Category: People, Places & Parks

By Jared Teutsch, Executive Director Drive anywhere in metro Atlanta and it’s easy to see the impacts of habitat loss and degradation —trees and hills covered in kudzu, impenetrable thickets of Chinese privet and Japanese honeysuckle, landscapes covered by English ivy — these habitats are not only unsightly, but they are also ecological deserts for […]

The power of parks can only be activated with the help of our community!

By Rich Kenah, CEO of the Atlanta Track Club When Atlanta Track Club was founded in 1964, its focus was competition. While we have always welcomed everyone at our events regardless of speed, age, gender or race − as shown by the growth of our flagship event, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race, into the […]

By Nikki Belmonte, Executive Director Early fall is arguably the most beautiful time of year in Georgia with a new palette of wildflowers blooming, shrubs bursting with berries and hints of autumnal colors in the trees. I have been obsessed with a single plant in my yard – a white wood aster (Eurybia divaricata) planted […]

Play spaces with innovative designs have triple the physical activity compared to non-inclusive spaces.

By Jared Teutsch, Executive Director September has arrived and it is safe to say that we are all eagerly anticipating some a break from the summer heat in the weeks ahead. Fall is a great time to add native plants to your landscape, and once again Georgia Audubon and Georgia Native Plant Society are joining […]

By Andrew White, Director of Park Visioning – Park Pride It has been well established that the tree canopy in Atlanta needs to be protected, and there is a lot of public dialogue and discourse in protecting our City in the Forest.  That being said, my recent travels to other parts of the state make […]

By Jared Teutsch, Georgia Audubon Executive Director This September, Georgia Audubon will celebrate the sixth annual Georgia Grows Native for Birds Month, a celebration of Georgia’s native plants and the key role they play for birds and other wildlife. This year’s celebration will include a variety of workshops and events designed to help Georgians learn […]

Article written by Phillip Howard Video by Marika Gray Taylor The stories of our nation’s Civil Rights heroes run deep through the city of Atlanta and across the South. But we seldom get to hear those stories straight from the heroes themselves. Atlanta resident, Mr. Charles Person, along with Dr. Bernard Lafayette, are two such […]

By Jared Teutsch, Executive Director Georgia is a diverse state, both in terms of its habitats and its people … from the mountains to the coast and everywhere in between. Georgia is also one of the fastest growing states in the nation, and metro Atlanta is at the epicenter of this growth. As people continue […]

By Jared Teutsch, Executive Director The recent smoke plumes in New York City and the northeastern United States from the Canadian wildfires have driven home the evidence that we are all connected. What happens in someone else’s backyard may well spill over into our own. Across the world, climate change is making wildfires, flooding, and […]

By Hannah Palmer Each year, I’m overwhelmed by the dedication of our community and the growth of our “Finding the Flint” Earth Day clean-up. What started with a dozen people in 2018 has snowballed into our biggest volunteer event of the year, drawing over 100 employees from the world’s busiest airport out to experience and […]

By Rob Brawner, Atlanta BeltLine Partnership Executive Director Many of us have heard the adage, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.  The second-best time is now.” This is truer than ever about the opportunity to align investments in parks and affordable housing in Atlanta.  In the past few weeks, there […]

By Jared Teutsch, Executive Director Millions of people enjoy watching birds every day. From those who enjoy birds at their backyard feeders to those who attend birding field trips in our parks and greenspaces, to the more hardcore birders who travel the U.S. and the world adding to their “life lists”, birdwatching is accessible to […]

There is a lot of momentum within the parks movement in Atlanta right now, so much so that it’s had me wondering whether we’re on the brink of a “golden age of parks.” For me, that manifests as having city parks that are maintained equitably and to a higher standard, well connected to communities, and […]

Michael O’Reilly, Director of Policy & Climate Strategy, The Nature Conservancy – Georgia Reading the news each day can raise mixed emotions for me, but I always appreciate the frequent stories describing the new jobs being created in Georgia to meet our state’s emerging opportunities. As Governor Brian Kemp has said, “With a focus on […]