Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1407173
W e have a treasure here. Of course, there is a great deal of historical significance in our area. Music is at the core of Macon and Central Georgia's rich modern history, but long before Little Richard, Otis Redding and other musical greats sang their way into the hearts of the region and the world, Native Americans called the Macon Plateau home. It is the mission of the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative (ONPPI) to expand the current site of the Ocmulgee National Historical Park into the first National Park and Preserve east of the Mississippi River. "The Indian Mounds, Bond Swamp Wildlife Refuge and Ocmulgee River are the jewels we have here," said Seth Clark, executive director of ONPPI. "This is our history, our culture, the wildlife and natural resources we have." With growing national attention on the importance of preservation in the area, ONPPI has committed to being the driving force behind local conservation efforts. "We look forward to seeing the park and preserve become a nationally-protected resource," Clark said. The arc of Macon's history goes way back beyond the founding of the city. The length of time our region has been inhabited by humans has been repeatedly underestimated over the years, as scientists once thought the site was only 10,000 years old, then 12,000 years old. Evidence now points to the arrival of Paleo-Indians about 17,000 years ago, when they followed animal herds into North America, hunting them with a sharp-edged tool known as the Clovis spear point — two of which have been excavated from the Ocmulgee Old Fields. From that time forward, through the Archaic, Woodland and Mississippian periods, through the rise and fall of the Lamar culture, the indigenous tribes who would eventually be known as the Muscogee-Creek people thrived on the lands in Central Georgia. From hunter-gatherers and settlers to farmers and mound- builders, the Muscogee people evolved. The construction of mounds — from the early platform, earthen burial and stone effigy mounds to later giant, earthen mounds and lodges — are a trademark of this culture. In fact, it was these Native Americans who are known for building the only spirally- ascended mound in North America. Although the Muscogee people thrived for generations, their way of life eventually gave way to both European colonization and the culture that followed. In the removal treaty of 1832, Muscogee leadership exchanged the last of the cherished Muscogee ancestral homelands for new lands in Indian Territory, what would eventually become Oklahoma. The Antiquities Act, signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, was the first U.S. law to provide general protection for any kind of cultural or natural resource and established the first national historic preservation policy for the United States. In the 1920s, a group of concerned Macon residents led an effort to protect the region's mounds, culminating in a 1934 law designating about 700 acres of the Ocmulgee National Monument. In 1997, Macon residents led the effort to establish a much larger area of land around the monument as a Traditional Cultural Property, a designation that provides the area greater legal protection from development. The existing 700 acres would be greatly expanded, with a proposed boundary consisting of 2,500 acres when the acquisition is completed and closed later this year, according to Clark. It is with all this rich history in mind that ONPPI's mission was developed: "To advocate for the expansion of the Ocmulgee National Monument and its eventual integration into the larger network of public lands in the Ocmulgee River corridor south of Macon to form a new Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve. We seek to preserve historical, cultural and environmental values, while simultaneously providing the economic and other benefits of a National Park to Middle Georgia and beyond." The designation changed from National Monument to Historical Park when President Donald Trump signed the John Dingell Act of 2019, according to Clark. That change, as well as the congressional mandate to conduct a special resource study that will research the feasibility of expanding to a National Park and Preserve, were both in that piece of legislation. According to Clark, ONPPI is the "coming together of many partners who share this long-term vision." The park designation process is one that is quite detailed, but that is to be expected, Clark said. "Civic engagement in this process has been excellent; we all want the same thing," he said. The final designation for the project will be as a National Park and Preserve. Expanding the Ocmulgee Historical Park into a National Park and Preserve will have the desired effect of returning Macon to being "a city in a park," as originally designed in 1823 by James Webb, Macon's founding father. AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | maconmagazine.com 51