REGIONAL STATE PARKS AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS

Closely connected to the region’s exceptional natural resources and conservation efforts are the state parks and wildlife management areas (WMAs) in the six-county study area. Many people understand the role of state parks and appreciate their value. They may not realize, however, that WMAs serve a similar role in providing public access to the outdoors as well. An important concept to emphasize is that state conservation areas create significant public recreational opportunities that did not exist when the land was formerly in private ownership. Most state conservation areas are now accessible for popular activities such as hunting, fishing, bird watching, bicycling, hiking, and camping. Conserving these areas both protects the natural habitats within them and opens them up for area residents and visitors to enjoy.

Georgia

Marion and Talbot Counties

The Chattahoochee Fall Line Wildlife Management Area34

Five management tracts comprise this WMA:

1.Almo Tract – a 6,700-acre property that offers hunting opportunities for deer, turkey, small game, and quail. Youth hunts, Hunt and Learn programs, primitive camp sites, and hiking are also available. No ATVs or horses are allowed.

2. Blackjack Crossing Area – a 1,600-acre property that offers archery-only hunting opportunities for deer, turkey, and small game. No ATVs or horses are allowed.

3. Fort Perry Tract – a 2,100-acre property that offers hunting opportunities for deer, turkey, small game, dove, and quail. No ATVs or horses are allowed. Bicycles are allowed only for the purpose of providing hunter access.

4. Hilliard Plantation Tract – a 8,089-acre property that offers hunting opportunities for deer, turkey, quail, waterfowl, dove, and small game. No ATVs or horses are allowed. Bicycles are allowed only for the purpose of providing hunter access.

5. VPA Tracts – a set of properties totaling 3,134 acres that offer archery hunting opportunities for deer. Turkey and small game may be hunted with all legal weapons. No ATVs or horses are allowed.

The Chattahoochee Fall Line WMA was created through a partnership between the DNR, The Nature Conservancy, and the US Army at Fort Moore. These areas form a landscape of priority habitats that have enormous potential for ecological restoration, including expansion of a fire-managed longleaf pine ecosystem beneficial to the red-cockaded woodpecker, gopher tortoise, and other imperiled species.

Stewart County Florence Marina State Park35

Located at the northern end of 45,000-acre Lake Walter F. George (also called Lake Eufaula), this park is adjacent to a natural deep-water marina with an accessible fishing pier, boat slips, and boat ramp. Fully equipped cottages, small efficiency units, and a modern campground with RV campsites are available. Florence Marina is popular with nature enthusiasts and birders. The Kirbo Interpretive Center showcases area wildlife and plants, local history, and Native Americans, including artifacts from the prehistoric Paleo-Indian period through the early 20th century. Eight miles southeast is Providence Canyon State Park.

Stewart County Providence Canyon State Park36

Known as Georgia’s “Little Grand Canyon,” this 1,003-acre site includes deep gullies and canyons popular with photographers and hikers. Accommodations and facilities include two picnic shelters, three pioneer campsites, and six backcountry campsites.

Stewart County

Hannahatchee Creek WMA

This 5,095-acre property is located near the town of Richland. This WMA offers hunting opportunities for deer, turkey, small game, feral hog, and dove. Accommodations and facilities include a shooting range and primitive campsites.

Taylor County Sandhills Wildlife Management Area

West: This 2,498-acre property offers hunting opportunities for deer, turkey, and small game. Allowed activities include geocaching, hunting, and wildlife viewing, and primitive camping is permitted in designated areas.

These properties were acquired in 2007 for their high diversity of rare species, including southeastern kestrels (a type of falcon), Bachman’s sparrows, gopher tortoises, southern hognose snakes, gopher frogs, striped newts, federally endangered pondberry, sandhill golden-aster, Pickering’s morning-glory, and lax water-milfoil.37

Talbot and Upson Counties

Meriwether, Talbot, and Upson counties

Big Lazer Creek Wildlife Management Area

This 7,200-acre property offers hunting opportunities for deer, turkey, small game, and waterfowl. Accommodations and facilities include a shooting range, fishing area, boat ramp, canoe access, dock, lake, picnic tables, primitive campsites, and restrooms.

Sprewell Bluff Wildlife Management Area

West: This 5,206 acre property sits west of the Flint River and offers hunting opportunities for deer, turkey and small game.

East: This 1,263 acre property sits east of the Flint River and offers hunting opportunities for deer, turkey and small game. There is no camping allowed on the property.

Alabama

Russell CountyUchee Creek Confluence

This 4,735-acre property serves as a Special Opportunity Area, providing hunters with a higher quality hunt by reducing hunting pressure through a limited quota system.

As part of this project, UGA researchers found that the rural counties surrounding Columbus have the strong potential to tap into a vibrant regional tourism economy by leveraging their significant natural and cultural resources. In 2021, 383,174 people visited Providence Canyon, for example, and 107,323 visited Florence Marina. Outdoor recreation is highly popular. The following are key findings from the Regional Tourism Assessment, included as Appendix A of this report:

• In each of the last five years, visitation numbers at Georgia State Parks have increased, up 36.72% from 2017 to 2021.

• In 2021, visitors to F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Florence Marina State Park, and Providence Canyon State Park accounted for 9.4% of the total number of visitors to Georgia State Parks.

• In each of the three state parks, visitation numbers in 2021 surpassed 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• At F.D. Roosevelt State Park and Providence Canyon State Park, visitation has nearly doubled since 2017.

• These and other public lands provide public access to the many creeks, streams, and rivers that cross the region and provide popular recreational opportunities.

In addition, a 2013 Georgia DNR study found that visitors to Georgia’s WMAs supported more than 3,700 jobs statewide, generating labor income of $118 million annually. WMAs contribute an estimated $206 million to the state’s GDP each year, and they generate a total of $60 million in tax revenue across the state.38 That spending occurs locally in two ways: “near home” where the resident lives, and in the county where the WMA is located. The report concluded that, “on average, 71% of spending occurs near home in the county of residence and 29% occurs in the county where the WMA is located.”39

While these statewide economic impact figures for WMAs are significant and informative for impacts in the River Valley Region, a more regionally focused analysis would be extremely useful. Such a study could also take into account the economic impact of privately managed lands used for hunting and other recreational pastimes. Just to the south of this region, Tall Timbers has conducted a number of economic studies for the Red Hills Region of South Georgia and North Florida and for the areas around Albany, Georgia.40 In 2018, a Red Hills analysis found that the economic impact of quaillands in the region exceed $194 million a year, including almost $84 million in labor income from 1,725 jobs. A similar analysis of the River Valley Region could cover a much broader array of activities; it would provide a much more nuanced picture of the value of these conserved lands to the local economy currently, and it could help guide how to increase that value in the future.

KEY FACTS: SUMMARY

Community Profiles And Assets

Profiles of the communities making up the six-county study area for this project follow in alphabetical order. An interactive map of community assets across the six counties is available on the project website at www.rivervalleyccd.com . Assets in the region are organized into four categories: arts and culture, recreational assets, historical assets, and economic assets. In addition, a map of each county highlighting assets is included in the profiles that follow.

Community Asset Mapping

Community asset inventories are the first step in sustainable rural tourism and economic development. Conventional economic development planning may increase commercial development, leading to a change in the sense of place. In contrast, sustainable rural tourism and economic development celebrate a region’s strengths without changing its character. This goal can only be achieved by first identifying a region’s assets, community strengths, and resources. Given the spatial nature of tourism planning and economic development, community assets mapping is a great way to visualize opportunities, explore connections, and leverage current assets for economic growth.41 This type of inventory can identify features previously not well-known, such as points of interest, businesses, recreational sites and services, cultural or historic sites, and information centers.42 The inventory identifies both nodes, or clusters of assets, and gaps in current tourism offerings. An inventory created with help from community members can identify a community’s values, inform a regional identity, and establish a sense of place.

RIVER VALLEY COMMUNITY COMPATIBLE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT