MACON, Ga. — Macon's National Historical Park is about to double in size, adding 905 acres to the Ocmulgee National Historical Park.
The new land is adjacent to where the park sits now and stretches down Ocmulgee East Boulevard all the way to Lamar Mounds Road.
"It's been peaceful for so long. I hope it stays that way," said Roger Woodford.
Woodford has lived out on Ocmulgee East Boulevard since 1981.
"When we first moved over here. All of this was like woodland, all of this, and it’s done grew. I got neighbors now," Woodford said.
But soon, he'll get another neighbor. A national park will be practically moving to his front yard, but Woodford says he hasn't heard from local leaders or the National Park Service on how the park will be developed.
"Let us know what’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen, how everything’s going to be set up. I wish someone would come by and tell us," Woodford said.
Seth Clark with the Ocmulgee National Park & Preserve Initiative says it could be a year before that new land is open to the public.
"If they're going to put trails in or camping or not, or if it will be an archaeologist site for the Muscogee Creek Nation, I don't know. I think they have to assess the feasibility of all of it," Clark said.
Clark says that in this case, federal rules require the Muscogee Creek Nation assess the land and then the National Park Service has to come up with a plan on how they'll open it to the public.
The park's new addition is a total of 951 acres. 906 acres will go to the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park. The NPS says 45 acres will go to Ocmulgee Land Trust. That portion will be protected for wetland restoration and returned to the NPS.
We reached out to the National Park Service and the park's superintendent Carla Beasley on the timeline of the project. They did not respond.