MACON - An advocacy group says the Ocmulgee National Monument is on a list of endangered park service properties because a proposed highway would cut off the last undeveloped area from the rest of the park. <br>
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The National Parks Conservation Association - a private, nonprofit organization - released its list of the ten-most endangered parks Monday. It blames the planned extension of the Fall Line Freeway, which would link Columbus, Macon and Augusta, for the Ocmulgee situation. <br>
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The highway would split the Ocmulgee Old Fields, a property that has often been considered a future extension of the park's boundaries. <br>
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The highway also would end any possibility of adding more land to the property. <br>
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The National Historic Register lists the Old Fields as the traditional cultural property of the Muscogee Indians, who are believed to have officially formed their nation on the banks of the Ocmulgee River. <br>
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The federal designation is the only of its kind east of the Mississippi River, and the Muscogee Nation opposes any road extension through the area.
