Macon Magazine

70 maconmagazine.com | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2021 O aky Woods, one of Georgia's 135 Wildlife Management Areas, is located in the southeast portion of Houston County along the Ocmulgee River and has long been a favorite spot of sportsmen and lovers of wild spaces. The Department of Natural Resources says Oaky Woods is 12,750-acres offering opportunities for hunting deer, turkey, small game, coyote and feral hog — but there's more. On the DNR's Oaky Woods web page, it goes on to say the site also offers primitive campsites, geocaching, fishing, organized quota and youth hunts and wildlife viewing. What it doesn't mention is hikers, cyclists and enthusiasts of numerous other outdoor activities are welcome. "It is beautiful, and you can see all kinds of wildlife," said Warner Robins bicyclist Rebekah Less. "Honestly, you can get a lot of miles on the bike there, too. It's a great place to ride with a group of people of all levels and see beautiful scenery, wildlife and make the experience what you want." Another thing the DNR site doesn't mention is that Oaky Woods is part of one of Georgia's three primary black bear population areas and, like the black bears there, was itself once threatened by Houston County's explosive growth — nearly 100,000 new people in the past 50 years and an average increase of more than 2,300 people per year for most of the last five years. Apart from circumstance, local conservation advocacy, county involvement and eventual state action, enjoyment of the now protected public lands would be lost and with it the habitat of 300-400 black bears, other wildlife, plants and trees — some rare. The woods could easily have become just another neighborhood with as many as 30,000 residential lots. The story of Oaky Woods and how it came to be safeguarded would take a book to detail, and there is such. It was written by John Trussell, a retired head of Houston County's probation office, historian, outdoor writer and the central figure in the quest to save Oaky Woods. By late last century, that phrase, "Save Oaky Woods," became a battle cry and bumper sticker. It's also the name of Trussell's book detailing facts about the woods and the long effort to save it. It shows what a handful of dedicated conservationists and outdoorsmen can accomplish. "I first set foot in Oaky Woods when I was 15 and loved it ever since," Trussell said. "I've hunted, hiked, ridden my bike and enjoyed Oaky Woods in so many ways I just couldn't imagine us losing. But I could easily see it happening. I thought someone should do something about it and realized it might have to be me." Trussell, now 70, said his family moved to Houston County from Butler County when he was 2 years old. He developed an early love for the outdoors as a youngster roaming around, and knew the location of every beaver pond between Sandy Run Drive and Leisure Lake. By 12 he'd built his own log cabin. But before going further, knowing Oaky Woods' broader history is warranted. What's now Oaky Woods was a favorite homeland to Native Americans who left artifacts dating back at least 13,000 years. All farmed, fished, hunted and practiced commerce in communities along the Ocmulgee's banks and traveled up and down the river for trade and socialization — including visiting neighbors to the north at what is now Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park. It was a Clovis point — think spear tip or arrowhead — found in the area that dated back to prehistoric, Paleo- Americans showing that where cyclists now ride and hunters pursue turkeys, ice-age hunters may have hunted or defended themselves against large game including wooly mammoths. More modern Native Americans, such as the Muscogee (Creek), lived there before being driven west from Georgia when lands were illegally taken and they were relocated to Oklahoma, where many live today. "The history is so rich and the area so beautiful that I and others believed it would be a tragedy to let it go," Trussell said. "Not to mention the impact of losing such an important bear habitat. As a private citizen, I got involved because I believe anyone can have a positive impact and everyone should leave things better than they were — certainly not worse." Trussell writes in his book that in 1966, 19,000 acres of Oaky Woods was leased by the state. For years, the larger Oaky Woods area was privately owned by timber, land and forest products companies, most notably Weyerhaeuser Co., which sold all its Georgia land holdings in 2004. As an outdoor columnist for Warner Robins' one-time daily newspaper, The Sun, Trussell advocated as early as 1986

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