HERE’S A BIG RIVER AROUND HERE SOMEWHERE …
or so says Dawson Ingram. He’s leading me through the sprawling maze of the old Langdale Mill in Valley, Alabama. The abandoned textiles complex sits right on the Chattahoochee—a major waterway that runs along the border with Georgia—but from where I stand all I can see are tall weeds and crumbling brick. Ingram works for electrical utility Georgia Power, which owns about 200 miles of Chattahoochee riverfront. “The Chattahoochee is Georgia’s greatest natural resource,” he says, unlocking a gate at the head of a gravel path. “Nearly three million people drink the water, and its dams generate about six percent of Georgia Power’s energy.” Sure, I think to myself as I step through the gate. But where is it?
Just as I’m beginning to question Ingram’s route, the trail opens up to reveal the river: a shimmering, lazy expanse about 200 feet across. Tall ash trees and alders lean out over the water, and lush willows crowd the banks across from the new boat ramp. It’s a pretty basic setup—just a floating alu- minum dock and a concrete causeway sloping into the water, where paddlers and motorboat pilots can safely pull ashore ahead of the dam that’s just downstream. Around here, it can be hard to reach or even catch a glimpse of the Chattahoochee, much less get boats on and off the water. Trails down to the riverbank are unmarked and typically cross private property; developed public access points are few and far between. But this modest boat ramp is one part of an ambitious plan to change that: the Chattahoochee Valley Blueway. Just as a greenway carves out a route for pedestrians and cyclists on land, a “blueway” provides a system of boat launches, portages, campgrounds, and riverside parks to make it safer and simpler to travel long distances on water. With help from The Trust for Public Land, locals hope the Chatta- hoochee Valley Blueway will one day draw boaters, paddlers, and anglers to explore the still-wild river—and breathe new life into once-industrial communities yet to find a replace- ment for their shuttered mills.
A “BLUEWAY” PROVIDES A SYSTEM OF BOAT LAUNCHES, PORTAGES, CAMPGROUNDS, AND RIVERSIDE PARKS
40 · LAND&PEOPLE · SPRING/SUMMER 2017
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