The GreenRoom: December 2005

It’s been a good fall for Georgia’s greenspace. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources completed the $7.3 million purchase of 2,421 acres of land in Southwest Georgia’s Red Hills region in September, along the banks of the Ochlockonee River and Barnetts Creek in Thomas County; and in November announced plans to buy 1,683 acres in Twiggs and Bleckley Counties for conservation purposes. The latter property, known as the Ocmulgee/Shawnee Tract, is valued at $3.3 million and was recommended for funding through Gov. Sonny Perdue’s Land Conservation Program. Other entities involved in the Red Hills purchase include The Conservation Fund, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and Tall Timbers Research Station. The Georgia Land Conservation Council, State Properties Commission, and The Conservation Fund are teaming up on the Ocmulgee/Shawnee purchase.

Gas prices in Metro Atlanta have boosted interest in commuting. Cobb County’s Commuter Club received 2,600 applications, 100 more than its five-month goal, in September alone, Commuter Club executive director Malaika Rivers told the Marietta Daily Journal. The Cumberland Community Improvement District, wedged at the border of Cobb and Fulton Counties, funds the Commuter Club, which offers roundtrip vanpool services to employees working in the area for $50 per month.