Why Ocmulgee Mounds Might be America's Next National Park
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- Ocmulgee Mounds might become America's next National Park, albeit with a sizeable boundary expansion and a less-than-perfect set of logistical challenges. In this video, I'm giving you a deep dive on the effort to create an Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve, including what this park would even entail, the reasons its proponents are pushing for it in the first place, and why the National Park Service itself doesn't think it should be created...
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You hit the nail on the head: politicians love to tout new national parks in their area of constituency (the most egregious example is Gateway Arch) but then turn on their heals and deny sufficient funding for the NPS. In my opinion, if there are significant local entities opposed to the expansion, let's use the limited resources to maintain the parks we have. They could use a lot of help.
It's a real problem, and very unfortunate because there are lots of places with significant resources worth protecting under the NPS, but sadly they are never supported and then those resources end up suffering. It's the double edged sword of creating new National Park units - on the one hand, they are very necessary and worthy of protection, but on the other, they're never properly supported and the resources they're tasked with protecting end up with the short end of the stick.
@@NationalParkDiaries another problem is with some of the vendors. I'm sure you're familiar with what went down at Crater Lake Lodge. I'm going to Big Bend next year, and the lodge there is also run by Aramark. I purposely picked another place to stay, even though it's outside the boundaries and a bit less convenient.
@@NationalParkDiaries From what ive heard recently Chiricahua National Monument is going to be turned into a national park in the next year or so down in Arizona. Pretty decent park, but it is kinda in the middle of nowhere, and they need to change the roads to get their and increase staffing a lot (considering a lot of times its not even really staffed at all).
As a local, I believe this is a fantastic analysis and I 100% agree with you. Most other locals I've discussed this with seem to also agree that it should become a National Park. Great video as always. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for watching!!
Hi there! I just discovered your videos have been binging them nonstop. I know that in my homestate of Michigan, there was talk of making the Huron Mountains an NPS site in the 1950s but a private club lobbied against this. I would love to see a video on places like this, the NPS sites that never were. Keep making great videos!
Glad to have you here in the community! I've been getting a lot of request for that particular question - I'll see what I can do!
Thank you explaining the details and context about Ocmulgee Mound National. I live in Georgia and have been to the NHP. We had a great visit and would like to go visit again in the Spring or Fall timeframe. Not sure it has the grandeur as many National Park across this country, but the "other" areas might change my thinking. Once upon a time, Ocmulgee had a National Monument signage and it magically changed to a NHP.
I think the "other" areas certainly have potential. I'm a Southeastern native and unfortunately many of our natural areas have been lost and/or degraded over the years. I think the Ocmulgee area has a lot to give in terms of representative Southeastern landscapes. I think a lot of the problem, unfortunately, is logistical and economic. As the NPS pointed out in its report, it's just going to take a lot of time and money for the full park to come together, which might make it entirely infeasible.
This sort of reminds me of the situation at Delaware Water Gap NRA. There's been a movement to reclassify it as Delaware River National Park & Lenape Reserve but there's a lot of local pushback to the idea. Like you said in this video, reclassifying as a np brings the hope of more funding. Locals think that more funding is far from guaranteed, so with the increased traffic and visitors, the park and the infrastructure will be worse off than it is currently.
DE Water Gap is so popular because it's one of the only good hiking spots around that region. NYers can go upstate but that's further, and Philly people can go to Shenandoah but that's also further lol. Yeah Water Gap definitely needs more funding from all the foot traffic it's getting and going to get.
@@jinntakk I'm outside of Philly and it's 3 hrs and 45 min to Shenandoah. Definitely long weekend material. I can see where the naysayers are coming from but personally it would be pretty cool to have a national park that close.
DWG is a fascinating park in many aspects! Hoping to cover it here on the channel someday. But yes, I see a lot of similarities with that effort and the one at Ocmulgee. Honestly, a lot of Eastern Parks are going to have these same issues brought up.
My Dad took me to the Ocmulgee Mounds a lot as a kid. Some of my favorite memories with him were late mornings spent hiking around.
It was a really cool place. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there!
So grateful for your work helping to bring attention to our awesome parks
Couldn't do it without you all watching and supporting. Thanks for being interested and engaged!
Archeological sites of the mound builder cultures are underrepresented in the NPS, so it'd be nice to see some get a higher profile. Up where I live they're primarily effigy mounds, and I made the trek out to Effigy Mounds National Monument itself earlier this year and had a great time. (Congress please give them funding so they can finally build a walkway connecting the north and south units that they've been wanting for years.)
This was my first exposure to the Mississippian Mound Building sites, and I was very impressed! Looking forward to visiting more!
@@NationalParkDiariesmake sure you check out Cahokia Mounds right across the Mississippi river when you visit the Gateway Arch National Park 🫶
Love hearing about these potential parks. The US is littered with places that make you wonder how they aren’t more protected. The salmon river national forest area of Idaho was chock full of historical buildings from days of mining and logging, surrounded by incredible scenery. I recently stopped by craters of the moon in Idaho too, and the historical journey you get from reading the plaques as you drive around totally
Immerses you in the history and geology.
very true in the north country of new england as well. Mt Desert island is facing extreme overcrowding issues in recent years, and yet the Maine wilderness that nobody is exploring is sprawling hundreds of times larger through the 100-mile wilderness, Baxter state park etc... although it is also because these trails are rough in comparison to the more accessible parks in the east
Totally agreed. One of the things the NPS mentioned in their Special Resource Study for Ocmulgee is that the cultural and biological resources are intertwined. You can't protect one without the other, which I think is a great way to remind ourselves that humans have always been part of these landscapes and that protecting them is protecting our history.
@@NationalParkDiariesso have you decided to start supporting the Gateway Arch National Park then? 🙄
I kind of wish Big Thicket in SE tx would get a similar expansion/redesignation. It would get more funding and become a very nice park, and they can still reserve some areas for hunting/fishing.
Haven't made it out to Big Thicket yet, but it's very fascinating to me. One day!
Thank you for bringing attention to this area! With the indigenous support , i really hope this can become an National Park at least. If- it would benefit the area and be in line with cultural respect and responsible management.
I suspected, but never knew, what lt meant for fighting with criteria/red tape/ local land concerns for National status. Glad to know at least the current management of all 3 levels is managing ok through partnership with state/DNR. Definitely will contact the Senate members (especially before next cycle)
❤ from North Ga
Before I watched this video I didn't know about the Ocmulgee Mounds, nor its potential status as a National Park. Now I'm fully onboard with it becoming the US' next National Park and joining the chorus on politicians being terrible at putting flowery language into (financial) action.
Thank you for your valuable service :)
Thanks so much for watching, Maya!
Great video as always. I learned a great deal. It would be exciting to see this become a NP.
I didn't realize that the existing NHP was literally within walking distance of downtown Macon on the west and Macon's airport to the east. There are also some heavy industrial uses and corporate parks adjacent to the would-be national park, as well as transmission line corridors and railroads going through it. A railroad line runs right next to one of the mounds. I can't be sure if the railroad cut through one of the mounds, and another has a fence cutting it in half. I imagine this is where property acquisition would happen to restore integrity to the mound features. This would be very much an urban national park which would make it very accessible and more likely to reach its visitation estimates.
As someone from the Western US, I'm not used to national parks in an urban setting. The proximity to the city is what surprised me at first. It is apparent to me however, that the river south and between the NHP and the NWA appears to be a significant natural area that would be great to protect.
I can say that, after my visit, I can see this park looking a bit like New River Gorge - a linear/corridor centered park with lots of cultural, historical, and ecological resources. Granted, it's going to take A LOT of work to get some of these areas ready to receive visitors (not so much Ocmulgee Mounds itself, but the surrounding public lands). My fear for this park is that it will be created, but not supported, and the resources will suffer under the weight of underfunding and overtourism. I hope the full vision can be realized however and I'm rooting for it!! Thanks for your comment.
During that description, I kept wondering what the differences would be to Moundville or Bottle Creek Mounds. Both of those are near major ecological hotspots as well (the Cahaba River/Dolomite Glades and the Mobile-Tensas Delta).
To my understanding, the difference would be the shear volume/density of historical and cultural resources, in addition to being adjacent to nationally significant natural resources as well. In the NPS Special Resource Study, they acknowledge that no sites East of the Mississippi have such a concentration of cultural, historical, and biological resources.
This place is already extremely well run and maintained and I encourage everyone who can to add it to their itinerary of places to visit and to wear your walking shoes.
The local outdoorsmen are deeply concerned about the impact to the WMA that would have on their rights as hunters and fishers of these areas and the homeowners in the path are well aware that the government is quite willing to use the power of eminent domain to just take what they want for the perceived "greater good".
Anyone familiar with the area knows that anything boosted by local politicians is undoubtedly driven by personal gain and political power aspirations.
That in itself makes the entire plan suspect in my mind.
I do agree the Muscogee should be invited to take an active role in the management of the park because after all it is their ancestral capital and has holy significance to the tribe. It's a chance to at least to some degree rectify the grave injustice done to them.
I don't think there's any doubt that politics is playing a role in the creation of this park, and that a healthy dose of skepticism is always a good thing when it comes to politicians and parks, but I do think it's worth acknowledging a few other points in your comment:
1) The park is being proposed as a National Park AND Preserve, the latter of which would allow locals to retain hunting and fishing rights in areas where they are currently already allowed. The specifics could look different once the park is completed of course, but as of this moment, I don't think there's any reason to believe hunting and fishing rights would be curtailed.
2) Eminent Domain is certainly something that _could_ happen, but I don't think _will_ happen. It's not mentioned in any of the documentation I read for this park proposal, and would definitely turn an already contentious land acquisition process into an even more difficult one. Personally, I don't see that happening.
Thanks for your thoughts and feedback though, I appreciate you contributing to the conversation!
Making this site a national park seems more like a revenue grab from the NP distinction. Mounds have always been primarily historical parks or national monuments. They hold significance but generally have people living nearby. Look at Serpent Mound, Cahokia, Effigy mounds etc.
The disparity is money generated per year estimated at $206.7 million is very generous. It would also cost 226 million AVERAGE to acquire land. I think the $325 million is more representative because of eminent domain need to acquire parcels that don't wish to sell. Another financial aspect is fish and wildlife. They usually give up national parks when it is cost-prohibitive to maintain or pressured by federal regulators.
I don't think there is enough of a push right now and the recent parks (Indiana Dunes, White Sands, New River Gorge ignoring Gateway Arch) indicate a shift towards geologically significant areas as opposed to historically significant areas.
I think Craters of the Moon Idaho would be better suited for a national park. Idaho has no parks yet and it checks all the boxes. Georgia is just pushing for revenue and to get off the "states without a national park" list
I'm all for this park, I really hope it happens. I've been following the project for some time now. I think consolidating land management under the NPS would benefit the biodiversity in the area and help preserve the archaeological records there (and maybe even discover more!). The economic factors are nice and all, but I don't think they're even necessary to legitimize this as a park. I'm really digging the possible new trend of Park & Preserves in the lower 48. I hope it becomes a trend, at least.
Yep, I think the Park and Preserve combo is a nice form of park building, especially on the East Coast. It's really the best way to get a lot of people on board, while still protecting valuable resources. I actually think the Ocmulgee effort could learn a lot from New River Gorge in terms of the river corridor style park with significant cultural, historical, biological, and recreational resources it could offer.
This is an incredible video! Maybe I’ll make it to Macon to see the mounds someday, regardless of NP status or not. Thank you for laying this out for us! I don’t know how I feel about changing hands from the land owned by FWS and the State of Georgia, since I don’t know if the NPS designation will add more protection than it already has. I’d love a follow-up video on your experience visiting as well!
Thanks so much, Steve!
That is a fascinating and complex situation to consider, thanks for covering it so well
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the awesome content and all the great videos!!
Thanks for watching!
The proposed legislation (Senate bill 4216 and House Bill 8182) attempts to address the feasibility issue by paring back the expanded park boundaries to cut out the sections that would require purchases from multiple private landowners. The park service’s recent comments on 5/15/24 at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee on National Parks indicate that they would like to see the proposed bill amended to extend co-management opportunities to additional indigenous groups who also see the Ocmulgee corridor as ancestral land along with the Muskogee (Creek) people; but, NPS otherwise supports the intent of the bill.
Let’s make Sleeping Bear Dunes here in Mi the next one! :)
The Ocmulgee National Park is a great idea. The corridor along the Ocmulgee River has great historical, cultural, and natural areas. The Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and Browns Mount have not been adequately made accessible while conserving the area. The Georgia wildlife management areas are a joke. Very few Georgians in this are even know that they exist and if you go there...well, let's say it's not well kept. It is an area of many bird species, alligators, black bear, deer, raccoons, opossums, snakes, wild hogs and great fishing. A National Park and Preserve designation would protect the area while allowing accessibility. And most importantly, the collaboration with the Muscogee Creek is so very important to tell the story of the indigenous people of the Southeast.
Agreed on all counts! When I was there, I just kept thinking about New River Gorge and how it's a corridor style park with lots of natural and cultural resources. I can something like that happening at Ocmulgee with a little bit of TLC!
Ty for your hard work on this video!
Thank you for watching it!
Thank you for this video. I live near the Oaky Woods section of the proposed national park. I must admit that I'm on the fence about the new park. The existing NHP is a great asset, but I'm not sure adding the WMAs add much value. Maybe we should listen to the NPS on this one & enjoy what we have.
It's a tough situation, for sure. I traveled to the park and surrounding area this past May, and must admit, I found it hard to envision a National Park there. I think, under the right circumstances, an Ocmulgee NP could work - kind of like a New River Gorge-style river corridor park and preserve combo- but the problem is, I just don't think those circumstances will ever materialize in a way that would do justice to the park and the surrounding communities. Time will tell, I guess.
We need to take better care of the parks we have. I saw the sad wear and tear effects on GSMNP recently. I hadn't been in 3 years.
They need to charge an entrance fee, even if just passing through 441.
It's actually against the law for GSMNP to charge an entrance fee. It's not allowed to according to its enabling legislation, which was actually one of the reasons behind their new parking tag requirement.
@@NationalParkDiaries I guess I actually did know that. Permit system is a farse though.
There has been a push to make Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site a NP for years. It is one of the top most culturally significant sites in country, and absolutely deserves the designation based upon that alone. The last I’ve heard is the state of Illinois doesn’t want to give it up, but they have been fumbling around trying to renovate the interpretive center for years now, and the building has been closed all the while . So frustrating. Anyway, I hope Ocmulgee can get it done.
Cahokia absolutely deserves more love and attention. The more I've learned about it over the years, the more I've come to appreciate it. Haven't made the trip out there yet, but I will someday.
6:24 Ok, initially, it sounded like this site was exclusively protecting just historical stuff, but then you mentioned this stuff. Until that point, I was thinking this doesnt deserve park status.
Yep, lots of good resources protected here!
Is it safe to say that the management and logistical issues raised would be true for any new part east of the Mississippi?
I think those types of issues are certainly more likely for most parks East of the Mississippi just because of the land use and ownership patterns here. But, I think the problem at Ocmulgee also has to do with the shear number of land managers and owners that would fall within its boundaries (USFWS, State of Georgia, DOD, private landowners).
Right on... absolutely
Interesting to imagine that politics could be the reason for making this a national park. It absolutely wouldn’t be the first time that this has happened (looking at you, Gateway Arch), but it would still be awful to see such a promising park fail due to budgetary/logistical issues that have been ignored.
That's my biggest fear with this park. By all accounts, the resources here are worthy of NPS protection, but recent history tells us that the park won't be supported with the finances that would be needed to adequately protect those resources. Only time will tell I guess...
Keep in mind that the increase in economic activity will only last as long as people think they are seeing something particularly outstanding. When every place is a national park, there won't be any advantage to going there.
Thanks for such an excellent video.
Thanks for watching!
I think the comanagament arrangement over a much larger area alone is enough to support this
It would be an unprecedented arrangement East of the Mississippi River - and a welcome one!
Another great video. I hope other people appreciate your comments and are ready to help make this another national park, I know I will, if I can.❤❤❤
Thanks so much!!
Thank you! Well summed up
Thanks!
I’m pretty much always gonna be supportive of new national parks. If anything I see the development threats as all the more reason why such a park is necessary to preserve these resources. However proper funding will be very important as always.
Yep, I think funding is at the crux of this issue. The resources are well worth protecting under the NPS, but if you increase the visitation without following that up with proper funding, ultimately the resources will suffer. I think the park could work as a New River Gorge-style corridor park with significant recreational, historical, cultural, and biological resources, but that's going to require Congress to pony up the financial support the park deserves.
A strong report. However, one huge environmental component to making this a Natural Park aside from the fact that you failed to make it clear that forestry and mineral extraction are paramount since once they happen the environment never recovers. I learned this the hard way as a young regional planner in the NE Georgia Mountains in the early 1970s as the pressures of recreational growth and tourism was being recognized as a boon and a threat and my office worked diligently to identify sections of forest that had had a hundred years or more to recover from timber harvesting prior to the Civil War so that our delineation might get the cooperation of the US Forestry Service to classify them as Defacto Wilderness Areas to be set aside from future timber harvesting. And as receptive as they seemed to be, as soon as we submitted our maps, and while we waited to hear back, they took blocks of several hundred acres in the center of the candidate areas and let contracts to be clear cut, eliminating any possibility forever as long as their management attitudes didn’t change, since they could have another section cut as this one came close to recovery, or they would clear cut all of it and nock it all back 100 years minimum. But these are secondary to the greater environmental issue, and that is that the Ochmulgee River is the last wild and free flowing river in the Southeastern United States, and as such, just like the Buffalo River in Arkansas which was the first National Park consisting of a River, so should the Ochmulgee River Basin and Coastal Estuary become a living example of how the environment works.
The old professor
Live free or die!!!
Death ☠️ to all tyrants, all tyrants foreign and domestic!!!
Pedophiles too!!!
No Shit………….
Looks like the Georgia Department of Natural Resources changed its tune this week and are now expressing their support for the national park. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction for preserving this area!
I learned something that had bugged me for years when I used to run there. There really is a reason for those bear proof garbage cans. I thought that they were there just because the park service bureaucracy said all trash cans had to be bear proof. I didn't think that bears actually lived anywhere near Macon.
Technically, I think those trash cans also help with animals like raccoons and opossums as well. But I feel ya, I didn't know that area had bears either!
Just wondering… when the NFWS transfers land to the NPS, is there a sale or transfer of funds between the two organizations? Or because they are under the same large umbrella, does the transfer just happen on paper without compensation?
I could be wrong, but I don't believe there is a "sale." I believe it's just a simple land transfer. This has happened many times with USFS lands that have been used to create National Parks (Olympic, Grand Teton, etc)
There was a other one proposed by Winona,Minnesota. Since has died
US 20. as I'm sure you know, goes through Yellowstone NP.
Thank you for sharing... May I ask if you are available to visit our area southern California Inland Empire area San Bernardino area?
That's one of those areas I haven't been able to make it to yet, but hope to at some point in the future! Many good parks in the area that I would like to talk about.
@@NationalParkDiaries my grandson and I are in the process of setting up a Nature Discovery Center and Land Conservancy. We are in the escrow stage of purchasing parcels of land throughout the area... The area is full of native American culture and history.
Example; Stagecoach Way Station and Airfield of the 40's n 50's
We would like to replica these sites.
There are no national parks within our region.
We would like to commission you for Video Narrator of our Story.
Calimesa and Yucaipa California.
Sounds like an interesting project. You can send more info to npdiariesyt@gmail.com for business inquiries. It's easier to reach me there than here in the comments section lol
What about Cahokia Mounds in Illinois? It is the largest pre-Columbian site in the US and a UNESCO World Heritage Site yet does not have any NPS status
No NPS status, but it is still protected as a State Historic Site in Illinois at least. Not sure the reason it never got NPS status, but could be a fun story to dig into.
Id rather see the Okeefenokee as a national park than Ocmulgee. It seems a better fit but even proposing that gives me pause for concern.
What the general public doesn't seem to understand is that the rules and regulations under NPS will be much more stingent and will severely curtail access and activity (i.e.: camping, fishing, hunting, hiking) in what are currently the state WMA and the land under USFWS. If the NPS takes over those you can just about guarantee they won't allow primitive camping, hunting or fishing, and any hiking will only be accessible through the main gate at the cost of a fee.
On the contrary, lands managed by the NPS are about _more_ access, not less. Legally speaking, the NPS is required to manage resources for both natural resource conservation and visitor access. Here at Ocmulgee, the park is specifically being proposed as a National Park AND Preserve, the latter of which would allow locals to retain hunting and fishing rights. This type of park is also in place at New River Gorge, Great Sand Dunes, and many parks in Alaska. One of the main drivers behind this park, recreation wise, is to _increase_ recreation opportunities, including hunting and fishing, given that these sorts of areas are becoming increasingly restricted in Middle Georgia. I visited this park and surrounding areas as part of my research for this trip, and I actually noticed that Bond Swamp NWR and the WMAs were less accessible to visitors than the Ocmulgee Mounds NHP was. There was just less infrastructure and information regarding how to access and visit those areas. Ocmulgee Mounds also doesn't charge an entrance fee, and to my knowledge, still wouldn't if redesignated as a National Park. Now, this doesn't mean there aren't other challenges associated with this park becoming reality, but I don't think access is one of them.
@@NationalParkDiaries That's good to know. Let's hope that's the case if it goes through.
Maybe make it a State Park? I have a lot of reservations over the Federal ownership of lands. As you say the politicians promise a lot of funding and yet for some reason it never goes through.
A State Park wouldn't be very likely in this scenario. Most land that would be included in a potential National Park are already under federal ownership. The best we can hope for is, if the park is created, a more supportive Congress in the not-too-distant future.
I don't understand why people are hung up on the term "National Park". There are only 63 "National Parks" out of 430 NPS units. What about the other 18 designations? The park where I work (Saint Gaudens NHP) was recently redesignated from a National Historic Site to a National Historical Park. Nothing really changed. We still manage it the same way they manage Yellowstone or Yosemite. After 3 years they haven't even changed the entrance sign! It seems to me that the NPA is doing a good job at the Historical Park and the other land management agencies are protecting their resources while providing public access.
No argument from me there. I make a point to visit ALL NPS locations I come across, not just the "big 63." I find them all equally fascinating and worthy of protection just the same. Thanks for your work helping to protect our National Parks!
It would be cool to have a new park in the east but it really doesn't sound feasible. As long as the WMA's and wildlife refuge remain protected I don't see a problem with the status quo.
It will be an interesting situation to follow for sure. I'll be keeping my eye on this one to see which sort of philosophy ultimately wins out.
After hearing that this was on the list (and maybe the top rung) to be the next National Park, I stopped in to check it out. I tried to imagine it happening and I was bummed at the thought of it. The history is neat but it can be wrapped up with 3 or 4 plaques. Grassy mounds with some very average woods around it is all there is. This would easily be #64 for me (YES, worse than The Gateway Arch). I found it absolutely boring and completely forgettable (and I LOOOOOVE all the smaller NP's that don't get much love) but this one is a hard 'huh?' for me.
And then of course I watched your video, after I already posted. Now, I'm looking forward to seeing what all the Park would encompass. If it includes lots of land along the Ocmulgee, that could be very cool. I do stand by my original post though, in that, what is there now is cool historically but completely not worthy of NP status.
The historical and archeological significance of that area should trump all of those reasons.
The good thing is there's not really a competition for which resources are most important - they all contribute to the area's national significance!
The destruction of mounds in the USA is such a sin. There should be massive funding on preserving what's left.
There are a few areas at Ocmulgee where you can clearly see this, and the Park Service even has interpretive signs about it. In 2 separate incidents, railroad cuts were built right through the mounds, one of which is now a park road.
The next Pratt National Park.
$300 Million isn’t really a huge amount for the federal government. One highway intersection costs that much
In the scope of the National Park Service, that's actually a tremendous amount. I agree with the sentiment that we should probably allocating federal dollars more wisely (highway expansion being a great example), but $300 million purely for land acquisition at a park the size of Ocmulgee is a huge barrier to establishment.
@@NationalParkDiariesyeah I suppose my statement was only half correct. It isn’t a drop in the bucket for the federal gov, but the federal gov is unfortunately letting one of the most important agencies go dry while it wastes money in other areas.
At this point, we should just designate all 429 units of the NPS as National Parks. It is truly ridiculous that units that have no business becoming NPs are being changed. It is purely political and they are diminishing the value of the name NationalPark.
Swift Land
National Park !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great video, except it is pronounced:
Oak-mull-gee.
You know what’s sad? Places like this takes years to be National Park, it meets all the criteria. Do you know what doesn’t? Steamtown.
Are you saying Steamtown shouldn't be a NHS or should be a national park destination?
@@Dsgreenly yes I do. They don’t care about their history or American railroad history. It’s like Scranton version of California Railroad Museum and with 90% of Canadian equipment cosmetically restored and the original Blount collection is falling apart.
He says specifically in this video that it does not meet 2 out of 4 criteria by the NPS itself. And it's already protected as a NHP. Do you know how you can destroy a resource? Give it a NP branding, see a projected five fold massive visitation increase, and not enough staff and funds to protect it.
@@nordisk1874 That's a infamous park. Been talked about for decades. It's sad but politics wins when it comes to the NPS and a Congress and administrations that ask them to do more and more with less.
@@Dsgreenly it shouldn’t be anything.
I don't understand what defines park or site. This is a historic site only in my opinion. In my opinion because it comes with acreage, it is a historic park. It could be a scenic river even, but it is not a "national park" in my opinion.
My home town had Indians, British troops, civil war camp, industrial factories, etc. We are not a national park.
What defines a park or site changing in status from one type to another is determined by politics. They should just expand the NHP. But they want the NP branding for tourism $. I'm all in favor of the co management with indigenous people on their historical lands but you don't need to make it a NP to do that.
It’s very simple. We get a “National Park” when a member of congress convinces enough other members of congress to vote on it. That’s how the Arch in St Louis became a National Park.
Potential economic impact is the WORST reason to create a National Park. National Parks are not Disney World.
I agree with you. However, it is always in the conversation when discussing new National Parks and is very relevant when trying to understand an effort like Ocmulgee - hence its discussion in this video.
I think this very much diminishes the idea of the national Park. This simply is not one of America's very best locations to see. It is fine as it is and we all know this would be a purely political decision.
I think it is time to stop creating new national parks. There are plenty of areas that are deserving of the name out west, but let's leave them be so they aren't overrun with Instagrammers. Enough is enough.
The west isn't the area of America with natural and cultural significance. All of our stories should be preserved and told.
The economics of a park depends more on community involvement (promotion, lodging, etc) than the existence of the park. Having lived just outside of Voyageur's NP in MN I've seen where the "promise" of an economic boost never came close to what the locals expected. International Falls, MN, about 12 miles from the Rainey Lake visitor center expected thousands to come to the area and fill both city and business cash registers. But the city never really promoted the park, lodging for visitors never really improved nor new lodging ever built.
And there still is resentment by a fair size population due to the methods used by government contractors to get landholders inside the border of the NP to sell. Usage of lowballing value and threats of forced eviction have left a sour taste in the mouths of many. And after the property was sold, cabins were either burned or torn down before the families could remove heirlooms and other materials they wanted to keep. I know of people who went out to empty their cabins 2 weeks later only to find either ashes or the remains of torn down buildings. The park has worked to try to mend the rift caused by those contractors, but the wounds are deep and will go on for generations. One individual who worked for me swore he would never have anything to do with the park, told his children and grandchildren about the way the NPS stole their property and will tell his story to anyone who will listen. He runs into a lot of people traveling through the area and does his best to knock the NPS.
Putting a NP in an area requires a lot more than NPS taking over and running it. Care must be taken to not insult or "ripoff" the locals when acquiring land. The local area has to step up to provide support for the tourist industry (decent lodging, restaurants plus the other support you need). There may be an estimate of 200,000 people will visit in a season, but they need a place to sleep, eat and have other things to do. Business owners need to be careful not to give the impression they are milking a cash cow (something a few businesses in International Falls continue to try), Politicians need to keep their promises for funding. And the whole area needs to be in it for the long term.
Living in southern Georgia, a new park would be a welcome addition. But I'm not sure Macon and the surrounding areas are really ready for it. Poverty is a major issue, crime is another issue in the region, roads need to be updated....I could go on.
And let's not forget about a small band of Muskogee Cherokee in southern Georgia are completely cut out of the talks as the Oklahoma Cherokee and US government refuse to recognize them. They were able to hide out and remain while their northern bretheren were forced to leave Georgia by Andrew Jackson on the Trail of Tears. The members of the southern band were able to hide out, pass for white or were protected by neighbors who would claim they were slaves when questioned as their northern cousins were deported. Their descendants still speak their language, follow traditions and hope one day the Oklahoma tribe will follow through on a promise made when the southern band helped them get US government recognition. The promise of helping them be recognized by the federal government. They are recognized by the state of Georgia as a native tribe, but need the federal recognition to help them survive.