Members of Environment Georgia are joining local leaders and others in the effort to keep funding for nature.
Supporters of the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Act visiting Athens on Tuesday, to tour areas of the North Oconee River which have been revitalized by funding from the act.
Jennette Gayer is state director with Environment Georgia. She explains how the process works.
“It’s a very small percentage of sales tax, basically a percentage of the sales tax that’s collected at outdoor stores,” Gayer said “So basically place like REI or Dick’s Sporting Goods, and it puts that money towards protecting land or helping to improve greens paces that are already protected but might need a little help.”
Supporters urge Georgia lawmakers to retain the funding during this legislative session.
“We believe at Environment Georgia that humans need nature. We need the opportunity to get outdoors, and we need more of those. We’re losing wilderness, we’re losing habitat at a pretty alarming rate, and I think it’s so great that our state has a program that helps to protect nature, helps to improve nature, and we want to see that program continue.”
Gayer says since it's inception, the program has awarded over $142 million to 75 different projects.
