Kids & Family

Advocates Camp on Concrete to Protest Park Funding Cuts

As Georgians head off on Fourth of July holiday weekend camping trips, Environment Georgia set up camp in a parking lot to highlight the dangers of cuts to conservation funding.



As conservation funding decreases in Georgia over the past few years, local advocates are taking steps to protest possible future cuts that might impact parks including the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area near the Smyrna-Vinings area.

Before Georgians head off on Fourth of July holiday weekend camping trips, Environment Georgia, a state-wide nonprofit, set up camp Tuesday in the parking lot of Patagonia in nearby Buckhead to highlight the dangers of cuts to conservation funding.

Advocates say that cuts could mean parks like the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area do not have the funds needed to protect critical greenspace.

"Concrete camping is no fun,” said Environment Georgia’s State Advocate Jennette Gayer. “But this is the future that Congress is advocating for if they continue to cut funding from critical conservation funds.”

Established in 1963, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) serves as the only major national fund for expanding greenspace. The fund is authorized at $900 million annually. However, only about $315 million was spent on conservation funding in 2012 and $322 million in 2011, according to Environment Georgia.

The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area was bought and created using the conservation fund, which depends on offshore oil lease dollars and not tax payer dollars. The park, landscaped for 10,000 acres of greenspace along the Chattahoochee River near Smyrna-Vinings and East Cobb areas, has stalled out at 6,500 acres—as funding has dried up, said Gayer.

Environment Georgia advocates are urging state legislators to approve a proposal in the Senate (S. 338), which would provide full and dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund in perpetuity.


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