Updated: Forest Service opens Chattooga headwaters to boaters
CASHIERS–The storied Chattooga River begins just south of Cashiers and ultimately gains a lot of steam, tumbling, then roaring, through some extraordinary backcountry before it arrives in the flatlands.
Most of the northernmost headwaters of the Chattooga are navigable by paddlers, but have been closed to them for 33 years. It’s a controversial issue.
The National Forest Service announced Thursday that the waters would be opened to paddlers.
Mark Singleton, of the influential Cullowhee-based American Whitewater organization, had this to say:
… I liked hearing the acting Sumter Forest Supervisor, Monica Schwalbach, state that the US Forest Service has determined that boating on the upper Chattooga — even in unlimited numbers — “would have no impact on the resource.”
The devil is in the details. Their plan to allow boating calls for restriction on season, water level and section of river. How the Forest Service can manage all this with their limited number of boots on the ground is beyond me. I’m hoping for a big rail storm Dec 1, it’s time to go boating!
More here, from the Asheville Citizen-Times.
Tags: Asheville Citizen Times, chattooga river, forest service
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