Ocmulgee National Park And Preserve Initiative

July 3, 2024, 2:33 am

By the 1730s, the town at Ocmulgee was abandoned, although it continued to be a sacred site for the Muscogee (Creek), who returned for ceremony and trade. The National Park Service is conducting a survey of the Ocmulgee River Corridor in central Georgia, which covers around "50 river miles" and thousands of acres of mostly undeveloped and unoccupied land in various kinds of public and private ownership. "We still retain our culture, and that culture's tied to the southeast. Middle Georgia's commitment to the cultural and ecological preservation of these sacred lands are emblematic of who we are and want to be as a region, " said Seth Clark, executive director of the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative. Feedback to the public-comment portion of the NPS' special resource study, which analyzes the area's fit as a national park and preserve, has been overwhelmingly positive, he says. Mission not available. Many residents of middle Georgia had hoped for one big gift by the end of this holiday season: a new national park. Ocmulgee national park and preserve initiative definition. May 2020 Facebook Live Discussion. That came nearly seven months after President Joe Biden had already signed the Amache National Historic Site Act into law on March 18, approving legislation that passed both the House and Senate in February ( Greenwire, March 21, 2022).

Ocmulgee National Park And Preserve Initiative.Com

The audience gathered almost in a circle, about half in chairs and half standing. "Part of our tradition is that we really don't revisit the past, " he said, "particularly when it came to the Trail of Tears. Wilson isn't proposing that we start from full-blown capitalism and return to prehistory. There were so many they appeared to be tumbling off the cliffs. He said he's now hoping that Georgia lawmakers — Reps. Sanford Bishop (D) and Austin Scott (R) and the state's two Democratic senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff — will soon introduce legislation that would result in Congress creating the park without waiting for NPS to complete its study, "We've waited long enough, " Clark said. Lawson says the guidelines set a high bar to get over for the establishment of a park, and the requirements are stringent. Less than a quarter-mile away Interstate 16, constructed here in the early 1970s, parallels the Ocmulgee River. Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve would be unique: it would consist of a patchwork of 70, 000 acres along the Ocmulgee River that would be co-managed by multiple agencies and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. One of those locations is probably the Trussell Site, an ancient village just off Thompson Mill Road that this writer documented about 25 years ago from Native American pottery and a kirk corner notch point dating from 9, 000 years ago. Federal, local, and tribal unity promises new national park in Georgia - CSMonitor.com. Preservation Awards. The area's potential national-park status illustrates an important reckoning taking place in central Georgia—a movement travelers can support by visiting and learning about firsthand.

Ocmulgee National Park And Preserve Initiative Museum

He said the state WMAs should stay owned by the state, so we in Georgia can have local control. If park expansion happens in 2023, it would end a process that began when two Georgia Republicans supported an Ocmulgee National Park in the U. S. Senate. In March of 2019, Congress authorized eventually quadrupling the size of Macon's Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, formerly managed and designated as a National Monument. Ocmulgee national park and preserve initiative vs. Audubon chapters and other wildlife groups in Georgia already are calling on members to provide data about birds and other wildlife along the Ocmulgee for the study. We get to tell our story. Since 2006 Knight has invested more than $17 million in Macon. Potential for a new national park gets caught up in political red tape. Fishing the Ocmulgee River can be a true wilderness experience. "A National Park and Preserve designation for Ocmulgee could have far-ranging benefits for Macon and beyond; it carries with it the promise of new opportunities, economic vitality, and recognition of the area's rich cultural and historical legacy, " said Beverly Blake, Knight Foundation program director for Macon. She uses the word 'ghost, ' she said, because, in the minds of the people who stayed behind, the people forced to leave were essentially dead.

Preserving Nature In The National Parks

"There are lots of ways places can be special, " she said. Congress ignores a warning. Frustrations mount as National Park Service studies pile up. The trail, which the study would examine being redesignated or extended, commemorates the 54-mile route taken by civil rights protesters in the Voting Rights March of 1965. "To be able to go back and just touch it and be there is very meaningful to our people, " he said to me. A Preserve is a hybrid type of idea that combines the traditional park with allowances for hunting and fishing.

Ocmulgee National Park And Preserve Initiative Vs

Missouri, other sites. John Wilson wants to create a national park in the middle of Georgia, and he's not alone. From atop the grandest of the mounds, the 55-foot-tall Great Temple Mound, a masterpiece that required an estimated 10 million baskets of dirt, societal leaders watched over the village and out across its forested-swamp surroundings. She has roots as the former Muscogee Creek Nation Chief of Staff. We encourage you to explore the Indian Mounds, Bond Swamp Wildlife Refuge, and the Ocmulgee River, which are jewels of history, culture, wildlife and natural resources. The rivers are gorgeous here, " Ms. Revis said recently as she gazed over the forest canopy to a distant green horizon, broken only by Macon's skyline, just across the water. Ocmulgee national park and preserve initiative.com. Red earth turns its water red. "These land donations from Macon-Bibb County contribute to that memorial and enhance the park's ability to share and interpret the significance of those cultures to American history. In January 2021, the National Park Service (NPS) launched public commenting on a three-year Special Resource Study of the Ocmulgee River corridor between Macon and Hawkinsville, Georgia. The small park got a new paved 32-space parking lot, thanks to Tommy Stalnaker, who is now Houston County Commission Chairman. In the future, the route could connect to a larger central Georgia plan to transform an abandoned railway into a 33-mile bike trail connecting Macon and, to the east, Milledgeville, creating dozens of trail miles throughout central Georgia—all linked with Ocmulgee Mounds. The study process is linear, and each of the four criteria are evaluated sequentially.

Ocmulgee National Park And Preserve Initiative Definition

4 billion in state and local tax revenue. A unified effort by the federal government, Georgia officials, and Native American activists is set to create a new national park on the Ocmulgee River that will preserve and honor Muscogee heritage while also drawing millions of visitors each year. A New National Park in Central Georgia. Inside the proposed national park and preserve. Our stories started here. In 2022, the 30th annual Ocmulgee Indian Celebration will take place on September 17-18, and will include music, dance, crafts, educational programs, and storytelling. The report says that the majority of this economic activity—about 90%—would come from increases in visitor spending associated with a number of key activities: heritage tourism, bicycling, paddling, camping, fishing, wildlife watching, hiking, hunting and horseback riding.

They established towns, including one of the largest Mississippian mound complexes in North America, which is estimated to have had a population of at least 1, 000 in its heyday. The Georgia Conservancy has a map online at Looking at the possible footprint of the park, it could grow to thousands of acres by including Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, as well state wildlife management area systems—but again this is just proposed option. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation's voice has been missing from conservation in the South for generations. Through it all, the Ocmulgee River meanders. The Muscogee Creek define the region as "the place where we first sat down, " meaning the place where their ancestors first became a settled agricultural society. And they could get the chance to do so as soon as mid-2022, after the last step in the national-park process, the NPS' special-resource study, concludes in March. Trees to store carbon. Enabling Legislation – U. S. House Resolution 538 (2017). While NPS has remained mum on the cause of its backlog, the delays have been a long-standing concern for the agency. While this rich history and distinct landscape have long drawn travelers to Ocmulgee Mounds—in addition to a number of outdoor activities on offer—the push for national park status means the destination is lingering in that sweet spot: when new infrastructure and experiences are being put in place, but the national park-size crowds haven't quite landed. Walnut Creek passes beneath an interstate bridge to get to its mama. Macon GA 31201-7503. The property will initially be closed to the public while the park service, with public input, identifies "effective ways to preserve the integrity and interpret the site, while also providing access to it.

"No national parks outside the desert Southwest preserve archaeological resources across a landscape. Floyd visited the land in Georgia and decided to join the movement. Thus, this is a good reason for hunters to sit up and pay attention when a National Park & Preserve is being proposed for a wide swatch of middle Georgia. Calls for studies to assess historical value and generate a plan to acquire properties for the park and 35 miles of preserves along the Ocmulgee River. Historical Significance. The Knight Foundation awarded the $200, 000 grant. The Muscogee (Creek) people, ancestors of the Mississippian mound builders behind the park's historic attractions, were forced off their southeastern U. S. homeland, including the sacred Ocmulgee Mounds area, as part of the Indian Removal Act of the 1800s.

1908 Springfield Race Riot. The National Park Service's Special Resource Study is currently in its public comment period. Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. Local officials got a chance to press their case with their congressmen last Friday during a flag-raising event in Macon, when they unveiled a flag of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation will now fly in front of City Hall to acknowledge Macon-Bibb's growing partnership with the tribe that is now based in Oklahoma. "Our whole existence comes from the Earth and from the ground, and so it has a deep meaning to us. The triumphs and tragedies of those who called this area home for thousands of years continue to shape our lives today and define our collective heritage. We had to pull up and leave the places that we loved, to come to a place that was foreign to us. At Ocmulgee, it won't be just the park service talking about artifacts. "The civic support this project has in our community is astounding. Like many hunters, I harvested my first deer on Piedmont Refuge and regularly hunt on Bond Swamp. "The Muscogee (Creek) Nation have a long-standing history of preserving the Ocmulgee Old Fields-Macon Reserve.

Massachusetts Requires The Use Of Vehicle Headlights From