Dawson Forest (City of Atlanta Tract) is a public-use

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

located in

Dawson County, Georgia Dawson County is a county in the Northeast region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,798 up from 22,330 in 2010.US 2020 Census Bureau report, Dawson County, Georgia The county seat is Dawsonville. Daw ...

, southwest of Dawsonville. It is owned by the city of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, but is considered a

state forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by a sovereign state, sovereign or federated state, or territory (country subdivision), territory. Background State forests are forests that are Administration (gov ...

, as it is managed by the Georgia Forestry Commission. It was purchased in 1971 from Lockheed, and was the previous site of the Georgia Nuclear Aircraft Laboratory (GNAL). The property is currently referred to as the Dawson Forest City of Atlanta Tract and managed by the Georgia Forestry Commission with a trail system open to the public. The tract is located approximately ten miles from the end of

limited access A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, partial controlled-access highway, and expressway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a contro ...

Georgia 400 State Route 400 (SR 400; commonly known as Georgia 400) is a freeway and state highway in the U.S. state of Georgia serving parts of Metro Atlanta. It is concurrent with U.S. Route 19 (US 19) from exit 4 ( Inters ...

in Cumming. An area of previously occupied by GNAL was restricted following 1978 testing which found residual

nuclear radiation Ionizing (ionising) radiation, including nuclear radiation, consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that have enough energy per individual photon or particle to ionize atoms or molecules by detaching electrons from them. Some par ...

from the experiments performed there. Subsequent studies in 1991 and 1997 found radiation levels to be at or slightly above normal background radiation levels. The property also encompasses Amicalola Creek, which various groups are lobbying to be designated as a scenic river, and which flows over Amicalola Falls within

Amicalola Falls State Park Amicalola Falls State Park & Lodge is an Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia state park located between Ellijay, Georgia, Ellijay and Dahlonega, Georgia, Dahlonega in Dawsonville, Georgia. The park's name is derived from a Cherokee language word mea ...

. It was intended and retained by the city as a potential site for Atlanta's second airport, however in late summer 2009 it was made known that part may be used for the Shoal Creek Reservoir, a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

that would send water mainly to the city of Atlanta system, at its

water works Waterworks is the provision of water supply by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours, or individuals. Waterworks may also refer to: Culture and entertainment * ''Waterworks'' (card game) * ''Waterworks'' (Hollis), a ...

Sandy Springs Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and a suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's 7th most populous city. It is the site of several corporate headquar ...

. However, this

pipeline A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...

would result in an

interbasin transfer Interbasin transfer or transbasin diversion are (often hyphenated) terms used to describe man-made conveyance schemes which move water from one river basin where it is available, to another basin where water is less available or could be utilized ...

from the

Etowah River The Etowah River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 waterway that rises northwest of Dahlonega, Georgia, Dahlonega, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, ...

to the

Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...

, which is currently prohibited by the

metro Atlanta Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the sixt ...

water district A water district is a Special-purpose district, special district given the task of supplying water and sewer needs to a community. This term is commonly used in the United States. See also * Irrigation district * Drinking water supply and sanit ...

, and would leave less water in

Lake Allatoona Lake Allatoona (officially called Allatoona Lake) is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir on the Etowah River in northwestern part of the State of Georgia. This reservoir is mostly in southeastern Bartow County and southwestern Cherokee C ...

. Additionally,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

has sued to stop nearly everything

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

has tried to do with the upstream

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...

, including the Hickory Log Creek reservoir. In 2009, it was estimated that these

lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...

s prevented permitting and construction that would take only four years.Public-private plan for reservoir has its supporters
''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

'', 2009-09-06 The

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

would be , leaving the remainder as forest.

History

Dawson Forest started life as a testing facility for the

Lockheed Martin Corporation The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North Bethesda, Ma ...

in the 1960s. This area was used to test the development of the

Nuclear-powered aircraft A nuclear-powered aircraft is a concept for an aircraft intended to be powered by nuclear energy. The intention was to produce a jet engine that would heat compressed air with heat from fission, instead of heat from burning fuel. During the Cold ...

, and later used simply for open air testing to determine the effects of

Ionizing radiation Ionizing (ionising) radiation, including Radioactive decay, nuclear radiation, consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that have enough energy per individual photon or particle to ionization, ionize atoms or molecules by detaching ...

on various items. In 1971, the land was purchased by the

City of Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County and extends into neighboring DeKalb County. With a population of 520,070 (2024 estimate) living within the city limits, Atlan ...

for use as an alternative airport to

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the primary international airport serving Atlanta and its Metro Atlanta, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is located south of the Down ...

References

External links

* {{Protected areas of Georgia (U.S. state) Protected areas of Dawson County, Georgia Georgia (U.S. state) state forests Protected areas established in 1971