Protected areas of Georgia (U.S. state)

Map of Georgia

The protected areas of Georgia cover almost one million acres (4,000 km2) of the state. These areas are managed by different federal and state level authorities and receive varying levels of protection. Some areas are managed as wilderness while others are operated with acceptable commercial exploitation. On the Federal level, Georgia contains 1 Biosphere Reserve, 15 National Park Service Managed Sites, 1 National Forest and 8 Wildlife Refuges. Georgia is home to 63 state parks, 48 of which are state parks and 15 that are National Historic Sites, and many state wildlife preserves, under the supervision of the Georgia Department of Parks and Recreation, a division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.[1]

## Federal-level protection agencies

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Fall in the Chattahoochee National Forest

Georgia's federally protected areas are managed by agencies within the United States Department of the Interior. The agencies which govern nationally protected places in Georgia are the National Park Service; the U.S. Forest Service; the Bureau of Land Management; and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Preserve.

### Areas managed by the National Park Service

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Georgia has many protected areas and historic sites within its borders which fall under the purview of the National Park Service. These areas include

* Andersonville National Historic Site in Andersonville
* Appalachian National Scenic Trail
* Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area
* Augusta Canal National Heritage Area
* Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area near Atlanta and the
* Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park at Fort Oglethorpe.
* Cumberland Island National Seashore near Saint Marys
* Fort Frederica National Monument on St. Simons Island
* Fort Pulaski National Monument in Savannah
* Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor
* Jimmy Carter National Historic Site near Plains
* Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park near Kennesaw
* Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta
* Ocmulgee National Monument at Macon and the
* Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.[2]

Although these are occasionally referred to as national parks, these are not true "National Parks" in the strictest sense. There are 417 units managed by the National Park service (including those 15 in Georgia listed above,) of which 59 are officially designated National Parks as of 2018, none of which are in Georgia.[3]

### National Forests

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The U.S. Forest Service oversees the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest in northern Georgia. The forest is actually two U.S. National Forests combined, the Oconee National Forest and Chattahoochee National Forest. The area of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest is 865,855 acres (3,504 km2), of which the Chattahoochee National Forest comprises 750,502 acres (3,037 km2) and the Oconee National Forest comprises 115,353 acres (467 km2). The county with the largest portion of the forest is Rabun County, Georgia, which has 148,684 acres (602 km2) within its boundaries.[4]

### Wildlife Refuges

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Several Wildlife Refuges in Georgia are overseen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Preserve. The areas under that agencies care are the

* Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge which oversees the Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge
* Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge and Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
* the Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex which oversees several different refuges including
* Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge
* Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge
* Savannah National Wildlife Refuge
* Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge
* Wolf Island National Wildlife Refuge.[5]
* Tybee National Wildlife Refuge
* Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge

## State level protected areas

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See also: List of Georgia state parks

Liberty Hall in Crawfordville, Georgia

The Georgia state park system was founded in 1931. The first two areas to be designated as state parks were Indian Springs State Park and Vogel State Park. Other parks in Georgia include, but are not limited to, A.H. Stephens Historic Park in Crawfordville; Bobby Brown State Park in Elberton and Skidaway Island State Park in Savannah. In 2006, over thirteen million people visit Georgia's state parks.[6]

## Biosphere Reserve

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Marsh on Cumberland Island, nearby Plum Orchard

Four of Georgia's protected areas are part of the Carolinian-South Atlantic Biosphere Reserve.[7] They are:

* Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge and Wolf Island National Wildlife Refuge
* Cumberland Island National Seashore
* Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary
* Little St. Simon's Island

## See also

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* Georgia (U.S. state) portal

* Ecology of Georgia (U.S. state)

## References

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1. ^ Georgia Department of Natural Resources gadnr.org, Accessed December 15, 2007
2. ^ National Park Service nps.gov, accessed April 8, 2018
3. ^ "AJC Georgia Politics | What's really going on in Georgia politics".
4. ^ 2007 fact sheet, Accessed December 28, 2007
5. ^ Georgia State Map, Accessed December 28, 2007
6. ^ Georgia State Parks, Accessed December 15, 2007
7. ^ U.S Biosphere Reserve Contacts, Accessed December 28, 2007

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Protected areas of Georgia

Federal|

| National Battlefield and Military Parks|

* Chickamauga and Chattanooga
* Kennesaw Mountain

|

National Estuarine Research Reserves|

* Sapelo Island

National Forests|

* Chattahoochee–Oconee

National Historic Sites and Historical Parks|

* Andersonville
* Jimmy Carter
* Martin Luther King Jr.
* Ocmulgee Mounds

National Marine Sanctuaries|

* Gray's Reef

National Monuments|

* Fort Frederica
* Fort Pulaski

National Recreation Areas|

* Chattahoochee River

National Seashores|

* Cumberland Island

National Trails|

* Appalachian
* Trail of Tears

National Wild and Scenic Rivers|

* Chattooga River

National Wildlife Refuges|

* Banks Lake
* Blackbeard Island
* Bond Swamp
* Eufaula
* Harris Neck
* Okefenokee
* Piedmont
* Savannah
* Wassaw
* Wolf Island

Other|

* National Historic Landmarks
* National Natural Landmarks
* National Register of Historic Places
* Wilderness Areas

State|

| Parks|

* Amicalola Falls
* Black Rock Mountain
* Chattahoochee Bend
* Cloudland Canyon
* Crooked River
* Don Carter
* Elijah Clark
* F.D. Roosevelt
* Florence Marina
* Fort Mountain
* Fort Yargo
* General Coffee
* George L. Smith
* George T. Bagby
* Georgia Veterans
* Hamburg
* Hard Labor Creek
* High Falls
* Indian Springs
* Jack Hill
* James H. "Sloppy" Floyd
* Laura S. Walker
* Little Ocmulgee
* Magnolia Springs
* Mistletoe
* Moccasin Creek
* Panola Mountain
* Providence Canyon
* Red Top Mountain
* Reed Bingham
* Richard B. Russell
* Sapelo Island
* Seminole
* Skidaway Island
* Smithgall Woods
* Sprewell Bluff
* Stephen C. Foster
* Sweetwater Creek
* Tallulah Gorge
* Tugaloo
* Unicoi
* Victoria Bryant
* Vogel
* Watson Mill Bridge

|

Historic parks
and sites|

* A. H. Stephens
* Chief Vann House
* Dahlonega Gold Museum
* Etowah Indian Mounds
* Fort McAllister
* Fort King George
* Fort Morris
* Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation
* Jarrell Plantation
* Jefferson Davis Memorial
* Kolomoki Mounds
* Lapham–Patterson House
* Lebanon Plantation
* Little White House
* New Echota
* Pickett's Mill Battlefield
* Robert Toombs House
* Travelers Rest
* Wormsloe

Forests|

* Bartram
* Broxton Rocks
* Dawson
* Dixon Memorial
* Hightower
* Paulding
* Spirit Creek

Other|

* Centennial Olympic Park
* Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center
* Jekyll Island
* Len Foote Hike Inn
* Radium Springs
* Sapelo Island
* Stone Mountain Park

County,
municipal
and other|

| Parks|

* Bobby Brown Park
* Chehaw Park
* Cobb County Parks
* Hartwell Lakeside
* John Tanner
* McIntosh Reserve
* Murphey Candler Park
* Okefenokee Swamp Park
* Robert G. Hunter Memorial Park
* Roswell Recreation and Parks
* Seaborn Jones Memorial Park
* Shaking Rock Park
* Standing Boy Creek Park

|

Forests and
nature preserves|

* Autrey Mill Nature Preserve & Heritage Center
* Fernbank Forest
* Marshall Forest
* Morningside Nature Preserve
* Phinizy Swamp Nature Park
* Reynolds Nature Preserve

Nature and environmental
education centers|

* Birdsong Nature Center
* Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center
* Chattahoochee Nature Center
* Cochran Mill Nature Center
* Dauset Trails Nature Center
* Dunwoody Nature Center
* Elachee Nature Science Center
* Georgia Nature Center
* Grand Bay Wetland Education Center
* Melvin L. Newman Wetlands Center
* Oatland Island Wildlife Center
* Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center
* Panola Mountain State Park Nature Center
* Sandy Creek Nature Center
* Savannah-Ogeechee Canal Museum & Nature Center
* Tidelands Nature Center
* Tybee Island Marine Science Center
* West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Outdoor Activity Center

* Georgia Department of Natural Resources
* Georgia Forestry Commission

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Protected areas of the United States by political division

States|

* Alabama
* Alaska
* Arizona
* Arkansas
* California
* Colorado
* Connecticut
* Delaware
* Florida
* Georgia
* Hawaii
* Idaho
* Illinois
* Indiana
* Iowa
* Kansas
* Kentucky
* Louisiana
* Maine
* Maryland
* Massachusetts
* Michigan
* Minnesota
* Mississippi
* Missouri
* Montana
* Nebraska
* Nevada
* New Hampshire
* New Jersey
* New Mexico
* New York
* North Carolina
* North Dakota
* Ohio
* Oklahoma
* Oregon
* Pennsylvania
* Rhode Island
* South Carolina
* South Dakota
* Tennessee
* Texas
* Utah
* Vermont
* Virginia
* Washington
* West Virginia
* Wisconsin
* Wyoming

Federal district|

Washington, D.C.

Territories|

* American Samoa
* Guam
* Northern Mariana Islands
* Puerto Rico
* U.S. Virgin Islands

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