May 18, 2006
GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA - American Whitewater, the nation’s leading non-profit whitewater river conservation organization, filed suit today to restore the public’s ability to paddle the headwaters region of the 52-mile Wild and Scenic Chattooga River. The American Canoe Association, Georgia Canoeing Association, Atlanta Whitewater Club, Western Carolina Paddlers, and the Foothills Paddling Club, along with three individuals, are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Click here for full May 18th Press Release

February 9, 2007 UPDATE: Yesterday, a group of river paddling organizations and individuals withdrew their appeal of a federal court decision involving canoeing and kayaking access on the Upper Chattooga Wild and Scenic River in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

The parties originally filed suit against the US Forest Service in 2006, based on a 2005 administrative appeal decision which found that a 30 year old ban on paddling the river was unjustified and violated laws including both the Wilderness Act and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, yet allowed the ban to continue throughout a two year study period.

A federal district court in Georgia dismissed the parties’ lawsuit at the outset, reasoning that the federal courts should not intervene until the Forest Service completes its two-year study and enters a new management decision. The court order assured the plaintiffs that “the courts will be open and willing to review their complaints” upon the issuance of a new management decision, expected in the fall of 2007.

Paul Sanford, Stewardship and Policy Director for the American Canoe Association, says paddling organizations are willing to go to court again to gain access to the Chattooga, but hopes that will not be necessary. “We expect Forest Service managers to base their decisions on science, and to comply with the agency’s own regulations. Those regulations require the agency to manage recreation appropriately, and to protect the river from harm. If the Forest Service does so, a new lawsuit will not be necessary.”

“By dismissing our lawsuit as untimely, the district court judge gave the Forest Service one more chance to do the right thing,” said American Whitewater’s Executive Director, Mark Singleton. “By withdrawing our appeal, we are giving them that same chance. We are setting aside our legal challenge so that we can work together with the Forest Service to bring nationally consistent river management to the Chattooga, which includes allowing paddling, for the first time in over thirty years.”

Despite dismissal of their lawsuit and the withdrawal of their appeal, American Whitewater and their co-plaintiffs view the case as a success. Kevin Colburn, AW’s National Stewardship Director, explains: “Our lawsuit triggered the first environmental review of recreational user capacity on the Chattooga River in more than thirty years. The Forest Service now has the data it needs to appropriately manage hiking, camping, fishing, paddling, and other wilderness-compliant uses of the river corridor. We will now work with the Forest Service to make sure their new plan allows appropriate recreational enjoyment of this national treasure, while maintaining protections for the river.”

The US Forest Service plans to issue a report containing the results of the user capacity analysis this spring, followed by a public process aimed at helping them create a new management plan by this fall.

October 6, 2006 UPDATE: On Friday, October 6th, 2006, Senior United States District Judge William C. O’Kelley dismissed a lawsuit against the US Forest Service regarding a ban on canoeing and kayaking down the upper Chattooga River. The plaintiffs, a group noncommercial whitewater paddling groups and individuals led by American Whitewater, are surprised and disappointed by the decision and will appeal immediately.

In the dismissal the judge found that paddlers will not have adequate standing to file a lawsuit until a new final decision is reached on the management of the Chattooga River, expected sometime in the next 5 years.

Much of the dismissal suggests that paddlers should have appealed the 1985 plan which the USFS has been using to manage the river since the 2004 plan was found to be inadequate upon review. Paradoxically however, the Judge notes that “A challenge to the 1985 plan would be barred by the statute of limitations.” Based on the Judge’s decision, paddlers would have to wait several years for a new decision, and decide at that time if the decision is valid or worthy of administrative and legal appeal.

In a related finding in the same document, the Judge ruled that the issue is not ripe or fit for review in part because any decision would be shortly overturned by the new USFS decision based on the ongoing user capacity analysis.

Thus, the Judge’s decision allows the US Forest Service to continue their admitted violations of the Wilderness Act and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act while they study and reassess the illegal action for another 1-5 years – after breaking the same laws for the past 30 years.

The plaintiffs, representing people negatively impacted by the arbitrary ban on floating down a federally owned and managed river will promptly appeal this decision.

Mark Singleton, Executive Director of American Whitewater, noted: “Any court decision that allows the law to be broken without recourse must surely be a faulty decision. We are confident that through appealing this decision we can finally bring nationally consistent management to the Chattooga River.”

The Chattooga River is the only river the USFS manages that is banned to boating in the entire nation, and was protected by Congress specifically for enjoyment by canoe, kayak, and raft. Both the Wilderness Act and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act protect the public’s right to float down the Chattooga River.