top of page
Our Stories



Fighting Chronic Wasting Disease: A Community Effort
By Marcelo Jorge PhD, Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry and Natural...
hadrien57
Jan 238 min read
13 views


Landowner Spotlight: Ned Yost's Happy Place
Ned Yost, a former major league baseball player and manager whose love for the outdoors motivated him to place their land in a...
hadrien57
Jan 212 min read
20 views


In Honor of Laura Conroy and Her Love of Nature
by Mike and Liz Conroy Mike, Liz, and Laura Conroy visiting the Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires in September of 2014. Photo by Liz...
hadrien57
Dec 26, 20241 min read
69 views


Giving Tuesday 2024: Help Protect Rivers, Streams, Farms, and Forests in Georgia
Photo by Mark Huber Your individual donations flow together– just as small creeks form the Oconee, which then converges with other rivers...
hadrien57
Dec 3, 20241 min read
5 views


Species Spotlight: Eastern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix)
by Sammy Pickering The eastern copperhead ( Agkistrodon contortrix ), a pit viper endemic to eastern North America, is one of my favorite...
hadrien57
Nov 21, 20243 min read
57 views


ORLT 2024 Hike & Happy Hour Recap
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Hike & Happy Hour on Saturday! We had a beautiful day to enjoy the fall colors at Sandy and...
hadrien57
Nov 5, 20241 min read
13 views


Notes from the Field: Updates from Former ORLT Executive Director Steffney Thompson
by Steffney Thompson Photo courtesy of the University of Georgia School of Law After serving as ORLT's Executive Director for over 20...
hadrien57
Nov 1, 20242 min read
36 views


Next Steps to Oppose Proposed South Jackson County Quarry
This protected property that maintains the rural and scenic nature of south Jackson County is located just upstream along the North...
hadrien57
Oct 9, 20243 min read
64 views


ORLT Butterfly Walk at Tallassee Recap
On Saturday last week, ORLT held a Butterfly Walk at Tallassee Forest Preserve, a 310 acre property on the Middle Oconee River owned by...
hadrien57
Sep 27, 20241 min read
16 views


ORLT Speakers' Series
by ORLT Outreach Director Theresa Pippin ORLT Board Vice Chair Roger Nielsen presenting to the Georgia Soil & Water Conservation...
hadrien57
Aug 22, 20241 min read
12 views

Mushroom, Mushrooms Everywhere!
by ORLT Land Steward Issac Ostrom August can be a slow time for botany. It’s too early in the summer for late season composite flowers (...
hadrien57
Aug 20, 20244 min read
66 views


Excerpt from “The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees”
by Douglas Tallamy (2021, Timber Press Inc., Portland, OR) Katydids (pp. 106-107) Once upon a time, there was a young woman named Katy...
hadrien57
Jul 23, 20242 min read
34 views


Notes From the Field: Drawing Inspiration from the Beaver’s Persistence
by Sammy Pickering Along the channelized yet beautiful Shoal Creek, a tributary of the Oconee River, my parents Stella Guerrero and John...
hadrien57
Jul 23, 20243 min read
100 views

AGLT Meeting Recap & Mapping Georgia's Wildlife Corridors
Last month, several of our staff members attended the yearly Association of Georgia Land Trusts (AGLT) meeting generously hosted by the...
hadrien57
Jun 21, 20242 min read
63 views


Notes from the Field: Flat Woods of Elberton
by Issac Ostrom Last year in the spring while I was still a volunteer with Oconee River Land Trust (ORLT), then Stewardship Director Dan...
hadrien57
Jun 21, 20243 min read
62 views


New EPA Particulate Matter Standards May Affect The Use of Prescribed Fire in Georgia
This past February, the EPA adopted a revision of the Clean Air Act which lowers the permissible atmospheric particulate matter (PM) by...
hadrien57
Jun 20, 20242 min read
62 views


Two Sides of the Same Coin
by Dan Crescenzo Ninety-three percent of land in the state of Georgia is privately owned, as is most land east of the Mississippi River....
hadrien57
Jun 18, 20244 min read
40 views


Local Wetlands Protection Workshop Recap
by Dan Crescenzo A few weeks ago I attended a workshop on wetlands protection hosted by UGA’s Land Conservation Clinic and the UGA River...
hadrien57
May 22, 20241 min read
61 views


Notes from The Field: Meriwether County in May
by Hadrien Turner Another early summer, and another Meriwether County conservation easement monitor trip in the books. While being out on...
hadrien57
May 22, 20242 min read
51 views


A Fond Farewell to ORLT Board Member Kathy Parker
Al and Kathy Parker on their conservation easement in Athens-Clarke County. If you have joined us on an ORLT member's hike, chances are...
hadrien57
May 2, 20241 min read
34 views
bottom of page