The recent acquisition of a Forsyth County property has expanded the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area by 18.5 acres.
The Cumming property includes nearly 1,000 feet of frontage along the Chattahoochee River, said the Friday announcement from the Trust for Public Land and the National Park Service. The property will be an addition to the Bowman’s Island Unit of the recreation area, which includes the only Class 2 rapids in this stretch of the Chattahoochee River.
The acquisition will allow for the eventual creation of a riverfront trail on the Forsyth County side of the river from Buford Dam to Highway 20.
George Dusenbury, Georgia state director for The Trust for Public Land, called the property “one of the most scenic” portions of the river.
“We hope even more people will be drawn to enjoy and care for this incredible outdoor destination,” Dusenbury said in a statement.
The Trust purchased the property from a private owner, Ron Green, in 2017. It then sold the land at a “significantly discounted price” to the National Park Service, the news release said.
The National Park Service purchased the land using federal funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which comes from a small fraction of revenues generated by offshore oil and gas royalty payments and not general taxpayer dollars. Federal authorization for LWCF lapsed on Sept. 30.
In March 2017, the organizations announced the acquisition of a Gwinnett County property that expanded the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area by 55 acres.
The Trust for Public Land and its partners have helped conserve more than 18,000 acres of land fronting the Chattahoochee River between its headwaters north of Helen to Columbus since 1996.
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