Planning for Georgia’s First
National Park and Preserve

As we move closer to making Georgia’s first National Park and Preserve a reality, the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative (ONPPI) is leading an important new effort: developing a Regional Strategic Plan to help Middle Georgia prepare for the impacts and opportunities that a national park will bring.

Thanks to generous funding from the Knight Foundation and in partnership with the Middle Georgia Regional Commission (MGRC), ONPPI has selected planning and design firm Kimley-Horn as their consulting partner to facilitate the planning process. With additional support from tourism experts at Clarity of Place, the planning team will work closely with local, state, tribal, and national partners to create a vision for the park that responsibly stewards this landscape’s cultural and ecological significance, enhances the visitor experience, creates outdoor recreation access, and maximizes the economic benefits for the communities of Middle Georgia.

Why a Strategic Plan?

Creating a new national park involves more than protecting land. It also means analyzing all of the ways a national park will affect our region and communities, as well as how our communities can in turn support the expanded park. The strategic plan will align regional goals for the park and preserve, prioritize needs and opportunities, and provide recommendations to address them. The planning process will rely heavily on local knowledge and expertise to create an impactful roadmap for fully realizing the benefits a national park can bring, ensuring that our voices help shape the future of Georgia’s first national park and preserve.

How to Get Involved?

Public input is at the heart of this process. Starting in June 2025, ONPPI and Kimley-Horn will host a series of community meetings and other outreach events throughout the region. Whether you are a local resident, a business owner, a conservation advocate, a hunter or angler, or someone who simply loves the Ocmulgee landscape, your voice matters.

Sign up for our newsletter, follow us on social media, or check the calendar below to stay updated on events and ways to get involved.

  • With the creation of the national park and preserve expecting to generate over $200 million dollars in commercial activity a year and the creation of several thousand jobs, how can this opportunity be capitalized on to transform the economies of Middle Georgia and create greater prosperity in the region?  

  • How do we steward and restore the ecosystems and species that make the Ocmulgee River Corridor unique, while also creating fun and engaging, but also appropriate and sustainable interactions between nature and the people that visit it?

  • What can our communities do to protect, celebrate, and honor 17,000 years of human habitation along the Ocmulgee River corridor, which is part of the Muscogee Creek people’s ancestral homeland and central to their cultural and historical legacy? 

  • Can the region’s existing infrastructure and transportation networks accommodate what is expected to be a 6-fold increase in visitation to over 1.3 million visitors? Can it keep up with the commercial development that will occur as the result of that increased visitation? If not, what needs to be done so that it can?

  • What can local governments do to guide land use and development around the park and preserve boundaries in ways that support the visitor experience and enhance the surrounding communities?

  • What work needs to be done so that the numerous departments, governments, and agencies that operate in and around the park and preserve can effectively communicate and coordinate to ensure a safe and organized visitor experience?

Shaping the Strategic Plan: Six Key Factors