Chattooga River – What Others are saying about boating the headwaters

Are you a Yahoo?

 

The recent editorial in the GeorgiaOutdoor News Editorial (Click Here) by Steve Burch seems to sum up thegeneral, and some what arrogant, attitude among the angling community. Mr.Burch suggests that the angler’s form of “reverent intensity” and respect forthe river is superior to a boater’s “irreverent and audacious” behavior. That youand I we are a “yahoo” who invades an angler’s river sanctuary like it was anamusement park ride. Yes we boat in small groups rather than alone for safetyreasons, a concept lost on many lone anglers wading in swift moving water.

 

When Don Kinser becomes a "kayaker" you can tellthe battle for opening up the Chattooga headwaters is really heating up.  Desperate measures for desperate times.  Upstate South Carolina‘slargest newspaper, the Greenville News carried thisarticle on the front of the metro section in their Sunday 6/8 edition. Art Shick, one of the main actors in the Trout Unlimitedopposition to self guided boating in the Chattooga headwaters shares his viewsare why we are not worthy of this wonderful river.

 

Buzz Williams of the Chattooga Conservancy opposes boatingon the headwaters of the Chattooga. He shared his views on “yahoo” boaters in arecent interview on Your Day, a public service program of ClemsonUniversity Radio Productions. Click here to listenas Buzz tells the state of SC that you are a “yahoo”, go straight to track 7for Buzz’s comments.

 

ClickHere to read what anglers are saying on the North Georgia Trout On-linewebsite forum.

 

Here are some excerpts from some recent emails flying aroundthe angling world:

 

“… fishermen in general are sick of all the boating on the Chattooga andwould like to see that use stopped on the entire river because of the currenthordes of people that not only essentially prevent fishing below 28, but thatovercrowd the river pushing those wanting a quieter experience upstream…”

 

“Wantingto open up the stretch above highway 28 now is viewed as a greedy grab for allof the river by an element that already has 3/4th of it…”

 

“…andhas not spent thousands of dollars and man hours doing conservation improvementprojects in the watershed as TU has.”

 

Here are some thoughts from an angler who says "I’m arabid trout fisherman and although I might never fish the Chattooga, I’d hateto think what permitting whitewater boating on that river would do to troutfishing…” He went on to say:

 

“…Considerhow much money the trout resource brings in: from swim fins and float tubes tofly rods and barbless hooks, to hackle and peacock herl to how-to books and filleting knives, from fly-tyingvices to gasoline for a pickup truck, from motel rooms to meals at a localrestaurant. Millions of dollars change hands simply because of trout. I won’teven go into how many people feed their families as employees of hatcheries.What about the money that students pay to a university to study ichthyology andrelated ecosystems?…”

 

“…Further,trout fishermen tend to ply their sport for a lifetime, passing the skill ontotheir children. Boys and girls share equally in their love for the sport andmany marriages include a husband-wife duo out on a stream, flicking theirhand-tied flies onto an eddy. Boaters spend money too but the amount of moneydoes not come close to what the trout resource brings in. (People will gladlypay big bucks to own a house through which a trout stream flows.)…”

 

Obviously your money just isn’t green enough to deserve theright to boat the Chattooga headwaters based on this logic. …or maybe it reallyis about money and influence after all?

 

But to be truly worthy of the right to boat on the Chattoogaheadwaters you need to build our own boats!

 

“…Forme, the term, "wild and scenic" implies a certain approach that isdifferent from pleasure boating. If the boaters in question built their own piroguesor keel boats in the fashion of Lewis and Clark, I’d have no argument havingthem on the river because they would have proved to my satisfaction that theywere intent on preserving the resource with a deep appreciation for what theriver was before the white man discovered it. If they built their own boats,wore authentic clothing, made their own knives, carried 19th century firearmswhich they crafted themselves — a parallel to a trout fisherman who wraps hisown rod, ties his own flies, feeds his family with his catch — then I wouldwelcome them onto the river because then they would understand that the riveris not something to be used, then discarded and disregarded until the nextfrantic rush to escape the big city.”

 

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