The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Girl Scout working to mark Indigenous waterway paths
Teen has ambitious plan for Ogeechee Canal system.
Isabel Palacios is on a mission.
The Jenkins High School senior plans to be the first Girl Scout in history to blaze a water trail by GPS. She has partnered with the Savannah Ogeechee Canal Museum and Nature Center to mark a series of canoe paths that are also potentially some of the oldest human-created, Indigenous waterways in Georgia.
The canoe trails will be cataloged and accessible to everyone on the Georgia River Network App.
On Sunday, you can be part of this historic adventure when the center hosts a barbecue and silent auction to help preserve and interpret these Native American canoe trails. You also can get to know more about the Ogeechee Canal system, its ecosystems and local history.
Palacios, who in second grade joined the Girl Scouts as a Brownie, knows the Ogeechee canals well. Her brother was a Boy Scout, and she would sometimes accompany his troop on outdoor projects at the canal museum. Several years ago, some scouts partnered up to recruit volunteers in marking and clearing hiking trails at the 185-acre land trust.
They marked and cata- loged trails on Alltrails, a smartphone app. Palacios is also an avid kayaker, and since eighth grade has known she has wanted to do this specific project.
“We do lots of community projects as Girl Scouts, and for my Gold Award project, I wanted to work on some- thing that I really loved and would benefit the community with outdoor opportunities,” Palacios said. “I’ve been kayaking with my family, and Girl Scouts, for seven years, and just want more people to know about paddling in the Ogeechee Canal.”
Many of the waterways are overgrown and need to be cleared before they’re officially designated on All- Trails. That’s where Palacios is hoping to entice community volunteers to help with the project.
What makes these trails — much smaller than the nearby, human-made commerce canals — so special is that they possibly were a series of waterways that Native Americans created for travel and transport to and from the Ogeechee River.
“We have part of a dugout canoe found on property that University of Georgia carbon-dated to 1,000 years old,” said Connie Shreve, master naturalist for the organization. “There’s pottery here that dates hundreds of years back. Uchee Indians were on the lower Ogeechee and Savannah Rivers long before other settlement. With the fundraiser, we’d like to raise money for Native American interpretation of the trails.”
The Canal Museum and Nature Center has more than 2 miles of walking trails through cypress bottoms, sandhill ecosystem and hardwood forests.
The canoe trail network, once completed, could encompass more than 5 miles of water paths and be the organization’s largest project undertaken since cleanup and debris removal from Hurricane Matthew.
“I want to be part of making more outdoor opportunities for the Savannah community and clear a path for more Girl Scouts to get involved in trail work,” Palacios said. “I want to study marine ecology and conservation, and this project fits in with my career interests.”