Oct 11, 2024 - News

Ocmulgee Mounds national park effort moves ahead in Congress

Thomas Wheatley

A photo of a path leading up a hill to a large mound — The Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Site's main features include the Earth Lodge which was used by the Mississippians around 1,000 years ago. Photo: Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Roughly 90 miles south of Atlanta, an effort to elevate the Muscogee Nation's hallowed grounds to national parks status is reaching a crucial stage.

Why it matters: Georgia is home to national recreation areas, wildlife refuges and heritage areas. But not a national park.

Earning that top-tier designation could be a long overdue tribute to the state's Muscogee people and an economic boon for Middle Georgia.

The latest: In November, the U.S. Senate is scheduled to hear legislation introduced by Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock earlier this year to create the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Preserve.

A similar measure co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Sanford Bishop and Austin Scott is backed by every member of Georgia's congressional delegation, except U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde.

Zoom in: The national park designation could protect up to 25,000 acres along the biodiverse Ocmulgee River and adjacent land.

The Muscogee Nation is a partner in the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative's mission to create the park. The legislation provides a path to an increased management role for the tribe.

What they're saying: "As the ancestral people to this land, the tribal voice should be one that is elevated," ONPPI's advocacy director Tracie Revis, told the AJC.

"Creating this park and preserve and allowing the Muscogee Creek Nation to serve as a co-manager helps restore balance."

Catch up quick: Over thousands of years, Native American cultures, most recently the Muscogee, formed villages, farmed, hunted and built temple and funeral mounds that feature prominently at the site.

The 1830 Indian Removal Act forced tens of thousands of indigenous people from their homes in Georgia and across the Southeast, setting the stage of what would later be known as the Trail of Tears.

Fun fact: Between 1933 and 1936, more than 800 workers conducted what the National Park Service called the largest archaeological dig in U.S. history on the site, unearthing more than two million artifacts. The land was established first as a national monument in 1937.

The big picture: Seth Clark, ONPPI's executive director and Macon's mayor pro tem, told Axios the associated ecotourism could generate $234 million in economic development annually, plus tens of millions of dollars in new tax revenue to invest in the city.

The bottom line: The National Park Service doesn't just put land into conservation and build bike paths, Clark said.

"They're charged with telling the story of the American identity. And these lands do that."

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Ocmulgee Mounds national park effort moves ahead in Congress

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