If you’ve ever made the trip from Asheville to Atlanta on US 441, then maybe you will remember having past through the town of Tallulah Falls, Georgia. The only other reason you would ever stumble upon this tiny town is to venture into Tallulah Gorge State Park to take a gander at the “Niagara of the South.”

Asleep at the depths of the gorge are the remnants of the Tallulah River. Only a handful of weekends a year does the gorge witness the rebirth of the burly Tallulah. Whitewater paddlers migrate to the area for select weekends in the fall and spring and paddle down one of the most beautiful granite gorges in the Southeast. The 2.5 mile stretch of river is home to a fierce ensemble of rapids, including the well renowned “Oceana.” While paddlers revel in the whitewater of the river, the Tallulah experience is framed by a monumental American Whitewater relicensing campaign that restored whitewater to the gorge.For two weekends in April and three weekends in November, Tallulah Falls is overrun with hundreds of cars clad with boats, as boaters arrive to take on the river. Boaters file down the trail and begin the descent down those never-ending stairs leading to the river. Standing at the river’s edge, one quickly notices that the Tallulah means business. Paddle out of first pool into the Entrance Rapid, and the fun has begun. Big boof through the next rapid, and now Oceana’s staring right down the bow of your boat. Such a formidable horizon line on the river may cause some confusion because it is hard to understand why you are eye level with the treetops. Eddy up on the left for a peek at the answer that lies beneath. Oceana drops about 50 feet from top to bottom over a 150-foot slide. The quirk in Oceana that distinguishes it from some water park ride is the vertical ledge sticking up at the bottom of the rapid, known as “the thang.” Deviation too far off your line, and “the thang” will hit you like a Mack truck. Slipping over the lip of the drop, you feel your boat pick up speed, more speed, and now you’re flying right through an exploding wall of water. As you pop out of the hole at the bottom of Oceana, your fear turns to euphoria, and you turn around to nod your head at the grandeur of your surroundings.These heart-stopping whitewater experiences we find in the Tallulah Gorge are now possible due to more than a decade of grassroots campaigning by American Whitewater (AW) and other boating organizations. The Tallulah River was put behind walls in 1912 when the Governor of Georgia sought new power sources for the city of Atlanta. The dam silenced the falls of the Tallulah and all but ended the turn-of-the-century tourism business. The power of the Tallulah River was lost beneath the shadows of the dam. Only in 1991 when the Georgia Power Company applied for relicensing, did the possibility of river releases reemerge. AW took an active role petitioning to have whitewater studies done in order to gauge the recreational use of the river. In May of 1993 ten local boaters made the first descent down the Tallulah. Having proved that the river was navigable for skilled boaters, Georgia Power relaxed its stance on boating in the gorge. AW and Georgia Power were able to work together to achieve a mutually beneficial license. The success witnessed in the relicensing of the Tallulah River has been a milestone for both AW and the boaters of the Southeast. The Tallulah was one of many rivers that fell victim to the age of industry and the growth of our country. However, let the Tallulah serve as a model for future relicensing projects. A precedent for cooperation has been set, as the interests of the power company, local community, and paddling community were able to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome. The deregulation of power is being reshaped all over the U.S., as some 34 hydro projects are up for relicense in the Southeast alone. Do your part to realize the rebirth of those dormant rivers in our backyards.Shelton Steele can be reached at Shelton_steele@hotmail.com.