Privatizing parks may mean charging for more services

ATLANTA (AP) Five Georgia state parks, including two in north Georgia, will be soon be completely managed by private, for-profit firms.

The Florida-based Coral Hospitality will manage the properties. The state will still own the parks, which are now run by the Department of Natural Resources.

Amicalola Falls State Park in Dawsonville leads the list of privatized properties. It attracts more than 500,000 visitors a year to an 829-acre forest and the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi River.

The other parks are North Georgia's Unicoi in White County, George T. Bagby in Fort Gaines, Little Ocmulgee in Helena and Georgia Veterans in Cordele, where a state-owned resort and golf club is already privately managed.

State officials say the move is a financial necessity. The plan may involve charging for services that are now free