These headwaters may be hidden from view now, but the Flint River is an important resource for drinking water, natural habitats and recreation downstream. The river’s upper portion has potential to be a natural asset for communities surrounding the airport, improving quality of life and providing enhanced recreational opportunities. We’re working with partners in the Atlanta area to put the Flint River back on the map and make the vision of a healthy, accessible river a reality.

Our Role

Since 2016, The Conservation Fund has worked in tandem with and Atlanta Regional Commission to launch Finding the Flint, an initiative to reveal the river’s hidden headwaters to the public and showcase its potential as a treasured recreation spot in the Atlanta area. Our efforts — which have galvanized around the unique vision of Ryan Gravel, the urban designer behind the Atlanta Beltline, and urban planner and author Hannah Palmer — include developing and mapping out ideas for how the Upper Flint River can be rediscovered and restored in a way that supports communities, connectivity and economic development in the airport area.

Finding the Flint projects will range from creation of new parks and trails along the upper headwaters to larger scale restoration and land protection downstream. TCF’s Atlanta office is working with our Finding the Flint partners to build widespread community and stakeholder support for our vision, and our Strategic Conservation Planning team is creating detailed maps of restoration and landscape conservation opportunities for the entire Upper Flint River watershed, which stretches from Atlanta to the beginning of the coastal plain in central Georgia.

Why This Project Matters

The Flint is Georgia’s second-longest river, starting in Atlanta and flowing 344 miles south to the Florida border, where it joins with the Chattahoochee to create the Apalachicola River. It flows for nearly 220 miles without a single dam, making it one of just 40 rivers in the United States that flow unimpeded for more than 200 miles. The Flint and its surrounding lands are also ecologically important. The Flint River Basin is home to an estimated 412,000 acres of wetlands, and the river itself is home to three endangered mussel species: the shinyrayed pocketbook mussel, the gulf moccasinshell mussel and the oval pigtoe mussel.

The Flint River also serves as a water source for more than one million people and boasts prime fishing and paddling opportunities. All of these critical benefits of the Flint River are at risk because of the many challenges it faces upstream, including rapid urbanization, increasing demands for drinking water supply and extremely low flows in times of drought. Our goal is to restore and protect the upper reaches of the Flint River, while turning it into a space that metro Atlanta residents can enjoy.

With Finding the Flint, we hope to showcase all that makes this river unique and create new ways for locals and visitors alike to access and enjoy the river.

Learn More and Get Involved

• Finding the Flint official website
• Podcast: “Flight Path and Lost Waters With Urban Designer Hannah Palmer” (Biophilic Solutions, Episode 22)