ATHENS — A special House study committee tasked with determining where Georgians have the right to boat, fish and hunt on Georgia’s streams will hear from the public for the first time in a meeting scheduled Friday at Unicoi State Park near Helen.
The House Study Committee on Navigable Streams and Related Matters grew out of a legislative effort to name sections of some 64 streams and rivers in Georgia as “navigable” and thus open to the public for boating, fishing and hunting.
HB 1397, introduced in the most recent legislative session, was highly controversial and criticized by both river user groups and property owners. It never made it out of committee. Instead, legislators created a study committee to investigate the issue further. Had it been adopted, HB 1397 would have enshrined the public’s right to boat, fish and hunt on just 5% of the total stream and river miles in the state.
The study committee will examine aspects of navigable streams in this state and the issues surrounding their ownership, private and public rights of use and other related matters and may make recommendations for proposed legislation ahead of the 2025 legislative session.