Conservationist Sally Bethea participates in the 2008 annual “Sweep the Hooch” trash cleanup, organized by the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper organization, which brings together hundreds of volunteers to help clean up the Chattahoochee River. Bethea was one of the first Riverkeepers for the organization, which continues to take initiative to protect the river nearly 30 decades since its founding in 1994. “I think it’s hard to overstate the positive impact that she in that organization has had for millions of Georgians,” University of Georgia Press Publicity and Social Media Manager Jason Bennett said. “That’s what I want people to understand is that it takes people like her in those positions doing that work to protect all of us.” Photo courtesy of Sally Bethea
Author and retired Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Sally Bethea will be visiting the Athens Public Library on Sept. 5 to share her journey as a conservationist as well as one of the first female Riverkeepers in the United States.
Growing up, retired Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and “Keeping the Chattahoochee” author Sally Bethea didn’t picture a life in nature conservation. Her only roots to nature went back to the creek that ran behind her childhood home and Sanibel Island, where she and her family vacationed.
It was only when she became involved with a local Atlanta conservation group, the Sierra Club, after college in 1973 that Bethea began recognizing how much her roots had impacted her. She became heavily involved in conservation and started studying it as a career.
“I went to school in North Carolina and got involved in the local Sierra Club and really found a wonderful group of people doing something I wanted to do, which was advocate for nature for the voiceless,” Bethea said.
“It’s hard to overstate the positive impact that she in that organization has had for millions of Georgians. That’s what I want people to understand is that it takes people like her in those positions doing that work to protect all of us.”
— Jason Bennett,
University of Georgia Press Publicity and Social Media Manager
After working with the Sierra Club, Bethea went on to work at the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Park Service before getting an opportunity that would shape her career.
“I was fortunate to be hired to be the first Director and Riverkeeper for the nonprofit (The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper) which started out with a $50,000 grant,” Bethea said. “We had a donated office and an old canoe and one (person) staff.”
The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper is a non-profit environmental organization established to protect the Chattahoochee River in 1994 from pollution. Bethea was one of the first female Riverkeepers in the United States to help build the program.
The book cover of “Keeping the Chattahoochee,” written by conservationist and retired Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Sally Bethea and released on July 15, is shown. Throughout the book, Bethea detailed her experiences as one of the first female Riverkeepers in the United States. “It’s personal stories that help explain and describe things in a way that the average person can understand and really empathize with,” Bethea said. “That’s what I tried to do in the book as to each chapter of the book. It’s really a dual narrative. Each chapter is a walk down at the river in the present tense and what I see feels its nature writing and then each of those triggers a memory.” Book cover courtesy of Sally Bethea
“It was a lot to take on when we knew that one of the biggest threats to the river was the city of Atlanta, which had been discharging untreated sewage for literally decades. The government had not done anything about it,” Bethea said. “We had to figure out how to do something about it, which we did.”
Through her work as a Riverkeeper, Bethea participated in various initiatives to help clean the Chattahoochee, including suing Atlanta over water pollution. However, working as a female in such a male dominated industry wasn’t easy.
“Particularly for my generation, 30 years ago, it’s a lot harder to be a female. It’s the kind of characteristics that are often admired in men. Being forthcoming, mildly aggressive (and) focused are appreciated in men, but not so much always in women,” Bethea said.
The Chattahoochee River is a water source for over five million people in Georgia and is used for recreational activities by residents, as well. For University of Georgia Press Publicity and Social Media Manager Jason Bennett, Bethea’s story and learning how to protect such a vital river is something that everyone in Athens-Clarke County should be aware of.
“It’s hard to overstate the positive impact that she in that organization has had for millions of Georgians. That’s what I want people to understand is that it takes people like her in those positions doing that work to protect all of us,” Bennett said.
An infographic shows important facts potential attendees of Sally Bethea’s book event will need to know. Bethea is scheduled to speak to readers and community members at the Athens-Clarke County Library on Sept. 5. “I’ve books that inspired me, and I’m hoping that there’s at least a kernel of something in this book that resonates with each person that reads it,” Bethea said. “(I hope) that (it) either opens their eyes (or) helps them think ‘Maybe I could do that,’ or ‘I’m going to find my own place in nature.’” Infographic by Janie Ripps
“Keeping the Chattahoochee,” which is Bethea’s book detailing her time as a conservationist and female Riverkeeper, was released on July 15. Bethea will come speak at the ACC Library on Sept. 5.
“What I want people to get out of hearing (Bethea) speak and reading this book in particular is how important local organizations like the Riverkeeper are,” Bennett said. “Then when you see what they did, and you realize that this work, even though it probably should have been done by government agencies, (is) what they did.”
