ATLANTA IS A CITY IN A FOREST
We have the highest percentage of tree canopy of any major metropolitan area in America. Our canopy is the main factor in ensuring Atlanta’s resiliency in the face of climate change. The forest in Southeast Atlanta is home to wetlands that filter rainwater and prevent flooding. It is also one of the last breeding grounds for many amphibians in the region, as well as an important migration site for wading birds.
The history of this particular land is deeply scarred. In the 1800s shortly after the land was stolen from Muscogee Creek peoples, it was used as a plantation. In the early 1900s, a prison farm was opened where inmates were forced to perform unpaid agricultural labor, marking the rebranding of slavery into for profit prison labor. The Atlanta Police Department currently uses this hallowed ground as a firing range.
This forest is at risk of destruction as the police and Hollywood make plans to pave over Atlanta’s largest remaining green space.
The Atlanta Police Department seeks to turn 300 acres of forest into a tactical training compound featuring a mock city. This project was announced to the shock of community members who had been given no opportunity to weigh in on the proposal. The entire process has been shadier than the forest itself.
Intrenchment Creek is an existing public park adjacent to the Prison Farm. Dekalb County seeks to swap this land with Blackhall Studios (now rebranded as “Shadowbox Studios”), a major film production company. Blackhall wants to clear cut 170 acres of forest to develop into an airport and erect the largest sound stage in America. This project would cement Atlanta as the new Hollywood, making the cost of living in our city outrageous.
We refuse to let our forest be bulldozed in favor of the police and sold out to Hollywood. There are many forms of action and advocacy to be taken. This is a broad, decentralized, autonomous movement. Get involved in whatever ways move you. Take a walk in the forest with your friends.
Latest posts
-
PRESS RELEASE: July 20 Press Conference Will Address Illegal Closure of Dekalb County Park
July 20 Press Conference Will Address Illegal Closure of Dekalb County Park A press conference will be held at the South River Trail Intrenchment Creek Park trailhead on West Side Place on Wednesday, July 20, at 4 pm. The conference is being organized by Dekalb community residents in response to the placement of concrete barriers […]
-
PRESS RELEASE: As public opposition grows, Atlanta police attempt to begin work on Cop City, protestors occupy trees
As of June 1, Atlanta Police have accompanied contractors Long Engineering, Brasfield & Gorrie and other contracted workers to the woods to attempt to stay on schedule with a forest destruction timeline which sets clearing the forest to begin by the end of June. Activists on the ground have reported heavy machinery clearing trees along the perimeter of the proposed site, as well as seemingly random tree-felling deeper inside the forest. This work is being conducted without the proper permits from Dekalb County Office of Planning & Sustainability.
-
Emory doctors condemn Cop City, call to fund public health initiatives instead
As physicians who work in Atlanta and participate within the Georgia Human Rights Clinic, and with experience evaluating asylum seekers and victims of various forms of abuses, we have grave concerns with the establishment of such a facility. We witness the further militarization of police in Atlanta and throughout this country and grow increasingly alarmed. This facility will be one of if not the largest police training facilities in the United States.