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0006tl8 Chal/ooga R,~e' along /he Georgia- Sour.'! Ca'o/ina line tary. the Namekagon, as free-flow- ing fIVers reasonably accessible lor public use. The Wild and Scenic RIVers ACl of 1968 designated as an initial component 01 the National System the SI eraI'll belwe-en the dam near Taylors Falls. Mlnn_. upstream to lhe dam near Gordon. Wis.. and the Namekagon from trial river's con- Iluence wllh the 5: Croi_ lJpSlream 10 Lake Namekagon The 51 CrOix National SceniC RlVelWay, thus cre- ated. came under the administration Of It',e National Park Service The Slates of Mmnesota and Wisconsin and local Units of gov- ernment along the lower St Croix (below Taylors Fa:ls) hac long rec- ognlled the recrealion POtemia! of that portion of l!'1e river Many of lire focal governments oelleved 11'1a1 a coordinated planning efforl for the lower 51 Crobe shOuld be wel- comed Toward thiS end, an inter- governmental planning organizallon known as the 51 Croix Inlergovern- mental Plannmg Conference, With represen1atlves from all 01 the counties, Cities. villages, and town- ships along the lower St. CrOIx. was formed In 1970. SponsorshIp and guidance for lhis organization was provided by the Mlrmesota-Wiscon- sin Boundary Area Commission. Study 01 the potential 01 the lower SI Croix: lor inclusion in lhe Na- tIonal System was required by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 011968. The resullmg study concluded that the ponion oj the SI. CrOix below Taylors Falls met the cnteria 01 the National System, In October 1972, lhe lower S1. Crail( ham Taylors Falls to wLthm 25 miles 01 Ihe riv- er's confluence with Ihe MissiSSippi was added 10 the National System: in June 1976 Ihe remaining 25 miles were added 10 the National WIld and Scenic Rivers System. The filst portion of lhe lower St. Croix is being adminislered by the National Park Service and Ihe linal 25 miles by the two Slates. The en- lire 51 Crail( River, thus, is now protected and preserved under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Region 5, Southeast, AI/ama, Ga. Three southeastern rivers, the Chat- tooga. New. and Obed, are now components of the National Sys- tem: the required study on one, the Suwannee, has been completed: and studies are underway on the Bullalo River, Notichuckey, Sipsey Fork, and GaMba Study of the Chatlooga River, NC, Ga, and S C., authorized by Ihe Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. be- gan in 1969 and was compleled in June 1971 The Chatlooga became part of the National System May 10, 1974 The Chaflooge River rises on the Blue Ridge in the rugged moun- lains oj North Carolina between the massive eastern Ilank 01 Whitesides Mountain and the resort village 01 Cashiers It Ilows southward through steeply descending, almost com- pletely primItIVe mountain country for 10 miles in North Carolina, and then continues for 40 miles as the Stale boundary between Georgia and South Carolina 11 drops through the mountainous Blue Ridge prov- ince toward the hilly Piedmont, ending in the quiet, slill walers of Tugaloo Reservoir. Altitude ranges from over 4,800 feet along the northern watershed boundary to less lhan 900 feet at the lower end of the river. In a total distance 01 50 miles, lhe waters 01 the Chatlooga ALver descend 2,469 feet tram an elevation 01 3.360 feet near Cashiers, N C, to 891 feel at Tuga100 Reservoir-an average de- scent of 493 feel per mile The Cha1l00ga drains an area of 278 square miles. This is one olthe longest and larg- eSI free-tlowlng mountam streams in the Southeast remaining in a rela- tively prlmilive undeveloped condi- I I I I 35