Chattooga Quarterly
2009 Spring / Summer Solstice
Director's Page
The Bartram Trail near Warwoman Dell in the Chattooga Watershed
photo by Peter McIntosh, www.mcintoshmountains.com
It did not come unexpected that one of our last, big, traditional foundation-givers gave us the axe. Not unexpected, because foundations depend on an invested trust fund that depends on the market. So, when the economy is bad, foundations do not possess the money they normally have to give to charitable causes. The net result is that someone will not get funded. Small nonprofits at the grassroots usually get cut first. Often foundations will simply cut funding below the regional level. Read more.
The Blue Ridge Railroad
They can be found scattered among north Georgia's streamside laurels and South Carolina's high mountain ridges. Some must be sought on foot. Others can be glimpsed from highways that made rails obsolete. They are the fragments of a grand but abandoned dream that, if completed, would have altered interstate commerce and the entire face of Southern Appalachia. Today the markers of the Blue Ridge Railroad's failed passage across the mountains have mostly faded into the background, but they shouldn't be forgotten. The hand-carved stones in the culverts are still there, and rain falls daily down the shafts of the Stumphouse Mountain tunnel. To walk the old grades and gaze at the remains of the Chattooga River viaduct is like tipping the cap to another generation and an undertaking so ambitious and daunting, it's amazing to see how close it was to becoming a reality.
Read more.
The Whetstone Quadrangle
The Whetstone Quadrangle covers a portion of the lower quarter
of Chattooga River watershed mostly on the South Carolina side
of the river, near Earls Ford and Sandy Ford. This section of
the watershed appears in the northwest corner of the quadrangle
map. The greater portion of the map, however, covers the upper
Chauga River watershed, from its headwaters near the small
village of Mountain Rest in the northeast corner, and across to
Brasstown Church near Long Creek in the southwest corner
of the map. A portion of Coneross Creek watershed lies in the
southeaster corner of the map near Buzzards Roost, a South
Carolina Heritage Trust Preserve. Read more.
William Bartram's Travels
This May marked the 232nd anniversary of William Bartram's exploratory trek through the Chattooga River watershed, a tale that is featured in his landmark book, Travels, and commemorated by The Bartram Trail. This May has also marked the return of abundant rainfall in the Chattooga watershed-welcome relief that has lifted spirits and rejuvenated an impressive springtime display of our area's lush flora. It was this remarkable flora that interested Bartram's "restless spirit of curiosity," and spurred him to venture here in the turbulent year of 1775. So, it seems an inviting moment now to look back at that exceptional time and to also consider the equally exceptional personage of William Bartram. Read more.
- I-3 Revisited in South Carolina
- Forest Service to Re-route Horse Trail
- Chattooga Conservancy Lands a Big Deal for New City Park in Clayton, Ga.
- The Road Less Traveled
- Ephemeral Stream Protections Lost in Georgia
- Chattooga Conservancy Receives "Watershed Group of the Year" Award
Members' Page
THANK YOU VERY MUCH to everyone who recently renewed their membership, joined as a new member, or contributed gifts, services, and memorial donations to the Chattooga Conservancy. Your generous contributions will help us continue to work on all of the important conservation issues facing the Chattooga River watershed area. Read more.