Senators Reverend Warnock, Ossoff Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill to Establish Ocmulgee Mounds as Georgia’s First National Park & Preserve

Bipartisan, bicameral bill would establish Georgia’s first U.S. National Park & Preserve

Bill introduction follows years of advocacy by Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Middle Georgia leaders

Senator Reverend Warnock toured the Ocmulgee Mounds in Macon last November

Ocmulgee National Monument was originally authorized by Congress in 1934

Senator Reverend Warnock: “Ocmulgee Mounds is a living testament to our intertwined histories and a robust source of economic and cultural vitality, so I’m proud to support the bipartisan, bicameral efforts to establish Ocmulgee Mounds as Georgia’s first National Park and Preserve”

Above: Senator Reverend Warnock’s visit to Ocmulgee Mounds in November 2023

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to establish Georgia’s first National Park. The Ocmulgee Mounds Park and Preserve Establishment Actwould establish Ocmulgee Mounds and surrounding areas in Middle Georgia as a National Park and Preserve.

“Ocmulgee Mounds is a living testament to our intertwined histories and a robust source of economic and cultural vitality, so I’m proud to support the bipartisan, bicameral efforts to establish Ocmulgee Mounds as Georgia’s first National Park and Preserve,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “I want to thank Congressmen Scott and Bishop for their yearslong efforts on this in the U.S. House, as well as Senator Ossoff for his leadership. Working together, we are proving what is possible when we put politics aside and center the people of Georgia.”

The area is the ancestral home of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and has been inhabited continuously by humans for over 12,000 years. American Indians first arrived in the area during the Paleo-Indian Period hunting Ice Age mammals. Around 900 CE, the Mississippian Period began, and people constructed mounds for their elite, many of which remain today and would be encompassed in the new U.S. National Park and Preserve.

“It is thrilling to introduce this bipartisan legislation that would establish Georgia’s first National Park & Preserve right here in Macon-Bibb County,” Senator Ossoff said. “I’m grateful to Congressman Scott, Congressman Bishop, and Senator Reverend Warnock. Above all, I want to commend the extraordinary efforts of local officials, and in particular, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Macon-Bibb County Mayor Pro Tem Seth Clark for their years of hard work, advocacy, and leadership that has made this moment possible.”

The House bill is led by Congressmen Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA-02) and Austin Scott (R-GA-08), and is cosponsored by 11 other members of Georgia’s Congressional Delegation: Reps. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA-01), Drew Ferguson (R-GA-03), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (D-GA-04), Nikema Williams (D-GA-05), Rich McCormick (R-GA-06), Lucy McBath (D-GA-07), Mike Collins (R-GA-10), Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11), Rick Allen (R-GA-12), David Scott (D-GA-13), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14).

Late last year, the U.S. National Park Service released a Special Resource Study that was initiated in response to a bill authored and passed into law by Reps. Scott and Bishop and former Senators Isakson and Perdue in 2019 that had been first introduced in 2014 by Reps. Scott and Bishop and former Senators Isakson and Chambliss. The new bipartisan bill incorporates information from the Special Resource Study to define the boundaries of the proposed National Park and Preserve in close coordination with the feedback collected from the Muscogee Creek Nation; local elected officials; business, faith, agricultural, environmental, and community leaders; and more.

Letters of support below from key organizations and local leaders:

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