A map of the Sansavilla Wildlife Management Area along the Altamaha River
Georgia officials announced this month a $36 million purchase of some 19,500 acres along the Altamaha River in southeast Georgia, continuing in its mission to protect the river corridor all the way up into the central part of the state. The area, called the Sansavilla Wildlife Management Area, now contains some 165,000 acres along the river in total under state conservation, stretching from the ocean all the way up to U.S. 84 at Jesup.
The purchase was funded by a mixture of private and public money, with hefty donations from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation and the Knobloch Family Foundation paired with grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service’s Forestry Legacy program. The state issued bonds to cover its share of the deal.
With the objective of protecting the native flora and fauna within, the purchase will offer a refuge for rare Georgia species including the gopher tortoise an indigo snake, both of which are endangered species. It will also seek to cut down the many tree farms on the land, selling the wood and growing more natural forests to return the land to its original, primitive state. In addition there are historical sites scattered along the river basin, including a trading post built alongside a fort that helped service the nearby Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island.
The state’s goal is to eventually connect Sansavilla with large land holdings at Fort Stewart to the North and the Okeefenokee Swamp to the South, where it already possesses over 800,000 acres of public land combined.
