DawsonTimes.com

After a decade of work, the Georgia Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association is proud to announce today that Georgia will soon officially be a part of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. "We have waited patiently for this for years, and sometimes it seemed like it would never happen," said Jeff Bishop, president of the Georgia chapter. "But all of our hard work is finally starting to pay off."

The Omnibus Public Lands bill passed the House of Representatives yesterday and should shortly become law.  The Senate approved it twice in recent weeks after it failed a two-thirds threshold vote in the House a few weeks ago.

President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law, creating two million acres of wilderness, setting aside thousands for scenic rivers, creating a new national monument and three new national parks.  It will be the largest expansion of public lands in 15 years. The expansion of the Trail of Tears into Georgia -- where the majority of Cherokees were living at the time of their Removal in 1838 -- should help to stimulate heritage tourism in Georgia for decades to come.

The Georgia Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association has worked hand-in-hand with the National Park Service office in Santa Fe, New Mexico to identify sites and routes in Georgia that would be appropriate to add to the National Historic Trail, including the fort and camp sites used by the federal and state troops during the Removal process.

"There's a big story yet to be told, and now we will have the opportunity to tell that story and increase awareness of this tragic chapter of our history," said Bishop.

Bishop said he and the chapter members are extremely disappointed, however, with the recent $279,195 cut to the Georgia House budget from the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. "The cut would gut the state’s archaeological program," he said, and eliminate the state archaeologist position.

"The chapter will need the assistance of the state archaeologist to move forward on identifying possible certifiable sites to add to the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail," said Bishop. "Dr. David Crass has offered us invaluable assistance to get to this point and we hope our legislators will re-evaluate this decision."

More information on the Georgia Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association is available at www.gatrailoftears.org and at www.nationaltota.org.

Site Classifieds: Georgia, history