During the 2018 legislative session, the Georgia General Assembly passed the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Act (GOSA), a bill that provided the first dedicated funding mechanism for parks and trails across the state. The bill allows for applicants to apply for grants and loans for projects like parks, trails, land conservation, wildlife or fishing areas, and outdoor recreation. On Monday, the state announced the selection of the most recent grants, 15 projects from Sandy Springs to Jones County and for as much as $4 million down to $500,000.
“During a time of need, Georgia provided our citizens and friends from neighboring states a safe place to recreate, enjoy nature and learn about the rich outdoor opportunities our state has to offer. The approved project grant slate will further improve those opportunities and continue to strengthen Georgia’s conservation efforts,” said Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Commissioner Mark Williams.
Funding adds up to more than $28 million, with another $20.5 million in matching funds to help complete projects. Eight of the chosen projects are for local governments or nonprofits acquiring land or developing existing space for local parks or trail. Five of the projects are for stewardship on state-owned land and another two are for conservation land by the DNR.
The most expensive project is more than $4 million for a visitor center construction at Vogel State Park outside Blairsville. One of the oldest and most popular parks in the state parks system, the project will help to alleviate space issues at the existing visitor built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930’s. Vogel is located at the base of Blood Mountain in the Chattahoochee National Forest and is a hot spot for both Georgia hikers seeking the views of the mountain but also leaf peepers looking for the color changes in the fall. The 22-acre lake is a popular canoeing spot, with a beach for those looking to cool off.
For the Macon-adjacent Jones County, the $500,000 grants means the county can acquire approximately 30 acres of land to develop a new park, preserving granite outcrops, highlighting black history in central Georgia, offering rock-climbing and bouldering, as well as three miles of hiking trails. With the soon-to-come national park and preserve along the Ocmulgee outside Macon, the new park could be a piece of an outdoor recreation puzzle in central Georgia that will be one of the best in the state.
For the rapidly suburbanizing Cherokee County, $600,000 will go toward developing the confluence of Long Swamp Creek and the Etowah River into a recreation area with a new canoe/kayak launch, fishing, camping, walking trail, archery range and wildlife viewing area. There has long been river recreation on the Etowah River and the new park will help Cherokee County to further capitalize on this traffic.
After some initial skepticism about its impact, in just three years of the GOSA program, more than 30 projects have been funded across the state, totaling approximately $100 million in funding, in addition to whatever normal budget funds have gone towards recreation. GOSA is making a real difference for residents across Georgia.
