SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The National Parks Service is responding after the owner of an ever-popular kayak and tubing company coined by the name "Shoot the Hooch" said his business is being forced to move to a more dangerous area on the Chattahoochee River.
Shoot the Hooch Owner Bill Odrey said on June 2 that he was being forced out of business and that he would not put anyone in the water without thinking about their safety first -- citing the area the NPS wants them to move to has many downed trees near the surface roughly 20 miles up the river.
However, park officials said just the opposite, explaining they're moving his business because of safety concerns. But one of the park officials' top priorities is clear -- those who go to the river visit it in its natural state.
Superintendent Ann Honious, who oversees the Chattahoochee River National Recreational Area, said multiple businesses operate out of the Powers Island location where Shoot the Hooch was located, which is causing crowds and ruining the experience.
'It creates frustration and it doesn't create that happy park experience," Honious said.
Shoot the Hooch's new location would be off Abbott's Bridge in Duluth, a location in which the owner of Chattahoochee River Tubing said he has had "no serious issues whatsoever" operating out of the location for more than 10 years.
"They need to realize it's a natural river," Jordan Utley said. "There's always going to be risks going onto a natural river."
Honious echoed those remarks, explaining that preserving a natural river presents some risks to rivergoers.
"There is an inherent risk to go to a natural park because we maintain the park in its natural state," Honious said.
However, when 11Alive spoke with Shoot the Hooch general manager Barbara Russell last Friday, she said they've been in Sandy Springs since the business started.
“We’ve been on the Chattahoochee for 23 years and we’ve been at Powers Ferry Island at least 21 of those years. And this year is the first year that the parks say we would have to move north," Russell said.
Odrey's major concern is the downed trees in the area he's being relocated to, but park officials said they try not to remove downed trees because that would be interfering with the natural state of the river.
We pushed park officials for answers on how Shoot the Hooch could get their location back, they said they do not make special accommodations for businesses.