In Ernest Hemingway’s, Big Two-Hearted River, Nick Adams returns from World War I to his home in Seney, Michigan. When he arrives, he expects to see the same town he left, but rather finds the buildings burnt-down. Things have changed; time has destroyed part of his past. But, as he walks the railroad tracks to the bridge, he sees the one thing still remaining: the river, and with the river, trout and fly-fishing, and perhaps, memories of youthful innocence and all its divine environs. Where in the story, the town of Seney Michigan is gone and the trout and fishing remain, Fannin County may soon have the opposite problem; towns will remain, but the trout may soon be gone. According to Local Chapter President of Trout Unlimited Mike Holloway, come October 1st the lower Toccoa in Fannin County will no longer be stocked with trout, a draw for fly-fishermen and large source of tourism revenue for the county.
The lower Toccoa River or tail-water runs from Blue Ridge Dam at Tammen Park, heads toward Tennessee and then moves into Horseshoe Bay in Macaysville, Georgia. This is the river’s journey through Fannin County, home to 550 miles of trout streams, the most popular of which is this stretch of the lower Toccoa River.

Trout in this part of the river come from the Chattahoochee Forest National Fish Hatchery, known also as the Rock Creek Hatchery. The hatchery, which raises the trout from eggs to maturity, is funded both by The National Fish and Wildlife Services and Georgia Department of Natural Resources. A majority of the funding, though, comes from the National Fish and Wildlife Services, essentially making the operation federally funded and controlled. On the other hand, the lower Toccoa is stocked with trout by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, that is, by the state. The Federal Government recently planned to close the hatchery, but reconsidered. Part of the deal to keep the hatchery open, though, does not include funds for stocking it with trout, a responsibility of the state. To muddy-up waters even more, this part of the Toccoa is controlled by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), also a Federal agency. While keeping the hatchery open, The National Fish and Wildlife Service said it would not help with funding to stock the lower Toccoa unless it received financial assistance from the TVA. But, the TVA is not obligated to fund the hatchery or the stocking of this part of the lower Toccoa and, the TVA would not provide the funds, according to local Trout Unlimited chapter Vice President Roger Charbonneau. So, in the face of this financial shortfall, both Holloway and Charbonneau are advocating to use a portion of revenue from the new lodging tax increase to go toward stocking of trout in the lower Toccoa.

What happens if or when trout are no longer stocked in the lower Toccoa ? “Our economy in this county is so slanted towards ecotourism,” Holloway says, “it’s going to have an effect.” Charbonneau cites a 2009 statistic, showing that 45 percent of visitors to the area come for the fly-fishing. Holloway says, though, that not all 45 percent would go away if the lower Toccoa is no longer stocked, but the loss of tourism affected would be significant enough to hurt the county’s economy. Also, he notes the loss of fly-fishermen to the area could hurt the businesses that depend on the river, like the Unicoi Outfitters and Sharper Bites Fly Fishing Guide Company. Both Charbonneau and Holloway ask the Board of Commissioners to use a portion of the lodging tax for restocking costs. Holloway says the estimated restocking cost is $68,000 and the approximate available tax revenue is $200,000. Holloway and his advocates ask that a portion of the revenue be earmarked specifically for restocking the lower Toccoa. “At this point, “he said, “we’re just looking for some level of support.”

Since the lodging tax will not take effect until January 1st, Holloway and Charbonneau still have time to convince the Board of Commissioners to use the revenue for their cause, but the clock is ticking, and the advocates realize the importance of financial assistance needed for other aspects of tourism as well, which may cause torrents in any final decision.

At the end of Hemmingway’s story, Nick Adams returns to camp. Walking away from the river, he says he has “plenty of days coming when he could fish the swamp,” and leaves the river behind, at least for a while. But, Hemingway’s river is not the Toccoa and Fannin does not have the option, like Adams, to walk away from a natural resource that, in many ways, is the source and summit of the county’s culture, economy, and livelihood. For Fannin County, the Lower Toccoa is more like Norman Maclean’s view, “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.”