Talked to the DNR

Before I can do anything about making this map I need to get permission, so I talked to the DNR person who has responsibility over what will be Chat Bend park. I have worked with him before, when I made the map of FDR State Park. I'm not going to name him here, since I don't want to put him under any pressure or scrutiny. He is very helpful and always goes out of his way to assist us.

Anyway, he said the 2010 opening date is overly optimistic. As everyone knows, there are big budget problems statewide, with talk of park closures. They might open in 2010 if Coweta county supplies an operating budget for the park.

He does not want to allow anyone onto the property right now for liability reasons. Hunting is going on this year - and I really can't map during deer hunting season anyway. The decision of whether to have deer hunting next winter will be made in the Spring. This deer hunting is different than it was at Joe Kurz and Dukes Creek. In those parks the hunt was restricted to specific weekends just a couple of times a year, so I was able to work around the schedule. At Chat Bend they hunt every day.

He says we can take aerial photos, etc., now. if we want to.

The thinning of the pine forest will continue until probably January, weather permitting.

I can call him back in January and check on the status.

So this means more delay, much as I hate to say it. Seems like we have been waiting forever for this park to get off the ground. This is a unique situation too, since the land is sort of in limbo until the park actually opens. The pressure to hunt on the land until it becomes a State Park is pretty heavy too.

My suggestion is that we do nothing until January, when I will call back and get an update.

Things to bear in mind:
- wait to take any aerial photos until after the logging is completed.
- or wait to take aerial photos until we know if there will be deer hunting in the fall of 2009.
- or take no photos at all. Use the USGS contours like I did at Joe Kurz. The topography is not the same challenge as it was at Duke's Creek, and I may be able to make a good map without expensive photogrammetry.