Boating groups seek 'right to float' Georgia’s small rivers, streams

ATHENS — After decades of losing public access to popular boating destinations, a coalition of recreational boating and river conservation groups is seeking to confirm the “right to float” all of Georgia’s rivers and streams in this year’s General Assembly session.

Representatives of Georgia River Network, Georgia Canoeing Association, American Whitewater and American Canoe Association, as well as individual citizens and businesses, requested the House Judiciary Committee amend HB 1172, a bill clarifying boating, fishing and hunting rights on Georgia’s larger “navigable” streams, with language designed to enshrine in Georgia law the right to boat on all of the state’s rivers and streams.