MACON, Ga. — It's still unclear if Georgia's first national park could be coming to Macon.
A few years ago, Congress asked the National Park Service to look at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park to see if it could be turned into a national park.
The report the National Park Service released this week raised some concerns about its possibility.
Brian Adams, who founded the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative, said those concerns are based on outdated information.
"It started almost over three years ago, and a lot of what was looked at then- some issues that they had have been addressed," Adams said.
He said the report hasn't kept up with the newest changes his team's made to the national park's plan.
"They did that study then, and with COVID, they have not known and followed everything that we've been doing. And so they kind of did the report, and we've already addressed these issues, we've already been talking to senators and the folks of Congress," Adams said.
The report said that based on its historical and cultural importance, the area deserves to become a national park. But it also said it might not be feasible financially.
It also said the opposition and the challenges of buying hundreds of private parcels will probably be an insurmountable barrier.
"We were anticipating those and knew that was coming, so otherwise, they agree that this is an area that needs to be protected through the park service," Adams said.
He said his team's been working hard in the past years to modify their plan, like cutting down on its size.
"One of the issues was the size of the park, going down the corridor all the way from Macon to Hawkinsville, and the feasibility of acquiring all the land that would be needed. And so, we knew that, and so ultimately, we shrank the footprint a little bit to address some of those issues about the feasibility," Adams said.
And if the national park plan moves forward, Gary Wheat with Visit Macon said everyone will benefit.
"For us here at Visit Macon, that's one of our largest attractions for visitation in the region and Macon-Bibb County," Wheat said.
He said if the park were designated in Macon, visitors would flock to the entire state as well- boosting the economy.
"We're excited to see what Congress can do with the bill, to not only create a national park but the first national park co-managed by an indigenous people which were removed in the Muskogee Creek Nation," Wheat said.
The park service report says they won't recommend the park being turned into a national park because of its feasibility.
But the final decision is up to Congress, who will weigh the information in the report and make their final decision.
On Monday, Sen. Raphael Warnock will visit the Ocmulgee National Historical Park to support it becoming a national park.