By Dorinda Dallmeyer Cherishing coastal Georgia comes naturally to Dr. Marsha Certain. The daughter of a physician, she grew up in Brunswick. After graduating from the Medical College of Georgia and completing a cardiology fellowship at Emory, her love of coastal Georgia beckoned her home. According to Dr. Certain, “I thrive in places where there’s […]
When meeting with people new to coastal conservation, we’re often asked, “How can we help?” To answer that question broadly and responsibly, Stewards has released the second edition of its Coastal Conservation Project List, a curated menu of high priority conservation projects with strong leadership and immediate needs for private philanthropy. Nominations were solicited from […]
($2,500 committed/$27,500 needed) In 2015, The Nature Conservancy acquired 4000 acres in the Altamaha watershed, strategically positioned where the river meets the salt marsh in Glynn County—the historic Altama tract. Today, the property is owned and managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources as the Altama Wildlife Management Area with The Nature Conservancy as […]
By Dorinda Dallmeyer High in the Georgia Piedmont south of Union Point and Siloam, springs rise in two pastures to form the Ogeechee. Unlike most of Georgia’s rivers, whose headwaters are composed of creeks and streams bearing their own names, the Ogeechee is the Ogeechee all 250 miles from its springs to the sea. The […]
By Dorinda G. Dallmeyer Since the arrival of Paleo-Indians around 11,500 years ago, the Ogeechee watershed has been indispensable to its people. The late Jack Leigh knew the river was not just carving a path to the sea when he said, “Water shapes our lives, and we are shaped by water.” In 1984, it was […]
By Dorinda Dallmeyer If asked what conservation philanthropy looks like, a common response would be monetary contributions or volunteer hours. But the U.S. Army at Ft. Stewart and the Georgia-Alabama Land Trust have another way to protect important habitat along the Ogeechee River — conservation easements with private landowners. Coastal Georgia is one of the […]
Protection of the lower Altamaha River began in 1968, piece by piece. The pace accelerated in the last twelve years as federal and state agencies collaborated with non-profits and private philanthropy, investing more than $90 million to underwrite conservation easements and outright purchases. The “missing piece,” a 19,500 acre property known as Sansavilla featuring 12 […]
While few Georgians may realize how critical our coastal zone is to birds throughout the Western Hemisphere, the birds know. On November 1, the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve (WHSRN) announced the designation of a wide swath of Georgia’s barrier islands and marshes as a “Landscape of Hemispheric Importance.” As the 100th site recognized for its importance […]
Fat Meat Point, Saucy Boy Point, High-Low-Jack-and-the-Game Point, Spanish Cut, Wildcat Cut, Devils Elbow, Royal Lake — names leap from old navigation charts tracing the Savannah River as it winds from Augusta to the Port of Savannah. But following a century of dredging to straighten the river, many names have been forgotten. Now a study […]
Floating along the Savannah River’s forested banks, you probably aren’t thinking “Wow, what a great water treatment facility!” Maybe you should. Nearly two-thirds of America’s clean water supply comes from stream flow cycled through forests. These natural systems filter runoff and break down contaminants, producing high-quality water to support human and industrial uses. And there’s […]
