Georgia lawmakers reintroduce legislation to make Ocmulgee Mounds a national park

Tia Mitchell, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Mar 26, 2025

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WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of Georgia lawmakers is renewing a push to make Ocmulgee Mounds in Middle Georgia the state’s first national park and preserve.

The refiled legislation presents the latest chapter in a decadeslong fight to expand the park and upgrade its designation. In 2023, the National Park Service poured cold water on a plan to increase the Ocmulgee Mounds footprint to include a 50-mile stretch from Macon to Hawkinsville, saying the plan wasn’t feasible because of all the acquisition of private and state-owned land that would be required.

Still, Georgia lawmakers are pushing forward in hopes of providing greater resources and protections to the area, currently known as the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park, which contains ancient and prehistoric artifacts of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

A new bill is being filed Wednesday with every member of Georgia’s delegation signed on as either a sponsor or cosponsor except for U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, who also declined to add his name to last year’s proposal.

Reps. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, and Austin Scott, R-Tifton, the delegation’s senior-most members, are taking the lead in the House. Scott said getting the bill signed into law is a top priority.

“The Ocmulgee Mounds are of invaluable cultural, communal, and economic significance to our state, and I am committed to keeping this initiative moving forward,” he said in a press release.

Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock will introduce a companion bill in their chamber. Warnock said members of the delegation have been working for years on the proposal, and he hopes it can become law this congressional session.

“Local leaders and everyday Georgians have been waiting for Congress to act, and now is the time,” the Atlanta Democrat said. “Working together, we can prove what is possible when we put politics aside to serve the people of Georgia.”

If the measure passes, it would more than double the footprint of the roughly 2,800-acre Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park. Macon officials are hopeful that making it one of roughly 60 national parks, could increase tourism in the region.

Macon Mayor Pro Tempore Seth Clark, who also serves as executive director of the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative, said the legislation has both regional and statewide significance.

“Tens of millions of private dollars have been leveraged to conserve the precious cultural and ecological resources of the Ocmulgee Corridor,” he said. “And this bipartisan legislation allows us to continue to grow the Middle Georgia economy, protect our national security interests at Robins Air Force Base, expand hunting and fishing access, and authentically preserve some of the most culturally significant sites in the country.”