Harris Neck Resource Page:

Over the past few decades, former land owners at Harris Neck and their descendants have been attempting to have the land that currently makes up the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge returned to them. 

The issue of the legality of the condemnation process by which the land was taken has been settled in federal Court and no further legal action is anticipated.  The issue that the Harris Neck Land Trust is now raising is the fairness with which the landowners were paid.  They are demanding that the land be returned and divided up among the previous owners.  They claim that this can be done without sacrificing the refuge's function in preserving the wildlife and wildlife habitat that now exists there.  Their only recourse now is to have the US Congress pass legislation ordering the Fish & Wildlife service to return the land, and they have asked Rep Jack Kingston (R-GA) to introduce such legislation (Harris Neck is in his district).

The Friends group has decided not to comment on the racial and economic issues surrounding the initial taking of the land in 1942 by the US Army for use as a training base for pilots. Our position is that the legality of the process has been upheld in court, that the refuge is now a critical national treasure whose role would be destroyed by dividing it up into home sites with additional commercial development, and that the refuge should remain intact.  In addition, many national parks and wildlife refuges have obtained land through a very similar condemnation procedure.  Passage of legislation returning the land at Harris Neck has the potential to open a flood of claims from former land owners around the country demanding that their land be returned.

There have been a number of newspaper articles and letters recently, including one in the NY Times that has put the Harris Neck issue in a national spotlight.  Please read over the following references, and if you agree with our concerns, please contact the government officials listed to voice your opposition to the destruction of Harris Neck NWR.

THE LATEST:

In early 2011, six members of the Georgia House of Representatives introduced House Resolution 610, a resolution " recognizing the Harris Neck Land Trust as the legal entity pursuing the return of the 2,687 acres of land in McIntosh County from the federal government and supporting these efforts".

This was a nonbinding resolution the purpose of which appeared to be to strengthen the position of the Harris Neck Land Trust in its on-going attempt to force a hearing in United States Congress regarding the dismembering of the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge. It is of some interest that the Representative whose district includes Harris Neck was not listed as a sponsor and was unaware of this resolution until local residents of his district brought it to his attention.

A number of friends group members have wrote to their legislators opposing this resolution and HR 610 died in committee.  Your Friends group will continue to be vigilant about other activities surrounding this effort and keep you up to date.

Click on the link below to read the entire resolution.

1. Friends group letter to members
2.  Harris Neck NWR home page
3.  Harris Neck Land Trust home page
4.  Government Accounting Office report
5.  F&WS Summary of the issues
6.  F&WS Talking points
7.  Savannah Morning News Letter to the Editor
8.  Refuge Watch blog entry
9.  Georgia HR 610
10. Letter from BOD member Pat Metz to Rep. Roger Lane (R-Darien)