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Lack of Funding Could Hurt State's Wildlife Plan

Posted on: Wednesday, 6 July 2005, 21:00 CDT

Jul. 6--Wildlife advocates say they hope the state's new wildlife management strategy will leverage money for protecting Oaky Woods Wildlife Management Area in Houston County, as well as other sensitive habitats.

The strategy is intended to identify animals, plants and specific sites that are important to species diversity, then develop ways to study and protect them.

Georgia is at a critical point because land such as Oaky Woods may no longer be available 10 years from now, said Jon Ambrose, assistant chief of Georgia's nongame wildlife and natural heritage section. Oaky Woods is home to Middle Georgia's black bears and rare black belt prairies.

Along with nearby Ocmulgee WMA in Twiggs, Bleckley and Pulaski counties, Oaky Woods was a popular hunting ground owned by Weyerhaeuser timber company and managed by the state under a lease.

But the timber company sold the land last year to a number of owners, including some developers.

Michelle Stanley of Centerville wrote Gov. Sonny Perdue and Department of Natural Resources Director Noel Holcomb recently to ask for their support in protecting Oaky Woods and its black bears. Last week she received a reply from Holcomb saying the state would explore more conservation options during the coming year.

DNR real estate chief Steve Friedman said the DNR lease for Oaky Woods was renewed for one year, but almost half the land was removed from Ocmulgee's lease.

Now only 8,200 acres are being leased for Ocmulgee WMA, 7,352 acres less than in the past, Friedman said. The state owns an additional 9,000 acres there.

"If we had a consistent funding source, we could work with counties to target these lands," Ambrose said. During the past few months, residents around the state voiced support for buying or protecting Oaky Woods at conservation strategy meetings, Ambrose said.

Ambrose said he hopes the wildlife conservation strategy will be a catalyst for setting aside a regular source of funding for wildlife. Current wildlife programs are mostly supported through some federal grants and wildlife license tag sales. Georgia has missed out on many federal grants because it couldn't offer matching funds, Ambrose said.

Susan Kidd, senior vice president of the Georgia Conservancy, said she believes the new conservation strategy is likely to boost funding for a separate new land conservation program created by the Legislature this year.

Land protection is key to saving rare species on private property, said state herpetologist John Jensen, who is trying to preserve a population of rare gopher frogs on former Weyerhaeuser land in Taylor County.

"I feel like we're doing a good job on public land," he said. "How we can influence those actions on private land is a little dicier."

The land conservation program set aside $100 million to pay for land or development rights.

Although a revolving loan fund will keep some money circulating, the Legislature guaranteed no future appropriations. And that money can only be used for habitat protection, not for research on endangered species or breeding and recovery programs.

The state expects to start accepting applications for land protection projects in October, Friedman said.

Other states have consistent sources of funding dedicated to wildlife protection of all types, using methods like a real estate transfer tax or Missouri's one-eighth percent sales tax, Ambrose said. A real estate transfer tax proposal was defeated in Georgia a few years ago.

Despite the wildlife management strategy and new state land protection program, "I'm afraid it's impossibly too late" for Oaky Woods, said Stanley, who remains concerned that it will be cleared by the group of Warner Robins developers who bought it.

"I feel like if something doesn't start soon to fund it and raise money to purchase it, the efforts would be lost," she said.

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Source: The Macon Telegraph (Macon, Ga.)

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