New State Wildlife Management Area Opens On The Coast

Caption

Part of the Cabin Bluff property in Camden County will become a state wildlife management area.

Credit: The Nature Conservancy

The Georgia Board of Natural Resources voted Tuesday to acquire nearly 8,000 acres of the historic Cabin Bluff property in Camden County for designation as a state wildlife management area.

The Nature Conservancy and the Open Space Institute bought the property in 2018 along with an adjacent tract of nearly 3,200 acres. The smaller site is slated to become a retreat for a Jacksonville, Fla.-based church congregation.

Located just across the Intracoastal Waterway from the Cumberland Island National Seashore, Cabin Bluff includes a diverse landscape of salt marshes, tidal creeks and longleaf pine woodlands. It serves as habitat for threatened and endangered species including the gopher tortoise, wood stork and eastern indigo snake.

“Cabin Bluff and neighboring Ceylon are significant natural areas in Georgia,” said Kim Elliman, president and CEO of the Open Space Institute. “An incredible array of native species will continue to call the property and its waters home, and the public will have more access to the land than ever in its history.”

Several government agencies and nonprofits chipped in the $11 million purchase price of the portion of the property due to become a wildlife management area.

More than $2.5 million came through the first round of Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Act funding, a program Georgia voters approved as a constitutional amendment on the 2018 statewide ballot. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided $3 million in grants, and the Open Space Institute contributed 500,000.

The wildlife management area will be set aside for recreational pursuits including fishing, hunting, kayaking, wildlife viewing and nature photography. The state will officially assume ownership of the land next year.

The land also will serve as a buffer to the adjacent Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Capitol Beat News Service.