Middle Georgians called to action for Ocmulgee National Park

A plan for the Ocmulgee National Monument that has been around since the Great Depression may finally move forward this fall if Middle Georgians make their voices heard.

A 1934 bill passed by Congress authorized a 2,000-acre park, but the caveat was that no federal money could be used to acquire the land. Macon didn’t have the money at the time to buy all the land, and the Ocmulgee National Monument is now made up of 702 acres.

On Nov. 10, the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation will hear a list of bills, and midstate boosters want House Resolution 4991 to be included in that hearing.

The Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative, a community-based group working to expand the current site, is encouraging Middle Georgians to call legislators, tweet and sign letters of support for the bill.

The bill calls for a name change that park Superintendent Jim David hopes will help visitors and locals better find the Indian mounds.

“Nobody thinks to call us the Ocmulgee National Monument,” David said. “When they hear that name, they have no idea what you’re talking about. ... Hopefully in the future, if a visitor comes (to Macon) and says he’s looking for Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park, once the people hear the mounds, they’ll be able to direct them out here.”

The bill would expand the monument to about 2,100 acres to connect the main park to the Lamar Mounds, David said, stretching the monument’s southern boundary just north of Brown’s Mount off Ocmulgee East Boulevard.

The bill also calls for a three-year study of nearly 50,000 acres along the Ocmulgee River down to Hawkinsville for potential future expansion, David said.

Brian Adams, president of the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative, said supporters of the mounds have been working hard for the past decade for expansion. If the bill isn’t discussed in the subcommittee Nov. 10, Adams said it would have to be reintroduced next year.

“This could be our last chance to get (the bill passed) this year. And if it’s not done this year, then all of our work would have to be done again to get it reintroduced,” Adams said. “We’ve got a lot of momentum (in Washington), and the last thing we can afford right now is to lose that momentum. ... There’s been enough delay, and we need to get moving.”

If the Ocmulgee National Monument expands and is designated as a national park, David said the economic impact would be significant.

“It’s great to see that there’s this huge groundswell of support to make this happen,” David said. “Nobody has expressed opposition to this. ... There’s probably not a whole lot of things in Macon that nobody’s in opposition to.”

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4382.

This story was originally published September 30, 2014 at 8:23 PM with the headline "Middle Georgians called to action for Ocmulgee National Park ."