PRESS RELEASE

ROME, Ga. — A press conference was scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 16 to announce Paddle Georgia 2006. The weeklong outdoor adventure will be held June 24-30.

The Thursday afternoon press conference will be held at the Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site in Cartersville, Ga. Joe Cook, Paddle Georgia coordinator and executive director of the Coosa River Basin Initiative, will make the formal announcement at 1 p.m. (ET).

According to the press release, the groups are looking to sign up approximately 270 participants to paddle a 120-mile stretch of the Etowah River from Dawsonville, Ga. to Rome. The Paddle Georgia event will include educational programs on the river’s cultural and natural history, tours of facilities located along the river, a scientific research project, and nightly games and entertainment. Proceeds from the event benefit Georgia River Network and the Coosa River Basin Initiative.

As an event sponsor, Georgia Power is providing financial support as well as a tour of its Plant Bowen facility for a limited number of trip participants. Georgia River Network is the event organizer, and through the event, hopes to create awareness of the issues facing Georgia’s rivers and encourage citizens to become involved in protection and restoration efforts on their local rivers.

Georgia River Network is the only statewide nonprofit environmental organization solely dedicated to the conservation of Georgia’s waters. The organization works to conserve Georgia’s rivers by engaging citizens in local river protection efforts, empowering grassroots river groups with tools to make real change in the watersheds they work in, and serving as a voice for policy issues that transcend Georgia’s watersheds.  Visit www.garivers.org for more information about GRN and Paddle Georgia.

Other sponsors include Goldkist, Earthfare, High Country Outfitters, Patagonia, Go With the Flow, Wenonah Canoe & Current Designs, The Outside World and Paddler’s Paradise Canoe Shop.

To reserve a canoe for the optional five-mile paddle and tour of Valley View, please contact Joe Cook at 706-235-1170 or at joe@joecook.net. Spaces are limited and available on a first-come-first-serve basis. The paddle trip will begin about 1:30 p.m. (ET) and return to the Indian Mounds around 4:00 p.m. (ET).