Potential Ocmulgee National Monument expansion

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Ocmulgee National Monument isn’t just one the most visited attractions in Middle Georgia for it’s quick escape into nature, but its hundreds of acres of history.

“There are very few places in the country who have the proven continuum of use that we have here in Middle Georgia,” said Ocmulgee National Monument Superintendent, Jim David.

He says there’s a lot more history down the Ocmulgee River.

“We can show that in this site and all along the river that people have been living in the area since the ice age,” said David.

Congress recently passed a bill that would expand the 702 acre park to about 3,000 acres. If passed in the U.S. senate, the park would also be renamed and looked at for further expansion across Middle Georgia.

“There are resources along that river that are once again, very special,” said David. “Possibly for different mound groups further south.”

The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) and the Knight Foundation created an analysis proposing the idea for expansion from Macon to Hawkinsville. Turning the park into Ocmulgee National Parks and Preserve.

“The real growth possibility is by creating a unified kind of unit along the river and attracting visitation based on this larger vision,” said NPCA project manager, Chris Watson.

The study looked at the park’s over the next fifteen years.

“They studied growth trends in the national parks that exist across the country,” said Watson. “They subset out a sample group of peer parks, basically, that are very comparable in various ways based on resources and recreational activities and things like that.”

In 2015, the about 155,000 people visited the national monument. The analysis shows that with the creation of Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve, that would bring about one million more.

The study also found that it would bring about 206 million dollars more to Middle Georgia and about 2,814 more jobs.

“The report reinforces the idea that this is a great asset for the community in Macon and we’re barely scratching the surface as to what that asset could actually be for the community,” said Watson.

David says he’s completely on board with the analysis and idea but he says, “It’ll be a very daunting task, but I think it has great potential.”

You can look at the full report here.