Strolling on Georgia Wildlife Federation Trails

Returning from one of our outings, we stopped at the Georgia Wildlife Federation to walk on their trails along the Alcovy River. The Alcovy River is 80 miles long running through both sparsely populated and developed lands and is unpolluted.

Here is a map of Georgia showing the little Alcovy River almost in the center (photo from the University of Georgia Library):

The Georgia Wildlife Federation (GWF) “Promoting the wise use of Georgia ’s natural resources” is a member-supported not-for-profit conservation organization. Its headquarters, the Alcovy Conservation Center, are in Covington, Georgia, east of Atlanta. The center is located on 115 beautiful acres replete with a main building complex of offices, classrooms, conference rooms and a library. The property also includes a retreat house, pavilions and a rustic log cabin. It sits on the banks of the Alcovy River, where wildlife, woodland, wetland and native plants abound.

Wild flower in front of the Center - (click on any picture to enlarge it)



GWF offers some interesting programs such as Georgia Hunters for the Hungry, Wildlife Habitats, Georgia Water Coalition, Adopt-A-Stream, etc. To view all the programs and worthy causes of the Georgia Wildlife Federation please click here.


The GWF Alcovy Conservation Center maintains several trails on their property. My husband Jim and I walked along the Cornish Creek Trail and the Dogwood Trail. We saw red maples, river birches and many other species. Overhead the birds were happily singing and the squirrels hiding on trunks. The sun was shining though the Tupelo gum river swamp –


I took several pictures of the Tupelo trees growing in the water -






































Then we arrived at a clearing where the pavilions are located close by -


As well as the vintage log cabin –


A nest was still occupied –


Find the egg in the picture below, (hint: but the bird had flown!)


The Georgia Wildlife Federation was founded in 1936 as a sportsman’s organization. Its motto is written on my husband Jim’s tee shirt –

“To encourage the intelligent management
of the life-sustaining resources of the earth
- its essential water resources -
its protective forests and plant life
- and its dependent wildlife -
to promote and encourage the knowledge
and appreciation of these resources,
their interrelationship and wise use,
without which there can be little hope
for a continuing
abundant
life.”

Georgia Wildlife Federation, 1936