Georgia

Public input sought for update to Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources wildlife conservation plan

Published

1 year ago

February 21, 2025

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Public input sought for update to Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources wildlife conservation plan

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is seeking public input on an updated State Wildlife Action Plan until March 21st.
The plan, updated every decade, aims to protect native species and their habitats to prevent them from becoming endangered.
The plan highlights Georgia’s rich biodiversity, including being second only to Texas in the Southeast for the number of plant species.

In an effort to protect wildlife, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources is asking for public input on an updated strategy.

“The things that we need to do to conserve our wildlife are fundamental to the quality of life for all Georgians,” Brett Albanese, state wildlife action plan coordinator at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division, told The Augusta Chronicle on Wednesday. “Our mission is to conserve natural areas by minimizing the impact of development on species and their habitats. We also want to educate people about the diversity of species that call Georgia home.”

A draft of Georgia’s revised State Wildlife Action Plan can be reviewed until March 21 at georgiawildlife.com/WildGeorgiaSWAP.

The plan was created 20 years ago and is updated every decade. The plan guide works by protecting native animal and plant species from becoming more rare and costly to conserve, according to a Department of Natural Resources news release.

The list of species varies from gopher tortoises and bald eagles to tangerine darters and Chapman’s fringed orchids.

“Georgia is one of the most diverse areas in the country for several groups of species like freshwater aquatic species like fish, mussels and crayfishes,” said Albanese. “We are second in the Southeast, next to Texas, in terms of the number of plant species. We have over 3,000 native plant species in Georgia.”

The plan features a link to a digital version of the plan, a short presentation orienting viewers and a survey for providing comments. After the March 21 deadline, DNR will use the comments to make final revisions.

Key points about plan

Now through March 21: Public comment period for the draft 2025 Georgia State Wildlife Action Plan.
Submit comments at https://georgiawildlife.com/WildGeorgiaSWAP.
The website includes a brief presentation about the plan, a survey for providing comments and a link to a digital version of the draft.
Questions? Email WCScomments@dnr.ga.gov.

The plan will be sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in June for approval. States update their wildlife action plans every 10 years to remain eligible for federal and state wildlife grants. The plans are crucial to funding targeted, voluntary conservation to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered.

“One of our purposes in developing and implementing this wildlife action plan is to avoid species from becoming extinct,” said Albanese. “We want to be preventative. If we work hard on proactive measures for conservation, we can keep species from rising to the level of endangerment where they need extreme, costly and regulatory measures to protect them.

“We work cooperatively with the Fish and Wildlife Service, federal partners and the conservation community, to try to recover species off of the US Endangered Species list. So that’s really the purpose of the swap. Once a species is extinct, it’s gone forever.”

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with several funders and Journalism Funding Partners.

Erica Van Buren is the climate change reporter for The Augusta Chronicle, part of the USA TODAY Network. Connect with her at EVanBuren@gannett.com or on X: @EricaVanBuren32.

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Georgia

Georgia’s Iranian community reacts to death of Ayatollah Khamenei

Published

10 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Georgia’s Iranian community reacts to death of Ayatollah Khamenei

ATLANTA – As conflict intensifies between the United States, Israel and Iran, reactions are pouring in across the Atlanta metro area after President Donald Trump confirmed the death of Iran’s supreme leader.

The president confirmed on Truth Social that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a joint strike led by the U.S. and Israel.

What they’re saying:

“I have been waiting to hear this news for the last 20 years,” said Dr. Sasan Tavassoli, an Atlanta-based pastor born in Iran.

“Ayatollah Khamenei has been responsible for the killing of tens of thousands of Iranians over the last three decades. He has been a very evil dictator and a very oppressive tyrant.”

Other local Iranians, like Shohreh Mir, expressed a long-standing desire for internal change rather than outside intervention.

“This was an imposed war,” Mir said. “We still very much would like for Iranian people to change the regime by themselves.”

What’s next:

Tavassoli said the Ayatollah’s death now creates a new issue.

“Ayatollah Khamenei never invested in raising a succession after himself,” he said, “so the crisis of the Iranian revolution and the Iranian regime is there is no legitimate successor.”

While the long-term duration of the conflict remains unknown, Iran has already begun launching retaliatory strikes following the attack.

“This is a huge development for day one, but the war is not over,” Tavassoli noted. “There are still many ways that things can become even more bloody and destructive in the coming days and weeks.”

The Source: Information in this article came from FOX 5’s Rey Llerena speaking with Iranian Americans across Georgia.

IranDonald J. TrumpNewsPolitics

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Georgia

Body found near Georgia Power dam on Radium Springs Road in Albany

Published

22 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Body found near Georgia Power dam on Radium Springs Road in Albany

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) – A person was found dead in the 5200 block of Radium Springs Road on Saturday morning, according to Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler.

Body recovered in early morning water rescue call(WALB NEWS 10)

Fowler said the call came in as a water rescue. The body was recovered early Saturday, Feb. 28.

The coroner confirmed the person found was male. His identity and age remain unknown.

Have a news tip or see an error that needs correction? Let us know. Please include the article’s headline in your message.

To stay up to date on all the latest news as it develops, follow WALB on Facebook and X (Twitter). For more South Georgia news, download the WALB News app from the Apple Store or Google Play.

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Georgia

Ga. lawmakers propose changes to state’s early voting process

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Ga. lawmakers propose changes to state’s early voting process

ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – State legislators are considering more changes to Georgia’s voting law, proposing a new bill that would alter the way early voters cast ballots.

State Sen. Greg Dolezal, a Republican from Cumming, introduced SB 568 this week. The proposal would assign early voters to one precinct in their county. Currently, voters can cast early votes at any precinct in their county.

It would also move early voting to a hand-marked paper ballot system, where voters use a pen to mark their selections, instead of the currently used touchscreen system.

“So that we would not have to print so many permutations at the paper ballots, we would assign voters to an early voting location,” said Dolezal. “Most people are going to vote to the at the early voting location closest to their home anyway.”

The bill was immediately met with backlash from democrats as a barrier to the vote.

“I have no idea how voting on a piece of paper, marking it down with your pencil in any way suppresses the vote,” said Dolezal. “For most counties out of, you know, 140 call it out of 159, they just have one location.”

Dolezal’s proposal would also require local clerks to publicly post their entire voting rolls ahead of elections.

“Making public every single voter who is qualified to vote is to some extent, a little bit of an invasion of privacy for each individual voter,” said state Sen. Sonya Halpern (D-Atlanta). “We need to have trust in our election officials to run those elections.”

It’s the latest change the legislature has proposed to Georgia’s voting system.

“You have dirty, dirty voting rolls, you’re going to have dirty elections,” Dolezal said.

The bill would also shift responsibility for voter challenges from the counties to the State Elections Board. In addition, it would also move the threshold for an automatic recount in the state from a 1.5% margin to 2%.

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