Formed by the confluence of the Ocmulgee and Oconee Rivers, the Altamaha is the largest free-flowing river on the East Coast and drains its third-largest watershed. It has been designated as one of the Nature Conservancy's seventy-five Last Great Places because of its unique character and rich natural diversity. In evocative photography and elegant prose, Altamaha captures the distinctive beauty of this river and offers a portrait of the man who has become its improbable guardian. Few people know the Altamaha better than James Holland. Raised in Cochran, Georgia, Holland spent years on the river fishing, hunting, and working its coastal reaches as a commercial crabber. Witnessing a steady decline in blue crab stocks, Holland doggedly began to educate himself on the area's environmental and political issues, reaching a deep conviction that the only way to preserve the way of life he loved was to protect the river and its watershed. In 1999, he began serving as the first Altamaha Riverkeeper, finding new purpose in protecting the river and raising awareness about its plight with people in his community and beyond. At first Holland used photography to document pollution and abuse, but as he came to appreciate and understand the Altamaha in new ways, his photographs evolved, focusing more on the natural beauty he fought to save. More than 230 color photographs capture the area's majestic landscapes and stunning natural diversity, including a generous selection of some the 234 species of rare plants and animals in the region. In their essays, Janisse Ray offers a profile of Holland's transformation from orphan and troubled high school dropout to river advocate, and Dorinda G. Dallmeyer celebrates the biological richness and cultural heritage that the Altamaha offers to all Georgians.

The book explores both the need and the possibilities for conservation of the river and the surrounding forests and wetlands.

Janisse Ray was a babe in arms when a boat of her father’s construction cracked open and went down in the mighty Altamaha River. Tucked in a life preserver, she washed onto a sandbar as the craft sank from view. That first baptism began a lifelong relationship with a stunning and powerful river that almost nobody knows. The Altamaha rises dark and mysterious in southeast Georgia. It is deep and wide bordered by swamps. Its corridor contains an extraordinary biodiversity, including many rare and endangered species, which led the Nature Conservancy to designate it as one of the world’s last great places. The Altamaha is Ray’s river, and from childhood she dreamed of paddling its entire length to where it empties into the sea. Drifting into Darien begins with an account of finally making that journey, turning to meditations on the many ways we accept a world that contains both good and evil. With praise, biting satire, and hope, Ray contemplates transformation and attempts with every page to settle peacefully into the now. Though commemorating a history that includes logging, Ray celebrates “a culture that sprang from the flatwoods, which required a judicious use of nature.” She looks in vain for an ivorybill woodpecker but is equally eager to see any of the imperiled species found in the river basin: spiny mussel, American oystercatcher, Radford’s mint, Alabama milkvine. The book explores both the need and the possibilities for conservation of the river and the surrounding forests and wetlands. As in her groundbreaking Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, Ray writes an account of her beloved river that is both social history and natural history, understanding the two as inseparable, particularly in the rural corner of Georgia that she knows best. Ray goes looking for wisdom and finds a river.

Two brothers travel a storied river’s past and present in search of the truth about their father’s death in the second novel by the acclaimed author of Fallen Land.

"In the Atlamaha River User's Guide, both novice and experienced water sports enthusiasts will find all the information required to enjoy the full length of the 137-mile river formed at the confluence of the Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers east of Lumber City, Georgia as well as its major tributary, the Ohoopee, which winds some 120 miles through south, central Georgia. The drainage basin of the largest river in Georgia is about 14,000 square miles in size, qualifying it among the larger river basins of the US Atlantic coast. At least 120 species of rare or endangered plants and animals live in the Altamaha River watershed, including 18 species of freshwater mussels, seven of which are endemic to the Altamaha. The river basin also home to federally protected Atlantic and shortnose sturgeons and supports the only known example of old-growth longleaf pine and black oak forest in the United States. The unusual Franklin tree (Franklinia alatamaha), now extinct in the wild, was found by British naturalist John Bartram along the Altamaha in 1765. Because of its rich biodiversity, the Altamaha is often referred to as Georgia's Little Amazon. The river passes through sparsely-populated land, with Brunswick, Savannah and Jesup being the largest nearby cities, but because of its importance in the history of Georgia, from the first settlements at Darien through the steamboat era of the late 1800s and early 1900s, the river holds a special place in the psyche of the state's cultural history. Indeed, its headwater streams stretch all the way to Metro Atlanta and Athens. Author Joe Cook includes detailed maps, put in and take out suggestions, fishing and camping locations, mile-by-mile points of interest, and an illustrated guide to the animals and plants commonly seen in and around the river. Day-trippers will enjoy the guide's fascinating description of the cultural and natural heritage of this richly diverse waterway. FEATURES: * An introduction and overview of the river * Chapters describing each river section with detailed maps and notes on river access and points of interest * A compact natural history guide featuring species of interest * Notes on safety and boating etiquette * A fishing primer * Notes on organizations working to protect the river"--