Genesis: Chattahoochee River: Bush Head Shoals ReHab

You wanna’ do what? When?

Have you ever wondered how one of my ideas for a paddle trip or project got started? Let me take you behind the scenes and entertain you with this one. It’s impulsive and follows my footsteps in the paddling world.

Earlier this week I got a phone call from a local outfitter who operates near the McIntosh Reserve area in Carroll County, GA. The outfitter is a local river-guide and outfitter that rents kayaks and canoes on the Chattahoochee River south of Atlanta. The outfitter was calling about the Atlanta trash problem. Very few Atlanta residents ever notice all the trash in the local river and the volume of trash that they do see is a very small percentage of what gets washed downstream. Unfortunately, the outfitter and all of his paddle trip guests do see the vast amount of trash that enters a river from a metropolitan city…

The small, visible to Atlanta residents percentage is known as ‘floatables’ -since these items float. Things like car tires and glass bottles do not float, but you can still find tons of them along the river where the last heavy rain left them high and dry. As you paddle along the river bank, you will find literally thousands of sport balls! Tennis balls; soccer balls; basketballs; footballs and play balls of all types. Everything that floats or can be carried by a swift current -you’ll find it along the river. Remember, at times, the river is strong enough to send huge tree trunks crashing downstream, so it has no problem moving things that become waterlogged or don’t usually float too!

+50 miles downstream of Atlanta, the outfitter had seen enough. I imagined he was tired and embarrassed. Every time he and/or his guests paddled the Chattahoochee River, they saw amazing piles of Atlanta’s trash; caught by the branches of the trees that were either hanging over, or had fallen in, the river. These trees are aptly named ‘strainers’ for their ability to capture trash and paddlers alike! While venting his frustration to me over the phone, my problem solving mind was working and an idea was growing.

I knew that wherever there is a restriction in the river, something in the way of the current, there would be a build up of debris as the river is forced to slow down/go in a different direction. I also knew that there are several islands down-river of McIntosh Reserve, in the outfitter’s area, which would be a natural super-strainer for both flood debris and the daily trash. These wooded, river islands would make great places to either stop and have lunch on a day paddle, or primitive camp overnight. As they stand today (May 2009), the islands are an eye sore, yet they have great potential as a paddle trail asset. I have been actively developing these types of paddle trail/green-way opportunities for some time now and have a very good sense of the level of commitment required of the stakeholders, to create and maintain a solution. It starts with the right attitude and willingness to be responsive.

After a few minutes of listening, I listed my short list of possible solutions for the outfitter’s frustration: “…stay off the river; move; ignore it; or do something about it!”. I immediately suggested that in addition to the four river cleanups in the area over the next year that the outfitter had suggested; we fast forward to cleaning up one of the 5 islands and make it a show place and statement of what ‘we the people’ can do to make things better. I have been cleaning and clearing our local rivers of hazardous strainers and fallen trees for several years and this section of the Chattahoochee River really needed some help. Since, as I mentioned earlier, the outfitter had already decided to do four clean-ups in his area of the river, the idea of cleaning up one of the islands first was too good to pass up. Like most plans, we could continue talking about it, or get to making it happen. When I said, “Let’s do it this weekend, Saturday and Sunday”, the outfitter immediately responded with a “Yes”.

The following day, we combined our individual plans and the group e-mails were sent out. This was an impulsive plan, but a plan to do something in a productive way leading to the organization of future events for the area.  The first trip is in a few days.  It’s a good start.

[ADMIN: We will continue to add content related to this series as it is sent to us. We encourage you to participate in every way you can, paddlers and non-paddlers alike!]