Those looking for a place to roam in southeast Georgia will have a lot more choices in the next few years. In the last two weeks, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has partnered on the protection of one of the biggest undeveloped, unprotected properties on the Southeast coast and followed it up with a mere 2,000 acres along the Altamaha River.
The Conservation Fund and the Open Space Institute (OSI) partnered on the acquisition of a 16,083-acre property in Camden County, along the Satilla River. Both groups will be working with the DNR and federal agency partners to protect the property through conservation easements and then on transferring ownership to the DNR for establishment of a new wildlife management area.
“Natural lands of this size are rare, and the ecological importance of this property has made it a top priority for conservation over the last decade,” said Andrew Schock, Georgia state director at The Conservation Fund. “With the property’s proximity to Interstate 95 and the growing population centers along the Georgia and Florida coasts, it was highly threatened by resort, residential and commercial development. We are thrilled to secure this land, together with OSI, and look forward to working with Georgia DNR, Georgia’s U.S. congressional delegation, and critical federal, state and private funding partners to permanently protect it.”
The second property is actually split into two, more than 1,600 acres located in Wayne and Brantley counties and 267 acres in Appling County adjacent to the existing Moody Forest, a 183,000 acre corridor of conservation lands along the Altamaha. Both have a similar ecosystem to the first. They are home to extensive longleaf pine forest and the state reptile of Georgia, the gopher tortoise. Gopher tortoises are called a “keystone species” because they dig burrows that provide shelter for some 350 other species, including eastern indigo snakes, which are listed as federally threatened due to habitat loss. The eastern indigo is the longest native snake species in the U.S., sometimes reaching more than eight feet long.
Dr. Jon Ambrose, Chief of DNR’s Wildlife Conservation Section, said the acquisitions “further the goal of conservation of native species and natural habitats articulated in Georgia’s State Wildlife Action Plan.” “Under management by the Wildlife Resources Division of Georgia DNR, these tracts will continue to increase in ecological significance, providing benefits to future Georgians,” Ambrose said.
The Moody Forest addition, located along the Altamaha near Baxley, contributes to one of the most significant river corridor conservation projects in the country. Participants include private landowners, conservation organizations, state and federal agencies, and the military.
The largest free-flowing river on the East Coast, the Altamaha flows 137 miles across southeast Georgia to the Atlantic Ocean, meandering through longleaf pine forests and cypress swamps and feeding into saltwater estuaries. Formed by the confluence of the Ocmulgee and Oconee rivers, the Altamaha drains about one quarter of the state of Georgia.
