The Nature Conservancy Applauds Sen. Isakson’s Support for Georgia’s Broxton Rocks Preserve in the Transportation Bill

Legislation Addresses Transportation Needs While Helping to Protect Natural Heritage

Atlanta —August 5, 2005— The Nature Conservancy today applauded Congressional action to fund land acquisition in the Broxton Rocks Preserve for mitigation purposes for US 441 widening with $2.2 million from the Safe, Affordable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users.

Congress approved the House and Senate joint conference report on the Transportation bill and signature by the President is expected later this month.

The Broxton Rocks Preserve, located in Coffee County near Douglas, Ga., is one of Georgia’s last remaining sandstone outcrops. In fact, The Nature Conservancy’s 1,534 acre preserve is one small piece of a remarkable landscape that covers approximately 35,000 acres in southeast Georgia. The Nature Conservancy is working with the U.S. Forest Service, state government, other conservation organizations and private landowners to protect this haven of unique habitats for globally rare and endemic plants and animals.

"Broxton Rocks is home to some of Georgia’s most unique and critical habitat," said Tavia McCuean, vice president and state director of The Nature Conservancy in Georgia. "We are delighted that Congress is recognizing the importance of funding conservation projects that enrich our quality of life as they meet Georgia's transportation needs. The support of Sen. Johnny Isakson was essential to ensuring that this precious landscape will continue to thrive and provide numerous benefits to our local communities."

"This legislation brings much needed improvements and stability to our state’s highway system and infrastructure," U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson said. "It also helps us protect one of our state’s sensitive natural resources for future generations, and I’m very pleased Congress saw fit to make this financial commitment to the Broxton Rocks Preserve."

Along with applauding Sen. Isakson for securing funding for Broxton Rocks in the Transportation bill, McCuean also commended U.S. Rep Jim Marshall for his longtime support.

About Broxton Rocks Preserve

The Broxton Rocks Preserve protects a rugged sandstone outcrop that extends for approximately four miles in southeastern Georgia. The rock system is the largest single extrusion of the Altamaha Grit, a band of subsurface sandstone that underlies about 15,000 square miles of Georgia's Coastal Plain. The federally threatened eastern indigo snake and state threatened gopher tortoise are found here as well as over 100 species of birds, which either nest or migrate through this landscape. The Nature Conservancy now manages this land using prescribed fire to enhance the longleaf pine wiregrass community and the many rare plants and animals that depend upon this habitat.

About The Transportation Bill

Safe, Affordable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users reauthorizes the nation's surface transportation programs. For the first time ever, the Act provides for cooperation between state transportation and resource management agencies during the long-range transportation planning process. It also encourages states to consider available conservation data and maps as well as impacts to wildlife and native plants in their 20-year transportation plans and then determine how best to mitigate those impacts.

In addition to the planning provision, the Act also supports conservation by funding conservation projects as part of the more than 5,000 demonstration projects receiving monies. This funding supports a variety of strategies at environmentally important sites across the country.