Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is best known for a few things: It’s the world’s busiest airport, seeing over 100,000,000 passengers every year. It’s also massive, employing over 60,000 people, making it Georgia’s largest employer. But there's something else about it that very few people know.

Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is best known for a few things:  

• It’s the world’s busiest airport, seeing over 100,000,000 passengers every year.
• It’s massive and employs over 60,000 people, making it Georgia’s largest employer.

What most people don’t know about the airport is that the headwaters of Georgia’s Flint River begins underneath it. Believe it or not, building over and through some of our greatest natural resources isn’t that uncommon, but finding a group of people and organizations committed to undoing it ... that’s way less common. A partnership between The Conservation Fund, American Rivers and Atlanta Regional Commission formed the Finding the Flint initiative. Its goal ... to put the Flint back on the map and help ensure and it brings new life to communities, residents and businesses nearby.

Find the Flint with us!

“I was shocked. The idea that we have one of the most influential water sources in the entire state running underneath the world’s busiest airport is mind boggling. How do those two things work together at the same time without competing with one another? Getting that connection back for the community is one of the things that’s so amazing about this project. It will help the entire region.”

–Bianca Motley Broom, Mayor, City of College Park, GA

 

“In the future we hope that there will be areas—parks, nature preserves and trails, where people can access the river again and enjoy it.”

–Hannah Palmer, Coordinator, Finding the Flint

 

“Making Finding the Flint a reality will require a coalition of partners, and the good news is that’s how it started. We have to continue building out that coalition—with neighborhoods, community organizations, corporate partners and funders—for restoration to happen upstream and for large landscape protection to happen downstream. I know it’s possible.”

–Stacy Funderburke, Regional Counsel, Georgia and Alabama Associate State Director, The Conservation Fund

Learn how you can support this project: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/findingtheflint