Drifting into Darien by Ray Janisse;Marshall Nancy;

Author:Ray, Janisse;Marshall, Nancy;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 3039022
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Published: 2011-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

II.

That day on the river with Malcolm Hodges took place in the early days of the Altamaha Bioreserve. Soon after, I met Christi Lambert, who directs the project. Christi is dynamite, a powerhouse in a tiny frame. She is steady as a rock and she works ceaselessly toward her goals. I have never seen her waver. I have never seen her angry, either, always soft-spoken and positive. Christi can be counted on for rational, sensible thinking.

As the years passed, under Christi’s leadership and the sound ecological guidance of Alison McGee, the success of TNC’s project mounted. The organization purchased acre after acre, most of which passed into the hands of the state or federal government and thus under its protection. It secured conservation easements on other acres. Steadily, relentlessly, single-mindedly, Christi and TNC staff maneuvered their pawns and horses one move at a time, until a deal was in checkmate. They raised funds from state, federal, and private sources. They closed.

Instead of a king being crowned, a kingdom grew.

I have become wonderful friends with Christi. Our collaborations have been a rich part of my life. Not long ago I was talking to her. She had been out on the water with a funder, surveying the success. “It’s thrilling,” she said, “to see how we’ve been able to knit together these pieces.”

As of 2011, twenty years after the project began, almost 100,000 acres in the Altamaha Bioreserve have been protected. In late 2010 TNC purchased 14,000 more acres, including Bug Island, from Rayonier. Of the $24 million purchase price, $4.7 million was contributed by the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, which has bequeathed more than $12 million toward the Altamaha Bioreserve over the years.

When the deal was signed, statewide director Shelly Lakly announced that only one small parcel of land separated TNC from a huge milestone, the connection of forty-one contiguous river miles and 100,000 acres along the Altamaha River. “The Altamaha River, being so remote, is essential to our coast remaining healthy,” Lakly said. “There’s no development. It’s a beautiful, living, breathing place. Some of the cypress trees along the river are believed to be twelve hundred years old.”

We’re nowhere near the million-acre mark. We’re only one-tenth of the way there. But a miracle has happened.

The Nature Conservancy saw the Altamaha as a place worth saving.

They decided to save it.

Nothing will ever be the same.

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