Oconee National Forest, GA

The Conservation Fund is working with partner programs such as the Centex Land Legacy Fund to protect working forests in Georgia and across the nation.

Summary

Crisscrossed by rivers and creeks and thick with trees, Oconee National Forest embraces more than 115,000 acres of the rolling Georgia Piedmont and is home to bald eagle, turkey, white-tailed deer and bobcat. Hikers and campers seek out the forest’s many trails and backcountry sites, while anglers and paddlers ply the extensive waterways.

Challenge

In recent years, more than 10 million acres of private forests, including areas throughout the Southeast, have been placed on the market. Timber companies have increasingly divested themselves of lands that for decades formed the basis of local economies and provided wildlife habitat, making these areas vulnerable to fragmentation and possible development.

Solution

Support from the Centex Land Legacy Fund enabled the Fund to craft a unique transaction with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), the Forest Service and private landowners that combined mitigation and restoration to conserve more than 1,600 acres of working forests that will now become part of Oconee National Forest.

Results

The Fund will transfer the tract to the Georgia Department of Transportation, which will jointly manage the land with the Forest Service until the mitigation is complete and the parcel will become part of Oconee National Forest.