Category: People, Places & Parks

By Rachel Maher, Park Pride For 30 years, Park Pride has engaged communities to activate the power of parks. Thirty years.  The organization was founded in 1989, the year that Seinfeld premiered.  Park Pride was organizing volunteer projects and beautifying Atlanta’s greenspaces when America was “getting online” in the early 90s.  Park Pride was helping […]

By John D’Andrea, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Georgia Power Our lands and waters are more than just our country’s beautiful natural features. They are the very foundation of our security, way of life and all life itself. That is why in 1964, Congress established the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which balances the […]

By Judy Yi, Director of Outreach, Trees Atlanta Since early 2018, the City of Atlanta’s tree protection ordinance has been under review for a rewrite by the Department of City Planning as part of its larger Urban Ecology Framework (UEF) initiative. On August 22nd, over 80 attendees filled the City Council chambers for the latest […]

By Michael Halicki, Executive Director of Park Pride To state that you value the positive relationship between access to nature and health is not, on its surface, a controversial statement. However, when access to nature has a cost, there is a tendency to undervalue the public’s need for it—and its associated health benefits—in relation to […]

By George Dusenbury, The Trust for Public Land in Georgia Sarah Kirsch, Urban Land Institute, Atlanta District Council New analysis from The Trust for Public Land shows that opening schoolyards to the public during non-school hours—including summer break, after school and on weekends—would provide access to open space for 19.6 million people, including 5.2 million […]

Author: Robert Crimian, Coast & Ocean Partnership Coordinator, The Nature Conservancy Almost daily in South Atlantic waters, fishing lines pull deep-dwelling fish to the surface. Not all these fish can be kept. Those that are too small, are out of season, or exceed a catch limit are released back into the water. However, there internal […]

By: Nick Johnson, Georgia Conservancy Senior Planner When it comes to land conservation in Georgia, there is strength in numbers. Conserving lands rich with environmental resources, including wildlife, wetlands, forest, agricultural, and scenic amenities, requires a coordinated effort from non-profits, state agencies, and landowners. The Georgia Conservancy is pleased to announce a new initiative that […]

By Teri Nye, Park Designer at Park Pride (and person who draws) The City of Atlanta is in the process of rewriting its tree ordinance—this is the set of rules that protects trees on public and private land throughout the city. The task isn’t quick or easy, but it’s a necessity as the city grows […]

Author: Ashby Nix Worley, The Nature Conservancy When you sink your toes into the sand at a beach along Georgia’s coast, your first thought probably isn’t about climate change, hurricanes, or the coastal flooding that can result from both. It is worthwhile, however, to consider the role of sand and silt in helping coastal ecosystems […]

By George Dusenbury, state director for The Trust for Public Land in Georgia Do you remember your favorite childhood field trip or summer break excursion? Perhaps you lived for jumping in the lake and enjoying Fourth of July fireworks and cookouts. Did you sit around a fire pit singing songs at camp, explore the beach […]

State and National Parks Offer City Dwellers Opportunity for Adventure By: Georgia Conservancy Communications Director Brian Foster Staying home for the Fourth of July holiday doesn’t mean you have to confine yourself to the neighborhood pool for the entire weekend. The days surrounding the 4th are a wonderful opportunity to unplug and get outside into […]

By Rachel Maher, Park Pride’s Marketing & Communications Manager  As Atlanta’s population grows and the urban environment is developed, our access to nature and greenspace is at risk. What would we lose if we lost our connection to nature? What would that mean for our health and quality of life? And what role do urban […]

As avid readers of People, Places, Parks know, conservation is a long game with many players. Protecting the earth’s land and water, fighting climate change, and safeguarding biodiversity require people from a variety of backgrounds, with diverse expertise and perspectives to achieve shared goals. Some of the most successful partnerships bring together seemingly disparate groups. […]

By Walt Ray, Director, The Trust for Public Land Chattahoochee River Program “What will the BeltLine look like in 20 years?” Before The Trust for Public Land commissioned Alexander Garvin’s “Emerald Necklace Corridor Study” in 2004, the BeltLine was a great idea that was gaining momentum, but it needed a concrete plan to pivot from […]

By: Johanna McCrehan, Georgia Conservancy Urban Design Lead & Nick Johnson, Georgia Conservancy Senior Planner If you have recently found yourself thinking that it couldn’t have been this hot this early last year, there’s a reason for that: a heat wave is currently sweeping across the Southeast. Sustained temperatures over 90oF (and sometimes over 100o) […]

Michael Halicki, Executive Director of Park Pride Last week, I joined Atlanta Regional Commission’s LINK (Leaders Involvement Networking Knowledge) trip to Pittsburgh with other metro-Atlanta leaders. The goal was to connect with and learn tactics for addressing regional issues from Pittsburgh leaders that could be adapted and applied in the Atlanta area. As “the parks […]

Deron Davis, executive director, The Nature Conservancy Diversity, equity and inclusion are critical measures of organizational health. According to Forbes, “study after study has shown that diversity leads to more creative teams and increases a company’s bottom line. Companies ranking in the top quartile of executive-board diversity were 35% likelier to financially outperform the industry […]

George Dusenbury, state director for The Trust for Public Land in Georgia Almost 83 percent of voters checked YES for the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Amendment (GOSA) in the November 2018 election, earmarking up to 80 percent of the existing sales tax collected on outdoor recreation products to create parks, maintain trials and protect land and […]

by Charles McMillan, Georgia Conservancy Natural Resources Director, with Brian Adams, president of the Ocmulgee National Park & Preserve Initiative, and Chris Watson, senior program manager for the southeast region of the National Parks Conservation Association Earlier this year, Congress passed legislation to expand the boundary of the Ocmulgee National Monument, as part of a […]

By Michael Halicki, Executive Director, Park Pride I had the good fortune to be in the room at an Atlanta City Council committee meeting last week when Atlanta Parks Commissioner John Dargle recounted his observations since taking on his role 5+ months ago. This column is an attempt to share his observations and layer on […]