Atlanta preps purchase of 180-acre forest

• It's also endangered as development gobbles up the dwindling number of large forests inside the city limits.

Details: The property — it doesn't have a name yet — abuts the Piedmont Driving Club's golf course off Camp Creek Parkway and is home to high-quality hardwoods, pines and larger trees.

• Earlier this year, the Conservation Fund bought the property with plans to later sell the land to the city, Stacy Funderburke, the nonprofit’s Alabama and Georgia associate director, told Axios.

By the numbers: Atlanta's tree canopy covers roughly 47% of the city's total area — shy of a goal of at least 50%, according to a 2018 study.

What they're saying: "The truth is that development pressure in the city continues to grow," says Funderburke. "It's a Humpty Dumpty thing. Once that forest gets broken down and sold off you will never put it back together again."

What's next: The nonprofit expects to transfer the land, which is still private property, to the city by the end of the year.