Parks and recreation in Georgia [Vol. 0, No. 5 (Sept. 1974)]

Georgia Department of
NATURAL RESOURCES
El

!!!/~.o and~ua&on
~~~ea

THE GEORGIADEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES OFFICE OF PLANNING AND RESEARCH RECREATION PLANNING SECTION

SEPTEMBER, 1974

FROM THE COMMISSIONER

Heritage Trust Reports Acquisition of Thirteen Sites

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is pleased to serve the recreation interests of the people of this great state by making this newsletter available to you. We hope it will serve as a source of information for you concerning the various aspects of recreation and parks.

This newsletter will be published bi-monthly and include information regarding such subjects as recreation and parks funding programs, schedule of upcoming workshops, conventions, and seminars relating to recreation and parks, positions available in Georgia, personnel changes throughout the state, current and future trends in recreation and parks, and news regarding the various programs of the DNR pertaining to recreation and parks.

I trust this newsletter will serve as a tool to strengthen our relationship with you in providing wholesome recreation activities for all citizens of
Georgia.

6- '.::. Sincerely, ~

~.

State Grant to Aide New Local Recreation Systems
With the assistance of a new state grant-in-aid program several local governments throughout Georgia are in the process of establishing new full -time recreation delivery systems for their citizenry At their May meeting, the Georgia Board of Natural Resources approved 12 projects to be funded under the new Recreation and Park Assistance Fund created by the General Assembly in 1973
Continued on page 4.

The Land Acquisition Unit of the Recreation Planning Section reports that thirteen of the original thirty-two sites identified through the Georgia Heritage Trust have been acquired in whole or in part and are now owned by the State of Georgia. These thirteen sites, along with four additional tracts scheduled for closing in coming weeks, were acquired through Fiscal Year 1974 funds and donations. The total acreage of these sites amounts to 15,472 acres at a cost of $8,078,855 Eight hundred and thirty of the acres were donated by concerned and civic-minded land owners.

Indeed, a major step has been taken in preserving Georgia's heritage.

Sites acquired in whole or in part include.

Amicalola Falls Augusta Canal-Savannah River Big Lazer Creek Chattahoochee River Park Fort Morris Jarrell Plantation Lewis Island Panola Mountain
Phillips Natural Area Pickett's Mill Battlefield Pigeon Mountain Toombs House Wormsloe
Sites to be acquired include
Watson's Mill Pond Hofwyi-Broadfield Plantation Mcintosh Inn

County Dawson Richmond Talbot Fulton Liberty Jones Mcintosh DeKalb & Rockdale Tattnall Paulding Walker Wilkes Chatham
County Emanuel Glynn Butts

L&WCF Pre-Applications Approved
The Funding Unit of the Recreation Planning Section announced that the pre-applications for Land and Water Conservation Funds for FY 1975 have been approved.
Continues on page 3

A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM
JIM OATES, RECREATION PLANNING CHIEF
It is indeed a pleasure and privilege for me as Chief of the Recreation Planning Section, Department of Natural Resources, to have this opportunity to bring the recreation interest of Georgia an update of recreation news around the State.
I would like .to take some of the space of this newsletter to orient you to the Recteatioit Planning Section, our organizational arrangement,. staff. and services. It is my perso11al feeling. th;it at lo:ng last yre
have. gotten Ollf head abqve Water ..from the
confusions and frustrations of reorganization and the several staff changes which have taken place.
The Recreation Planning Section is a section within the Office. of Planning and Research wltich is a major division in the Department of Natural Resources. Both Joe Tanner, Commissioner, and Chuck Parris~!, Division Director1 have been most helpful in the establishment of the Recreation Planning Section.
I feelthat through ?ur present organizational setup and fine .staff, we no\V ha.ve the ability to provide the citizens. :of Georgia not only those services once provided by the Georgia Recreation Commission, but many.qther servicesas w~ll.
In future editions ofthis publication it will be my goal to elab()r~te in some detail about the new programs foi whiCh the Recreation Planning Section has responsibility Also,it will be my desire to discuss former services. provided by the Georgia Recreati?n Commission and explain.tmw we are continuing and expanding those services.
In this edition, I wouldJike. to provi~e sou 'Yitha general overview of the Recr~ation J>l(l..'9;ning S~ti()n. My S~ction is composed of 'four units. 'l'ect.tmical Assjstan~, Fundingj...Q.utdo@f . R.ere3Ctio.n.; an1l,La.t!d Acquisitiot1;
Technical. Assistance This unit basically provides those services formerly. provided. by the Georgia Recreation Commission~ Such services include surveys and appraisals, personnel referrals, fi~ld trips, inservice traini:ng programs, copfere11ce and workshop planning, publications, dissemination of recreation news, etc. The Technical Assistance Unit provides services to all fields of recreation interest including Therapeutics. In .addition, the . State Director for Special Olympics is a member of this staff
2

Unit Staff Members Are
W Tom Martin ..................,.................... Supervisor Wayne Escoe ..........;...................... Recreation Planner Homer Gray ................................. Recreation Planner Susan Burdick .................... Special Olympics Director James L. Ryan........................ Therapeutic Consultant HelenTharpe.........;.,. ...............,.................. Secretary Karen)Valler............ .................. .... .. ... .... .. Secretary
Fundin~ J.Jnit: This unit has the responsipility for !he adrn.inisttatlOn of t-he Land and Water ConservatiOn
TFFuul1rn1e&d''. utah~.iett~ltohcpearlPoascJhe:askrsaene~os fRatehncedre.Gatreieqovnrgiefiaw\sHssiesrtaiatllangceepFrTourjnuedcs.tt
appHcations, .conducts on-site inspections prior,
dtrrin-.. ~nd . aft~r . project co:tnpletion, a.mt .~sists
applicants in the billing process.
Unit Staff Members Are
BurtWeerts ..................................... Su~~rvisor Jiffi.Bailey ................~ ...........A..cimi;;'i~ttativeaA~~~ Shrrley .Teston ..................
This unit is or various aspects o . planning for eation for the DNR. This unit has four onsibility State Comprehensive Outdoor n Plan (SCORP), Outdoor Recreations Plan (ORSP), Trails Planning, and Georgia Trust.
' .iUJiit Staff Members Are
'5r&.~ Pendergrast ..................... .......... Heritage Trust
La!R;y~ M. Hodges............................................. SCORP Tun H. Hansen .................... ..:............ ..........,.. ORSP Walter Munnikhuysen.... :.............................. Trails
Land .Acquisition Unit.. This. u11it is . re,sponsible f?r coordinating the De~rtment of. Natural . Resources acquisition of lands identified in the :Seritage Trust Program, aS' w~ll as lands to be purchased for other Department purposes .such as buffer lands and in-holdings;
Unit Staff Members Are Roy Wood ......................................... Superyisor Tom Rawls ..................................... Land Negotiator David Eldridge.............................. Land Negotiator Harvey Young.... .. .. ....... ...... Land Negotiator Tom Jones.................................... Land Negotiator HazelLinn......... .. ... .. ......... .. ........... Secretary Sandra Mitchell ... .. .. .... .. .. ..... .. ... Secretary

L&WCF Approved
Continued from page 1
The pre-application is merely the first step in securing Funds. Each approved government must now submit a formal application, which must be approved before funding.
Those local units of government which have received approval to submit formal applications requesting funds to acquire and/or develop recreation facilities during FY 1975 are as follows.

Applicant

Grant Amount

Ringgold Summerville Floyd County LaFayette Gilmer County Dalton Lake Lanier Development
Authority Cumming Towns County Dahlonega City of Atlanta Roswell Gwinnett County Clayton County Smyrna . Douglas County Clarke County Monroe LaGrange-Troup County Jackson-Butts County Fayette County Milledgeville-Baldwin County Cobb County
Sandersville Screven County Thomson-McDuffie Houston County Warner Robins Jeffersonville-Twiggs County
Cordele Americus Vienna Montezuma East Dublin Soperton McRae-Helena Baxley-Appling County Statesboro Lyons
Brooklet DeKalb County
Odum Savannah Brunswick Glynn County Hinesville Darien

$ 15,000 23,630 50,000 100,000 50,000 50,000
150,000 25,000 75,000 25,000
275,000 50,000 50,000 100,000 50,000 50,000 96,000 21,500 100,000 50,000 50,000 50,000 220,000 10,000 14,000 30,000 24,500 25,000 7,500 30,000 7,500 50,000 14,500 10,000 17,500 20,000 20,250 72,000 15 ,000 15,000 250,000 4,500 28,000 3,000 25,000 4,000 15,000

Applicant
St. Mary's Springfield Columbus Talbot Woodland Bainbridge Thomasville Moultrie Valdosta Quitman City of Douglas Waycross Haralson County Nashville

Grant Amount
12,500 4,250 150,000 25,000 5,000 22,000 24,000 37,500 75,000 5,000 75,000 50,000 15,000 10,000

Special Olympics News
The Georgia Special Olympics State Meet was held at DeKalb Community College, May 31 and June 1, there were 850 participants in track and field and swimming events.
The Meet began with a parade which included the Third Army Band and Color Guard, Ronald McDonald, Six Flags Characters, Tommy Nobis and other professional athletes and all the participants and their coaches.
Each participant received an award in his events and a participation medal.
The highlight of the weekend was a visit to Six Flags. Participants and their coaches spent two hours on the rides of their choice.
Special Olympics will begin in September with a year-round program. It will include basketball, volleyball, bowling, floor hockey, swimming, a pilot program .in gymnastics Train-A-Champ, and Families Play to Grow Registration will begin in September with groups choosing the activities in which they would like to participate.
The next International Meet will be held the summer of '75 at a location yet to be announced.
The Floor Hockey Team representing Georgia played in a Southeast Region Tournament with the winner of that going on to the International Tournamynt in Winnipeg.
This year South Carolina beat the Georgia team from DeKalb County in the play-off for the region in overtime. The S. C. boys spent 5 days in Winnipeg as guests of the Atlanta Flames and came in first in their division. Each boy received a trophy with a team trophy going to the school.
3

State Grant Aids
Continued from page 1
The new program is funding on a 50/50 matching basis for a two-year period the establishment of local recreation agencies where none were in existence. The approved projects are Towns County, CorneliaHabersham Cbunty, Ellijay-Gilmer County, Chatsworth Murray County, Madison County, Cedartown, Jackson-Butts County, Ft. Valley-Peach County, Adel-Cook County, Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County, Dooly County, and Glennville Approximately 25 applications were submitted for the $200,000 available.
Maximum state allocations were in the amount of $17,500 with the local government(s) cash matching that amount. Unlike other state or federal grant-in-aid programs for parks and recreation, the Recreation and Park Assistance Fund is aimed. directly at providing operational funds for personnel and basic supplies to provide recreation activities and service programs. Other existing grant programs provide funds for acquisition and development of land and facilities.
A stipulation of this grant program was that the project applicant must be from a county where no full-time public recreation delivery agency was in existence. Project applicants could be one local unit of government or a .cpmbination of several. The approved projects indicate tbe variety of requests. Additionally, the project applicants had to demonstrate the desire an4 ability to continue the operation after tbe two-year grant period.
The Recreation and Park Assistance Fund is managed tbrou.gh the Recreation Planning Section of the Department of Natural Resourcys. The program is unique to Georgia granhin-aid programs. In fact, iUs believed to be .the first such funding program throughout the United States.
The program has been approved for the initial two-year grant period with hopes that funding will be forthcoming for the approval of additional projects.
For more information contact Department of Natural Resources Recreation Planning Section Room 703-B 270 Washington Street, S. W Atlanta, Georgia 30334
4

Georgia Resource Assessment .A Tool for Local Recreation Planning
The Office of Planning and Research has initiated a new program which should be of particular benefit to recreation planners. This program, the Georgia Resource Assessment, is a data service which develops and distributes maps which describe the distribution of resources and land uses across the State. These maps which .are available both in county form at a scale of one inch equals one mile, and in regional form, at a_ ~eale of one. inch equals four miles, may then be uhhzed as factors in the location of suitable areas for recreational development and in the design of recreational facilities in such a way that they reflect the natural characteristics of the site.
The first year of the program has emphasized the production of county and regional soils maps (in conjunction with the Soil Conservation Service) and c~unty and regional vegetation maps (in conjunction wtth t_he Department of Botany of the University of Georgia). Most maps are available on request from
Resources Assessment Program Resources Planning Section Office of Planning and Research Department of Natural Resources
27{) Washington Street, S. W
Atlanta, Georgia 30334

Contact
Robert Segrest Senior Planner (404) 656-5164

Farmer Joins Davis

Ron Farmer has accepted a position wi~b the

Northern Virginia Regional Park Author-ity,,in

Fairfax, Virginia. Ron will be working for John .l?avis:;

former Executive Director of the Georgia R,eer.e.iitio;n

of Commission and later chief of the Recreation

Planning Section the DNR.

. .

Ron served as Georgia's State Therapeutic
Recreation Consultant and more recently as Planner with the Funding Unit of the Recreation 1Planning Section.

Farmer assumed his new duties the first of June.

JOIN BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
Though it is still two years until the 200th anniversary of the signing Of the Declaration of Independence, the BICENTENNIAL ERA has already begun. Over 20 cities and counties in Georgia have already established local Bicentennial Committees to commemorate this important time in the history of our country
As you might remember, initially the Federal Government was going to help celebrate the occasion by constructing a large park in each state. Of course, this was to cost millions of dollars and was subsequently dropped. At the present time little or no monies are available to assist in local projects.
The energy crisis may carry us back to yester-year so let's take a page from the old days. That is, rally your community's local talent, energy and funds to see it through.
In establishing these projects, do so with the thought in mind that it be one that will benefit the community not only now but in the years to come. The project doesn't have to be one that involves thousands of dollars.
Some examples of possible projects are Make subdivision or neighborhood parks out of land already in public ownership, look through city or county plat books to locate property already owned by the city or county that could become a park, talk with the tax collector to see if your local government could pick up some pieces of tax delinquent property, and most of all in building or developing facilities involving persons with talents and equipment to get the job done.
You should do the following:
1 Check to see if your community has a Bicentennial Committee established.
2. If so, get involved. Offer as a suggestion a project that would benefit the park, recreation and conservation movement.
3 If a committee has not been established, contact your local government officials and your Chamber of Commerce. On the State level contact the Georgia Commission for the National Bicentennial, Suite 520 South Wing, 1776 Peachtree Street, N W , Atlanta, Georgia 30309 or call (404) 894-5780.
NOTE
Let us know what your Bicentennial Project is and we will publicize it in a future issue of 'Parks and Recreation in Georgia'

Recent Personnel Appointments.
Jim Wildman- Director, Covington Lee Silver Director, Smyrna Bud Stone - Director, Sylvania Roger Weaver- Director, Chatsworth Bill Lundy Director, Cedartown Sammy Hunter- Director, Barrow County Jack Palmer- Director, Bainbridge Charles Goffe- Director, Cairo Linda Kotowski- Director, Clarke County Buck Pearson- Director, Ft. Valley Perry Manolis- Director, Jackson Tom Johnson- Director, Lawrenceville Jim Thompson - Instructor of Recreation, Georgia College Nancy Strong- Recreation Therapist, Central State Danny Rogers- Supervisor, Milledgeville Joe Shuford Supervisor, Troup County Nancy Seekins Assistant Special Activities Supervisor, DeKalb Billy Rhodes Special Activities Supervisor, DeKalb Derek Steward Sports Supervisor, Dalton Danny Jones- Athletic Dire'ctor, Monroe Ralph Turner Director, Towns County
POSITIONS AVAILABLE * *
Habersham County- Recreation Director
Adel-Cook County Recreation Director
Fitzgerald-Ben Hill Co.- Recreation Director
Millen-Jenkins County Recreation Director
Dooly County- Recreation Director
South Ga. College- Recreation Instructor
Griffin-Spalding Co.- Program Director
Dept. of Human Resources - Rec. Therapist II
Clarke County Program Director
Unicoi Therapeutic Camp Coordinators
Ellijay-Gilmer County- Recreation Director
College Park Center Director
Athens Park Manager
* *For further information, contact Tom Martin in Recreation Planning Section, Department of Natural Resources 5

NEW RECREATION PROGRAMMING FOR STATE PARKS
The Parks and Historic Sites Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources has recently formed a new section to be entitled 'Recreation and Interpretive Programming.'
Lonice Barrett has been appointed Chief of this new section and will spearhead the development of Interpretive Programming related to the state's Parks and Historic Sites. Examples of the duties of this new section will include the development of interpretive exhibits, displays and museums at historic sites, supervision and training of division employees assigned to recreation facilities and other parks and historic sites of the division.
Mr Barrett formerly was Assistant Director with the Georgia Recreation Commission and more recently served as Supervisor of the Outdoor Recreation Planning Unit of the Recreation Planning Section. In that capacity he also served as staff manager of the Georgia Heritage Trust Program
Anyone desiring other information on interpretive services to be offered through this new section is encouraged to contact Mr Barrett at 656-2770 or by writing directly to the Department of Natural Resource's Recreation and Interpretive Programming Section of the Parks and Historic Sites Division.

Dates to Remember
October 22-25
November 5-6

NRPA National Congress, Denver, Colorado
GRPS Annual Conference, Desoto Hilton Savannah, Georgia

DID YOU KNOW THAT
Georgia now has 92 full-time public Parks and Recreation Departments?
The average per 'capita expenditure for parks and recreation in Georgia is $5.91.
The average salary for public recreation directors in Georgia is $12,700.00.
6

RECREATION AND PARK DIRECTORY UPDATED
The publication so familiar to many recreation agencies throughout the state known as the Georgia Recreation and Park Directory has been updated and revised. A copy has been sent to each agency listed in the Directory if additional copies are desired, contact
Homer D. Gray 270 Washington Street, S.W Room 703-B Atlanta, Georgia 30334
D.D.S.A. Grant Awarded Dalton Recreation and Parks Department
The Developmental Disabilities Servi.ce Administration recently announced the approval of a grant for the Dalton Recreation and Parks Department for the initiation of a community therapeutic recreation program.
The grant will provide funds for a one-year period to help establish programs of therapeutic recreation for special populations residing in Dalton and Whitfield County The program will be initiated on or around August 1, 1974, with the employment of a qualified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist who will work under the auspices of the Dalton Recreation Department in establishing such programs. The grant was secured through the efforts of Jim Ryan, the Therapeutic Recreation Consultant, Recreation Planning Section of the Department of Natural Resources.
The Dalton department becomes the fifth recreation agency in Georgia to receive such a grant. Other departments to receive grants in recent years include Carrollton, Milledgeville, Valdosta and DeKalb County
ESCOE ON SOUTHERN DISTRICT COMMITTEE
Any recommendations you might have to improve the NRPA Southern District Conference should be made to Wayne Escoe in the Recreation Planning Section of DNR. Wayne is Georgia's representative on the 197 5 program committee.
Published Bi-Monthly by Department of Natural Resources Office of Planning and Research
Recreation Planning Section 270 Washington Street Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Telephone (404) 656-2790
No Copies 2,500 Approx Cost $200