During seasonal flood stages, the river can cover a half mile of bottomland, and this greatly deters any development. She also declined to comment on the status or timing of any of the other studies. "This is an exciting moment for us. "There are lots of ways places can be special, " she said. He carves out valleys enough to hold everyone's tears. Macon's Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative aims to build strong support for designating the public lands in the corridor as the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve. Ocmulgee National Park receives grant to raise awareness. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is now headquartered in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, but the Nation has never forgotten its ancestral home, some 850 miles away in Middle Georgia. After it passes through Lake Jackson and becomes the Ocmulgee proper, it heads southeasterly, crossing the Fall Line, a geographic division between the Piedmont and Coastal Plains, at Macon. This Special Resource Study is being managed by the U. S. Park Service Archaeologist Charles "Chuck" Lawson, who is based in Denver, Colorado. Red earth turns its water red. The proposed Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Preserve is also part of the original homeland of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, whose citizens were forcibly removed and forced to walk over 1, 000 miles to Oklahoma. There has been an ongoing effort from a community organization, the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative, to expand the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park, incorporating Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and the Ocmulgee River corridor from Macon to Hawkinsville.
Another trail that's already underway—and growing—is the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail. She has roots as the former Muscogee Creek Nation Chief of Staff. 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. The designation would recognize the distinctive landscape and historic, cultural and natural resources of 41 counties in southern and eastern Kentucky. Settlers kept the place names, not knowing what they meant in Native languages. "Our history is here. Historic Theaters Expedition. Georgia’s First National Park. The hunting on the Barataria Preserve section of the park requires special permits, but hunting dates closely follow Louisiana state seasons, so it's more open than you might expect. This river runs through the great Southern swamp forests, cypress and tupelo and gum and magnolia, a black river running alongside black bears, alongside all blackness, through the red of blood into the red of hope. "A lot of healing is happening here, " says Tracie Revis, Muscogee citizen and director of advocacy for the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative. Much of the national significance of the Ocmulgee River Corridor can be found in three words — an archaeological landscape.
I don't want them to go through that. Each September, the park hosts an Ocmulgee Indian Celebration. Preserving nature in the national parks. She has published five books of nonfiction and a collection of eco-poetry. When Tracie Revis climbs the Great Temple Mound, rising nine stories above the Ocmulgee River in the center of present-day Georgia, she walks in the steps of her Muscogean ancestors who were forcibly removed to Oklahoma 200 years ago. The initiative recently announced a new director of outreach, Tracie Revis, the first woman to serve as chief of staff to the principal chief of the Muscogee Nation. However, Dr Klingelhofer said he doubted that the proposed park would be able to incorporate existing state and federal lands into the park, especially if they were funded and well managed by the state of Georgia or other divisions of the federal government. Thurgood Marshall School (PS 103).
If you have more than five minutes, consider writing a letter. However, I strongly support more outdoor recreation, and local government officials would certainly love to see more positive economic activity in central Georgia. Pin It on Pinterest. Native American History. Lawson says the guidelines set a high bar to get over for the establishment of a park, and the requirements are stringent. He is also strongly opposed to Oaky Woods and Ocmulgee WMA being in a park, as they are his main rabbit hunting grounds. Paul Bronson, a Macon-Bibb County commissioner, is very much interested in the jobs that a new national park status would bring to the district he represents. While many stop to refuel or grab a bite to eat before heading to destinations north or south, fewer stop to explore the natural and cultural treasures contained within this transitional landscape. Missouri, other sites. Frustrations mount as National Park Service studies pile up. If so, you might be concerned because hunting is prohibited in most National Parks—it is only allowed, and tightly controlled and very limited, on 59 of 390 National Parks, normally for one or just a few days per year.
"This is lush, gorgeous land. As you may remember, Ocmulgee WMA used to be 29, 000 acres and is now just 15, 000 acres, and Oaky Woods WMA used to be 19, 000 acres is now 12, 750 acres. Unfortunately, many anglers avoid fishing the river due to its hazardous conditions, like strong current, numerous stumps and fallen trees which at times can entirely block boat passage. We believe all Americans deserve to see their history in the places that surround us. Georgia Trust GREEN. The Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park (1207 Emery Hwy, Macon, GA 31217) is open from 8 a. m. to 5 p. How can we preserve national parks. seven days a week and is free to visit. From 900 to 1100, the original inhabitants of this area maintained a thriving civilization. Spring Ramble Overview. Cutway, who studies the fringed campion, a rare wildflower that occurs in central Georgia, believes no grand vistas are required.
The Nation now resides in Okmulgee, Oklahoma after being forced out of the region due to the Indian Removal Act in the 1830s. The Houston County Commissioners, led by Chairman Jay Walker, took an interest in the project. President Street Station. Photo courtesy of the Open Space Institute and Mac Stone Photography. Ocmulgee will ultimately be a hub for hundreds of miles of cultural and recreational trails across Middle Georgia and could eventually connect Ocmulgee with the Altamaha River corridor and public lands along Georgia's coastal plain, providing vital ecological and wildlife connectivity.
Twenty years of painstaking collaboration enabled the tribal nation to reunite and rebury the remains of 114 people at the mounds in 2017. "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. "We are proud of our role in the protection and expansion of Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, " said Kim Elliman, president and CEO of OSI. Widespread local support. 41 counties in southern and eastern Kentucky. Ocumulgee National Park & Preserve Initiative Inc. 501(c)(3) organization. The key to making their dream come true, a consultant told them, was to get Congress to authorize a Special Resource Study. This dual-designation status isn't new. The park's striking mounds were created by highly skilled Indigenous engineers and today constitute one of America's most important cultural landscapes. We believe formally preserving the area between Macon and Hawkinsville along the Ocmulgee River Corridor will not only provide opportunities for recreation, education, and protection of fragile resources, but will also benefit the area economically. Jim David (pictured above) looks out over the Ocmulgee Mounds.
"It was a beautiful spring day, " she recalled. Seth Clark predicts that his home state of Georgia will finally make history in 2023, winning approval of its very first national park. "This is our moment, " says Revis. "We believe that those ancestors are still here, their songs are still here, their words are still here, their tears are still here. They knew they would never see each other again. "We still retain our culture, and that culture's tied to the southeast. Plants for medicine and for food.
Explore More Places. "Reimagining our economic vitality through a sense of ecotourism is something that I just think is huge for this community. I've been working with the original visionaries ever since. If approved, the long-awaited plan could expand and elevate the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park to the top tier of the sites run by the National Park Service, raising the profile of a location considered sacred to Native Americans. To establish a 35-mile long protected river corridor for wildlife. The river corridor is marked by state-owned wildlife management areas, but in recent years, land sales and relinquished state leases have chipped away at significant acreage, leaving large tracts positioned for residential and commercial development. As a national historic park, a designation given to preserve areas with deep American history, Ocmulgee Mounds currently is comprised of 2, 000 protected acres, which includes sites like the Great Temple Mound and Mississippian gathering place, the Earthlodge. "Our voice, our say has been all over this whole process for a while now, " said Ms. Revis, a Muscogee and Yuchi lawyer who moved to Georgia this year to join Seth Clark, mayor pro-tem of Macon, in advocating to give the National Park Service primary authority over the heart of her people's ancestral land, which once stretched across Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, and Alabama. Partners believe there will be a 12-month window of opportunity to pursue the story-mapping effort.