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Ocmulgee National Monument, Macon County, Georgia
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Update: 2002 July 10
The following is in from Linday Holliday:
Posted on Wed, Jul. 10, 2002
National parks conservation group visits Ocmulgee mounds
By Christopher Schwarzen
Telegraph Staff Writer
The National Parks Conservation Association, which added the Ocmulgee National Monument to this year's most-endangered parks list, hopes enough national publicity will increase Congressional support for larger budgets and possible expansion some day in the future.
It's already working, says Joyce Bear, the historic preservation officer for the Muscogee Nation, which claims to have started its nation on the property at the banks of the Ocmulgee River.
Bear and 45 others made the trek Tuesday to Macon as part of the NPCA's conference in Atlanta this week. NPCA officials said of all the side trips planned during the conference, this trip had the largest interest.
"Congressional support is in the works already," Bear said. "Next week they'll learn even more during Senate hearings."
The U.S. Senate's Committee on Indian Affairs will convene next week to discuss threats to American Indian sacred grounds. A member of the Muscogee Nation will present testimony about the Ocmulgee National Monument.
Bear said the biggest threat to the monument and hundreds of acres of floodplain and wetlands surrounding it are the encroachment of the Fall Line Freeway, a connector route between Columbus and Augusta. The project has been stalled in Macon for years as state transportation planners work out an alignment.
The Muscogee Nation has voiced its disapproval because what had been the preferred route, although in private hands, is considered traditional cultural property of the Muscogee Nation by the federal government. It's the only property east of the Mississippi River with such a designation.
But that designation won't mean much to the Muscogees or other American Indian tribes if a road can easily be built through it, Bear said.
So bringing people to the monument Tuesday was a chance to spread the word, said Jill Stephens, an NPCA program assistant.
"Word is getting around since we put the monument on our list," Stephens said. "We've had lots of organizations from Idaho to Connecticut asking for more information on the park or what they can do to help."
The nonprofit group also has been contacted by a group in Japan, Stephens said.
Although the Fall Line Freeway might be important, it shouldn't destroy sensitive cultural and historical lands, Stephens said.
"This monument isn't alone in its threats, and that's why we've listed it," Stephens said. "There are other parks with similar problems."
To contact Christopher Schwarzen, call 744-4213 or e-mail cschwarzen@macontel.com.
Posted on Wed, Jul. 10, 2002
http://www.macon.com/mld/telegraph/2002/07/10/news/local/3631487.htm
Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law.
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