Could there be a new US national park? Georgia lawmakers push for designation

USA Today

7 hours ago

A bipartisan group of more than a dozen lawmakers are hoping to establish the next new national park in central Georgia.
That's the proposal in a bill currently making its way through Congress, led by House Reps. Austin Scott (R-GA) and Sanford D. Bishop, Jr., (D-GA) and supported by an additional seven Republicans and four Democrats from the state. If passed, it would expand the existing Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, making it the first newly established national park and preserve in the country in more than five years.
"We believe the designation, from National Historical Park to National Park, is necessary to meet the importance of this landscape, to telling the story of the American identity," said Seth Clark, executive director of the non-profit Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative. "This area was the capital city of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and there's evidence of 17,000 years of continuous history here."
The Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, located in Macon, Georgia, is the ancestral homeland of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. It would anchor the proposed new national park and preserve, and involve the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in management of the land, according to the bill's text. Clark told USA TODAY it would be the first park management of its kind involving a removed tribe, referring to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation's forced removal starting in 1836 from their homelands to Oklahoma, via what is now known as the Muscogee Trail of Tears.
The state's two U.S. senators., Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, have introduced their own version of the bill in the Senate.
More: Macon's Ocmulgee Mounds may become the first National Park and Preserve in Georgia
What are the Ocmulgee Mounds?
The area has been inhabited continuously by humans for thousands of years, according to the National Park Service, and showcases one of the country's best preserved Native American and pre-Columbian sites, the Ocmulgee Mounds. The mounds are estimated to have been built around around 900 CE by the Muskogean people, and were used for meeting, living, burial, agriculture and other purposes, the park says. Several of these mounds remain today, and are a leading attraction for visitors, along with its extensive museum and eight miles of outdoor trails.
During the Civil War, it was the sight of two conflicts: the Battle of Dunlap Hill and the Battle of Walnut Creek.
"By establishing the Ocmulgee Mounds as Georgia's first National Park and Preserve, we are highlighting over 17,000 years of history and culture as well as welcoming people from across the country to enjoy Georgia's natural beauty,' Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA) said in a March statement reintroducing the bill.
Every September, the park hosts the Ocmulgee Indigenous Celebration to celebrate Southeastern Native American culture, according to Macon's tourism website, and holds a Lantern Light Tour in the spring coinciding with the city's popular cherry blossom festival.
Bill would turn Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park to a National Park
The U.S. has 63 national parks, and if the proposal goes through, Ocmulgee would become the Peach State's very first National Park and Preserve.
The National Park Service oversees 433 total units of land, such as battlefields, memorials, monuments, preserves, scenic rivers and other cultural and environmental sites, including the Ocmulgee mounds. Changes in designations of these lands falls to Congress.
The bill would drop the "historical" part of Omulgee's current name, Clark said, and is focused on expanding it to include national preserve land that is not currently part of the park. It would be set aside for recreational activities and preservation, such as hiking, fishing and hunting and connect to the Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
In total, non-profit organization helping with the effort, Trust for Public Land, said it would creating a sprawling 23,000-acre park along the Ocmulgee River stretching up to 20 miles downstream of the Macon city limit.
The National Park Service told USA TODAY it does not comment on pending legislation.
Clark said the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative is pushing for the establishment of the new park by the end of 2025.
Contributing: Miguel Legoas, USA TODAY Network
Kathryn Palmer is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at [e-mail] and on X @KathrynPlmr.