03/22/2024
With just a few days left in the 2024 General Assembly session, there's both good news and bad news for those wanting to protect our freedom to float.
👍️ The good news is that efforts to codify a list of navigable streams, as HB 1397 attempted to do, have died.
👎️ The bad news is HB 1172, introduced to clarify boating, fishing and hunting rights on navigable streams, is still in play.
The vague language in HB 1172 would allow property owners (who can trace their land title back to a pre-1863 state or crown grant) the ability to prohibit boaters, anglers and hunters from stopping in the stream bed of a navigable river. Anglers wouldn't be able to anchor or wade in the water; boaters wouldn't be able to stop on a rock and scout a shoal or rapid.
Rather than offering clarity, HB 1172 instead provides ambiguity and confusion that gives deference to property owners rather than river users.
🚫 Urge your state senator to vote NO on HB 1172.
Take action and contact your state senators: garivers.org/protect-the-freedom-to-float-action-hb1172/ #/413/
Follow updates on our work to protect the freedom to float: garivers.org/protect-our-freedom-to-float-georgia-rivers/"
