Navigable Streams organized to determine where Georgians should have the right to boat, fish and hunt on Georgia’s streams has thus far hinted at taking a narrow view of these rights. The stance could spell doom for many small businesses and have a chilling effect on Georgia’s record-setting tourism industry, according to outdoor recreation advocates. 

One proposal put forth during the 2024 legislative session and referenced in committee documents would ensure the public’s right to boat, fish and hunt on just 5 percent of the some 70,000 miles of streams and rivers in Georgia. 

“Public access to Georgia’s rivers and streams is crucial to sustaining Georgia’s outdoor recreation economy, ” said Amanda Dyson Thornton, executive director of the Georgia Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus during the committee’s Sept. 20 meeting in Helen. 

But at that meeting, committee members balked at suggestions that the public should have the right to float down small streams in canoes, kayaks, rafts and other small vessels. 

Rep. James Burchett (R-Waycross), who sits on the Navigable Streams Study Committee and authored the legislative proposal guaranteeing public access to just 5 percent of Georgia’s streams, cited the state’s 1863 definition of “navigable” streams to assert that the public has no right to float down the state’s small streams. 

“In navigable water you have the right to hunt, fish and pass,” Burchett said at the Sept. 20 committee meeting.. “You can float in non-navigable water if you have permission from the landowner.” 

Some legislators have previously asserted that to float down small but popular outdoor recreation streams like South Chickamauga Creek in Catoosa County or Ebenezer Creek in Effingham County kayakers should first seek permission from every landowner along those creeks. 

“That’s an untenable policy and one that could have devastating impacts to small businesses that operate canoe and kayak liveries along these streams. It alsocontradicts Georgia’s long-standing legal tradition that protects boating passage on small streams,” said Suzanne Welander, American Whitewater spokesperson and author of Canoeing and Kayaking Georgia, a comprehensive guide to the state’s paddling destinations. 

The Freedom to Float Coalition, consisting of Georgia Canoeing Association, Georgia Rivers, the Tennessee Valley Canoe Club, American Whitewater and American Canoe Association in a recent letter submitted to the committee urged the members to recognize and reaffirm the public’s common law “right of passage” to boat down Georgia’s streams. 

“The right of common passage is firmly grounded in Georgia law and has governed the public use of waterways since prior to statehood. Georgia’s rivers and streams served as the state’s first public highways and unfettered passage down them was critical to all citizens. Today, recreational use of these rivers and streams remains equally important to our state’s growth and economic development,” wrote Georgia Rivers Executive Director Rena Ann Peck in the letter. 

“The state’s 1863 definition of navigable streams often cited by legislators did nothing to change the common law right of passage which has been reaffirmed by courts and the state legislature throughout Georgia’s history,” said Kasey Sturm, an attorney representing Georgia Rivers, “This notion that riparian property owners on small streams have the right to stop the public from floating down them is a recent construct and is not supported by the state’s legal history on this issue.” 

The committee is set to hold its final meeting Nov. 13 beginning at 9 a.m. at the Donald W. Nixon Centre for Performing & Visual Arts in Newnan. The meeting is open to the public and there will be an opportunity for members of the public to provide testimony before the committee. The committee’s recommendations could have far-reaching impacts to the state’s tourism-based economy. 

In 2023, the state welcomed a record 171 million visitors. Those visitors generated $79.7 billion in total economic impact and supported more than 430,000 jobs. In 2022, outdoor recreation accounted for 2.1 percent of Georgia’s gross domestic product; boating and fishing alone generated $1.1 billion in economic activity. Some 70 small businesses offering canoe, kayak, tube, raft and paddleboard rentals, and hundreds of independent fishing guides depend on access to the state’s network of rivers and streams. Additionally, three Georgia-based companies manufacture kayaks. Streams suitable for boating in small recreational watercraft can be found in 96 percent of Georgia’s 159 counties; local governments have invested at least $40 million in river recreation-related projects during the past decade, and many have adopted resolutions recognizing water trails and establishing public easements for passage on these waterways. 

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The Freedom to Float Coalition

Georgia Rivers, formerly known as Georgia River Network, is a statewide non-profit river advocacy group with the mission to connect people with and protect Georgia’s rivers. GR is GA DNR’s non-profit river recreation partner coordinating the statewide water trails program and created the Georgia River Guide free mobile app. 

American Whitewater is a national non-profit river conservation organization with the mission to protect and restore America’s whitewater rivers and to enhance opportunities to enjoy them safely. 

American Canoe Association is a national non-profit organization that serves the broader paddling public by providing educational programs, supporting stewardship initiatives that affect paddlers and offering competition opportunities for athletes of all abilities. 

Georgia Canoeing Association is a non-profit organization that promotes public river access, boating safety and canoeing and kayaking opportunities across the state. 

Tennessee Valley Canoe Club is a 501(c)(7) organization based in Chattanooga/North Georgia that brings together a diverse population of people who are interested in canoeing, kayaking, and related activities; to increase the knowledge, safety, and appreciation of paddle sports; and to support conservation and preservation of recreational waterways.

For more information contact:

Suzanne Welander, 404-423-4852, suzanne.welander@gmail.com

Rena Ann Peck, Executive Director, Georgia Rivers, 404-395-6250, rena@garivers.org 

Kasey Sturm, Weissman Law, 404-926-4630, kaseys@weissman.law

Joe Cook, Georgia Rivers, 706-409-0128, joe@garivers.org

Ebenezer Creek, recognized as a “state scenic river” and a popular tourist destination in Effingham County, could be at risk of being closed to the public if the Georgia General Assembly adopts a narrow view of where the public has a right to boat on the state’s streams.