Boating enthusiasts and representatives of the recreational boating industry are asking Georgia lawmakers to separate the right to float along the state’s rivers and streams from hunting and fishing.
That was a central theme of the final meeting on Nov. 13 of a legislative study committee that has been grappling with how to guarantee Georgians access to the state’s navigable rivers and streams without violating private property rights.
“The right of passage is independent of laws relating to navigability,” Joe Cook, paddle coordinator for Georgia Rivers, a Freedom to Float Coalition member, told members of the study committee. “Common law guarantees the right to float.”
The right to float down Georgia waterways has been caught up in a debate over fishing rights that began early last year when a property owner on the Yellow Jacket Shoals portion of the Flint River banned fishing there and sued the state to enforce it.
The General Assembly responded with legislation codifying public fishing rights into state law. But that didn’t clear up confusion over which rivers and streams across the state are navigable and, thus, open to fishing and paddling, and which are off limits.
The House Study Committee on Navigable Streams has held several hearings this summer and fall to try to resolve that issue.
Front and center in the debate has been legislation House Majority Whip James Burchett, R-Waycross, introduced this year naming 64 rivers and creeks “presumed to be navigable.”
Burchett’s “list” bill has faced strong opposition. Representatives of the Freedom to Float Coalition argue that if adopted, the bill would ensure the public’s right to boat, fish, and hunt on just 5% of the state’s 70,000 miles of waterways.
Burchett has suggested that boaters wishing to float down streams that aren't on the list of navigable waterways seek permission from landowners along the banks of those streams.
But Janina Edwards, a kayaking instructor in DeKalb County, dismissed the idea of seeking out every property owner along a stream as unrealistic and even potentially dangerous.
“This idea could get me killed for trespassing or having to get permission from dozens of property owners,” she said. “If a person has a vessel and it will float on a Georgia waterway, we have a right to recreate on it.”
Opponents of limiting access to the state’s rivers and streams also make an economic argument. Boating and fishing generated $1.1 billion in economic activity in 2022, and 70 small businesses offered canoe, kayak, tube, raft, and paddleboard rentals and hundreds of independent fishing guides, depending on access to Georgia waterways.
The study committee has until Dec. 1 to make recommendations for the full House to consider during the 2025 General Assembly session, which starts in January.