Friends Of Georgia WMAs Work Days

A very special thanks to those who attended the dual Friends of WMAs workday at River Bend and Beaverdam WMAs this past weekend. If you notice some cleaner roads and hunter-access trails this turkey season on either of these middle Georgia areas, there’s a good chance that a Friends volunteer cleared it for you.

If you’re not familiar with the Friends program, it’s pretty simple. Friends of WMAs is all about sportsmen giving something back to these public-land hunting areas by volunteering their time in a workday. Projects have included posting boundary signs, planting food plots and improving habitat. The program was started by GON.

GON organized a Friends of WMAs workday at Yuchi Wildlife Management Area. One of the projects that volunteer sportsmen worked on was erecting bird houses.

Your next opportunity to participate in a workday will be down in southeast Georgia at Big Hammock WMA. Projects there will include fence maintenance, cleaning up the rifle range and trimming roads and hunter-access trails. Directions to the WMA are as follows. From Glennville, take Hwy 144 south 12 miles to the Altamaha River. The area lies on both sides of Hwy 144. The check station is on the east side of the highway just before you cross the bridge. Bring tools to cut brush, like chainsaws or lopping shears, and gloves are suggested.

The next workday will be the reunion day in northwest Georgia at Crockford Pigeon Mtn. on Saturday, March 15. Plans are to meet at 10 a.m at the WMA check station.

It was a year ago when the first Friends workday took place, which was a trip on Pigeon Mtn. Oak trees and food plots were planted, and area manager Allen Padgett has the same plans for this workday.

“We’ve got a bunch of trees to plant, and some seeding on some wildlife openings,” said Allen.

Directions to Pigeon Mtn. are as follows: From Lafayette, take Ga. Hwy 193 west for 2 1/2 miles to Chamberlain Road. Turn left and go three miles to Rocky Lane Road. Turn right and go 1/2-mile to the check station. Bring a lunch.

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, while WMA area managers were thrilled to see sportsmen volunteer to improve these public lands, there was no support from Georgia’s Wildlife Resources Division with the Friends of WMAs effort, so the program discontinued after several years.