Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the council's first executive director and a recipient of multiple Emory University degrees,
collaborated with state resource managers and university scientists like Wharton and Eu-
gene P. Odum to make recommendations on what “natural areas” the state should consider
protecting. Hanie maintained a skeleton staff of volunteers and academic scientists who
also developed policy and legislative tools such as the Georgia Scenic Rivers Act (1969).
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If the Georgia Natural Areas Council championed the Chattooga River as a prime ex-
ample of a
state
natural area worthy of protection, a second institution, the Georgia Con-
servancy, molded opinion on behalf of the river as an irreplaceable
national
resource. The
Georgia Conservancy played an important role as a mechanism for change during the Chat-
tooga's wild and scenic river study phase and campaign. James A. Mackay—a former
City of Decatur legislator and member of Congress—served as the founding president for
the Atlanta-based nonprofit Georgia Conservancy in 1967, an organization modeled after
the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (established in 1932) and the nationally oriented
educational organization, and though the organization did purchase land—the first such
deal involved Panola Mountain, which is now a Georgia state park—land acquisition was
not a primary objective. Members considered the conservancy a “purposeful organization”
dedicated to active participation in the democratic process, but a cadre of former mem-
bers established a splinter group in favor of aggressive lobbying tactics, shedding corporate
of whom were white, affluent, and well-educated “businessmen, housewives, scientists,
teachers, artists, naturalists, sportsmen, botanists, students, and young people”—gathered
conservancy promised to provide “members a living awareness” of given ecological prob-
lems “by conducting field trips to natural areas,” including a well-attended mid-1967 out-
ing to the Chattooga River. In the Chattooga's case, the conservancy teamed up with the
Georgia Canoe Association (established in 1966) on more than one occasion to sponsor
canoe and hiking trips for members and the general public, as well as state and federal
officials. The Georgia Conservancy's and the Georgia Natural Areas Council's members
provided advice, expertise, and resources to keep the Chattooga free of hydroelectric dams
and commercial development and, more importantly, running wild for all to enjoy.
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The Georgia Conservancy and Georgia Natural Areas Council shared members, execut-
ive officers, and scientific experts who likewise influenced the way people understood re-
gional environments. These organizations also influenced the relationship between south-
ern water and southern power in a democratic society managed by narrowly focused special
interests. For example, Robert Hanie organized a “Chattooga River Seminar” at the Dil-
lard House in Dillard, Georgia, in November 1968, two months after the National Wild
and Scenic Rivers Act declared the Chattooga an official study river. He pulled together
