On June 15, former president Jimmy Carter released a letter urging state leaders “to halt any further consideration of HB 906,” a bill currently in the Georgia General Assembly that “would breach the commitments made to [Georgians] who have conveyed land to the state as Heritage Preserves.”  His letter is attached.

House Bill 906 provides a vehicle for portions of Heritage Preserves across Georgia to be sold in 15-acre parcels to private developers, with very few restrictions. HB 906 removes the decision-making for these sales from the General Assembly and delegates responsibility solely to the DNR board and the State Properties Commission.

This bill will open up over 335,000 acres of Heritage Preserve property in Georgia for potential private development.  It will apply to 122 of Georgia’s most valuable and popular wilderness areas, most sacred and important historic and cultural sites, and most beloved public hunting and fishing grounds.

Ossabaw Island, in Chatham County on the Georgia coast, was the first Heritage Preserve, established in 1978 when the Torrey-West family sold the 26,000-acre island to the state for half its appraised value, in part because of commitments made by the state that Ossabaw would be “held by the state in trust for the benefit of the present and future generations of the people of the state of Georgia.”

Here is a sampling of the Heritage Preserve-protected properties across Georgia that will be “open for business” if HB906 passes:

Ossabaw Island

Chattahoochee Bend State Park

Watson Mill Bridge State Park

Laura S. Walker State Park

General Coffee State Park

Pickett's Mill Battlefield State Historic Site

Providence Canyon State Conservation Park

Tallulah Gorge State Park

Little Tybee and Cabbage Islands

Wormsloe State Historic Site

Altamaha WMA (Includes Butler Island)

Ohoopee Mounds Natural Area

Dahlonega Courthouse Gold Museum

Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site 

The Ossabaw Island Foundation opposes HB 906 because of its threat to Ossabaw Island’s perpetual preservation of public ownership, solely for natural, scientific and cultural education, research and study. We are grateful to President Carter for his commitment to Ossabaw and all Heritage Preserves in Georgia.