Ga. land conservation sees $5.5M

ATLANTA - Georgia land conservation projects will receive $5.5 million from a massive federal funding bill.

The Department of Interior Appropriations bill also provides $200,000 to Morehouse College to preserve the papers of Martin Luther King Jr.

The bill contains $3.1 million to purchase land along the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in north Georgia. It funnels $1.2 million to purchase land in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest in central Georgia. Another $1.2 million will be used to buy land for the Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge along the Ocmulgee River.

Frank Peterman, Georgia director for The Wilderness Society, called the land purchases ``a tremendous investment in the health of our environment and our communities.''