Arabia Mountain, GA: Creating a Network of Green Space

The Conservation Fund works with communities across the nation to help achieve their goals to protect community open space and conserve key natural areas.

Summary

The Conservation Fund worked with community leaders to acquire lands for Arabia Mountain Park as the first step toward the goal to create a green infrastructure of linked parks, greenways, and wild lands in the Atlanta area.

Challenge

Known as the “crossroads of the South,” metropolitan Atlanta has reached a critical turning point. Growing faster and sprawling farther than any human settlement in recent United States history, Atlanta has been losing an average of 500 acres of forests, farmland, and green space to development each week. Today, Atlanta has fewer acres of preserved open space per resident than does any other metropolitan area of similar size and density.

Solution

This unprecedented and unmanaged growth galvanized a community, sparking a shared vision that led to a remarkable conservation triumph. Success grew from a partnership of DeKalb County officials, business leaders, and concerned citizens who joined to promote and help pass the $125 million Parks and Greenspace Bond Referendum. The goal is to create a green infrastructure of linked parks, greenways, and wild lands.

The first and perhaps most critical acquisition was a major addition to Arabia Mountain Park, a strategic area that serves as the foundation of what will be a larger network of green space. Located in DeKalb County just 20 minutes from downtown Atlanta, Arabia Mountain is widely valued for its granite outcrops, abundant wildflowers, and quiet streams. The Conservation Fund, in partnership with DeKalb County and the Arabia Mountain Alliance, helped to acquire and protect 940 acres adjacent to the park.

Results

The acquisition nearly doubled the size of the park and included part of a corridor to link Arabia Mountain to nearby Panola Mountain State Conservation Park. Combined, the two parks, when completed, will constitute the largest natural area—some 4,500 acres total—in DeKalb County.

The Fund also assisted the Richard King Mellon Foundation in securing an additional 100 acres for Arabia Mountain as part of the foundation’s American Land Conservation Program. The foundation donated this land to DeKalb County, which is managing both additions to the park.

DeKalb County is preserving and connecting open space for recreation, education, and wildlife while promoting civic pride, tourism, and balanced growth. Its commitment to green infrastructure serves as a model for suburban communities in major metropolitan areas across the country.