ORLT-Protected Land

Click on the image below to view some of the beautiful properties the Oconee River Land Trust protects in partnership with landowners. Most are private property and not open to the public; all locations are approximate.

A farm near Social Circle protects mesic hardwood and bottomland hardwoods forests, as well as manage pine forests, in addition to allowing farming. Click on the right arrow to continue viewing.

ORLT protects agricultural uses and other conservation values on farms like this one near Social Circle and others throughout Georgia.

Landowners who partner with ORLT keep farm and forestry operations separate from sensitive wetlands with undeveloped buffers.

Landowners of an ORLT-protected farm near Social Circle.

Green-and-gold (Chrysogonum virginianum), a showy perennial native to the eastern United States, is one of many kinds of wildlflowers that flourish on properties protected by ORLT conservation easements.

Wood betony, or lousewort (Pedicularis canadensis), is a spring-blooming wildflower, low-growing with deeply cut leaves and fuzzy stems. It's found in woodlands in north Georgia and a few coastal plain counties.

This 151-acre property in northeast Georgia protects a tributary of Coody Creek.

Away from Coody Creek, the property's mesic hardwoods and pine forests are managed with controlled fires to improve wildlife habitat and species diversity. Frequent fire management supports diverse wildlife, including turkeys and coveys of quail.

Red-shouldered Hawks are conspicuous in deciduous forests in Georgia, thanks to their frequent, loud calls carrying through the trees. Their large nests of twigs and branches are often located in the fork of a tree trunk or large branch and used year after year. Photo by Kathy Parker.

Members hike on an ORLT -protected property.

Atamasco lilies (Zephyranthes atamasca) have striking white flowers borne on leafless stalks. They are also known as Easter lilies because they often bloom in the sprintime on land that ORLT protects.

ORLT partners with landowners to protect properties that can be used for educational purposes, such as studying wetlands.

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks pass through Piedmont Georgia briefly during their spring and fall migrations. Conservation easement land provides valuable habitat and food for refueling on the journey between their breeding range in the northern U.S. and Canada and their wintering range in the tropics. Photo by Kathy Parker.

This large wetland along the Middle Oconee River serves as an outdoor classroom where public school students learn about wetland ecosystems.

The nonvenomous northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon) is common in wetlands in the Georgia Piedmont and mountains. It is often confused with the venomous cottonmouth (water moccasin), but cottonmouths have bands instead of blotches and their distribution on is generally restricted to the Coastal Plain.

Besides providing a learning environment for students, this riverside property protects bottomland hardwood forests, marshes and open water that provides homes for otters, beavers, wading birds and songbirds.

Wetland along the Middle Oconee River.

An ORLT conservation easement protects granite outcrops, xeric pine woodlands, mesic pine woodlands, mesic hardwood forests, and bottomland hardwood forests with rivercane on this 116-acre property. Naturalist William Bartram once camped on the property's sensitive granite outcrops while trading with Cherokees and Creeks.

Many of ORLT easements protect granite outcrops and threatened plans that grow there. Eighteenth-century naturalist William Bartram once camped on this property.

This ORLT-protected granite outcrop has ephemeral pools that are home to the red-colored elf orpine (Diamorpha smallii), an annual stonecrop that lives in this increasingly rare habitat.

Protected land along Rocky Comfort Creek.

We regularly host events for ORLT members, including hikes, bird walks, and even paddle trips, like this outing at a protected property along the Apalachee River.

This large property protects bottomland forests along the Apalachee River as well as mixed hardwoods and pines on higher ground.

This 809-acre property protects 2 miles on the Apalachee River and 1.5 miles along Hard Labor Creek. The forest consist mostly of bottomland hardwoods along the waterways, with mixed hardwood-pine in the uplands.

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This 151-acre property protects a tributary of Coody Creek, with mesic hardwoods and pine forests managed with fire for wildlife habitat and species diversity. Frequent fire management supports diverse wildlife, including turkeys and coveys of quail.

Click here or on the map to download and see more detail.

The Oconee River Land Trust holds 219 conservation easements, protecting more than 44,000 acres of land in 53 Georgia counties. In 2020, ORLT accepted its first out-of-state CE, protecting nearly 180 acres of land in Edgefield County, South Carolina. In 2023 ORLT added another property in Barnwell County, South Carolina. Georgia counties with conservation easements are:

Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bibb, Butts, Chatham, Cherokee, Clarke, Coweta, Crawford, DeKalb, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Franklin, Fulton, Gordon, Greene, Hancock, Heard, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Madison, Meriwether, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Pickens, Putnam, Spalding, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Troup, Twiggs, Upson, Walton, Warren, Washington, White, Wilkes, Wilkinson