From The Chatooga Conservancy:
On May 10, 1974 the United States Congress voted to include the Chattooga River as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System....The Chattooga River originates in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina at the base of Whiteside Mountain, a massive 4800 foot granite monolith on the escarpment known to the Cherokee as the “Great Blue Wall.”
Wild & Scenic Rivers Act (October 2, 1968):
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States that certain selected rivers of the Nation which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Congress declares that the established national policy of dams and other construction at appropriate sections of the rivers of the United States needs to be complemented by a policy that would preserve other selected rivers or sections thereof in their free-flowing condition to protect the water quality of such rivers and to fulfill other vital national conservation purposes.