Re: [Paddlewise] Teenager drowns on Chatooga, retrieval efforts dangerous

From: Steve Cramer <cramer_at_coe.uga.edu>
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 10:04:29 -0400
Jackie Fenton wrote:
> 
> Bob Myers sent the below URL to me.  The LA Times newspaper article
> describes how a 16 year old girl was drowned on the Chatooga River
> where, after six weeks, her body still remains following several
> attempts to retrieve her body from the river.  
<snip>
> There is ongoing debate over whether
> or not the Forest Service has the legal right to alter the river
> to retrieve the body (according to Williams, the Wild and Scenic Rivers
> Act says the river shall not be altered and is concerned that this
> may set a precedent for altering the course of the river).
<snip>
> I'm passing this on to
> interested parties in South Carolina (or anyone else, for that matter)
> that might wish to write the Senator.  Other than this article, I have
> no more details.  If someone local to the area who happens to be
> knowledgeable of this incident finds that the information from this
> articles is not accurate, please post here (I'm somewhat skeptical when
> it comes to newspaper articles...).  Thanks.
> 
The article is consistent with local reports. Portadam brought in a
temporary dam, carried into the wilderness area by 30 convicts from a
local prison. Unfortunately, the attempt coincided with a couple of days
of rain, and the river rose too high to make it feasible. 

A major concern is that the attempt will create a greater hazard by
leaving bolts in the rocks, or moving a rock and creating a more
dangerous hole. This is a constant theme whenever there is a death on
the Chatooga (average is 1-2/year): the family of the deceased says "We
need to fix the hazard to prevent future deaths." The futility of this
should be obvious, especially to sea paddlers.

Steve
-- 
Test Scoring and Reporting Services
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-5593
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************
Received on Thu Jul 15 1999 - 07:01:07 PDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:10 PDT