Chattooga Quarterly
Spring, 2000
Progress: Need or Greed?
Director's Page
This Quarterly I am vacating my Director’s page so we may print the body of a letter written by our Board member, Dr. Robert Zahner. He originally wrote the letter to the Jackson Macon Conservation Alliance, a new organization to which the Chattooga Conservancy belongs. This letter was intended to give us direction as we were writing the organization’s goals. The subject concerns the much abused idea of so-called “sustainable development.” Read more.
Passenger Pigeon & Carolina Parakeet: Vanished Birds
Recently I visited the Capitol building in Atlanta and was struck by a display memorializing two extinct birds that were indigenous to the Chattooga River watershed: the Passenger Pigeon and the Carolina Parakeet. Along with paintings of the birds were brief biographies containing an explanation of their demise, which was linked to habitat destruction and market hunting. Of particular note was the mention of the cutting of the “Great White Oak Forest” as a principle reason for the loss of the Passenger Pigeon. Read more.
The Ecology of the White Oak
The White Oak (Quercus alba) is the best-known and most common tree of eastern North America. It can attain great size, and reach an age of 800 years or more. Donald Culross Peattie said, “a hundred years is brief in the life of an oak.” We can trace its growth from an acorn, through sapling to maturity, and finally, decay. All along its life-way the White Oak has many intricate and varied relationships with other plants and animals, many of which are still not fully understood. Read More.
Rabun County Powerline Controversy
Georgia Transmission Corporation (GTC) has announced its intention to construct a 115 kilovolt transmission line to “serve the projected load” for the Rabun County, Georgia area. The proposed transmission line would be located north of Lake Burton; specifically, in the Persimmon Valley area. The proposed line is also intended “to help GTC maintain overall system reliability” for the entire utility system. GTC has proposed three routes, all of which go through Rabun County. Read More.
- West Fork Victory
- Georgia Stream Buffer Bill Signed Into Law
- Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance
- Chattooga Watershed Restoration Project
- Fun Fact
- Legislative News
- Secure Rural Schools & Community Self Determination Act