Georgia Piecing Together Network Of Protected Wild Lands

The Conservation Fund bought the Sansavilla property in 2014, and has been restoring it as it’s transferred the land to the state of Georgia.

Stacy Funderburke/The Conservation Fund

Georgia’s Altamaha River is big. It’s one of the largest flowing into the Atlantic Ocean on the eastern seaboard. Over the past couple decades, piece by piece, the state of Georgia has bought up land along either side of it, creating a network of protected forests, marshes and streams called the Altamaha River Corridor.

The state recently acquired a large chunk of property, closing a gap in the corridor. Earlier this fall, about 50 people made their way miles up a dirt road past tree farms, to celebrate the addition of the 17,000 acre-Sansavilla Wildlife Management Area.

Behind the podium, ceremonial ribbon, and pile of scissors, the pine trees opened up to a high bluff and the Altamaha River curving below.