American Whitewater, The American Canoe Association, Georgia Canoeing Association, Atlanta Whitewater Club, Western Carolina Paddlers, and the Foothills Paddling Club filed suit to restore public access for paddling the headwaters region of the 52-mile Wild and Scenic Chattooga River. According to reports filed on American Whitewater’s website, the suit is in response to a recently-passed extension of the 1976 prohibition on “hand-powered floating” down the uppermost 21 miles of the Chattooga River handed down by the United States Forest Service.

In the suit, the paddling groups allege that the boating ban violates several federal laws including the Wilderness Act and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, both of which fully support the public’s ability to float rivers in protected wilderness areas.

According to court documents, American Whitewater also appealed the ban in 2004, making the same argument. Advocacy groups involved in the suit claim that the headwaters of the Chattooga are the only section of “Wild & Scenic River” on NFS land where paddling is prohibited. The current lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, seeks to prevent the USFS from implementing any further floating prohibition on the Chattooga headwaters.