West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Outdoor Activity Center

West Atlanta Watershed Alliance: Outdoor Activity Center (OAC)

Type	Environmental education center, Nature preserve
Location	1442 Richland Road Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Area	26 acres (11 ha)
Designer	John Ripley Forbes
Operated by	West Atlanta Watershed Alliance
Website	www.wawa-online.org

The West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Outdoor Activity Center (OAC) is a public environmental education, nature preserve, and outdoor activity facility in Atlanta, Georgia. The center is 26 acres (0.11 km²) and focuses on educational outreach and outdoor activities in an urban setting.^[1]^[2]

As of 2014, the OAC contains approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) of trails, a ropes course, a nature-themed playground, a tree house classroom, a 650-US-gallon (2,500 L; 540 imp gal) freshwater aquarium, and a multi-purpose building.^[1]

When the center opened in 1975 as the Bush Mountain Outdoor Activity Center, it was Atlanta's "first and only environmental education and outdoor recreation facility." Atlanta Public Schools leased 8 acres (0.032 km²) to the OAC for $1 a year, and the Natural Science for Youth Foundation helped fund, organize and staff the original center. The Atlanta Bureau of Parks and Recreation later purchased the property from the school system and assumed maintenance of the parkland.^[2]

In 2007, the National Wildlife Federation referred to the OAC as "an ecological jewel."^[3]

The center is located beside the former practice lot for the Atlanta Black Crackers.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, Inc. (WAWA)
^ ^a ^b Ferguson, Gary (2012). "Chapter 7". Nature's Keeper: John Ripley Forbes and the Children's Nature Movement. Helena, Montana: Sweetgrass Books, A Division of Farcountry Press. pp. 154–158. ISBN 978-1-59152-086-3.
^ Elder, Matthew (December 3, 2007). "Local Urban Teens team up to clean up the Atlanta Outdoor Activity Center". National Wildlife Federation.

Protected areas of Georgia

Federal

National Historical Parks, historic sites and military parks	Andersonville NHS Jimmy Carter NHP Martin Luther King Jr. NHP Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Ocmulgee Mounds NHP
National monuments	Fort Frederica Fort Pulaski
National forests	Chattahoochee–Oconee
National wildlife refuges	Banks Lake Blackbeard Island Bond Swamp Eufaula Harris Neck Okefenokee Piedmont Savannah Wassaw Wolf Island
National Natural Landmarks	Heggie's Rock Marshall Forest Okefenokee Swamp Panola Mountain Wassaw Island
Wilderness areas	Big Frog Wilderness Blood Mountain Wilderness Brasstown Wilderness Cohutta Wilderness Cumberland Island National Seashore Ellicott Rock Wilderness Mark Trail Wilderness Okefenokee Wilderness Raven Cliffs Wilderness Rich Mountain Wilderness Southern Nantahala Wilderness Tray Mountain Wilderness
Wild and scenic rivers	Chattooga River
National trails	Appalachian Trail Pinhoti National Recreation Trail
Other protected areas	Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area Cumberland Island National Seashore Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve

State

Parks	Amicalola Falls Black Rock Mountain Chattahoochee Bend Cloudland Canyon Crooked River Don Carter Elijah Clark F.D. Roosevelt Florence Marina Fort Mountain Fort Yargo General Coffee George L. Smith George T. Bagby Georgia Veterans Hamburg Hard Labor Creek High Falls Indian Springs Jack Hill James H. "Sloppy" Floyd Laura S. Walker Little Ocmulgee Magnolia Springs Mistletoe Moccasin Creek Panola Mountain Providence Canyon Red Top Mountain Reed Bingham Richard B. Russell Sapelo Island Seminole Skidaway Island Smithgall Woods Sprewell Bluff Standing Boy Creek Stephen C. Foster Sweetwater Creek Tallulah Gorge Tugaloo Unicoi Victoria Bryant Vogel Watson Mill Bridge
Historic parks and sites	A. H. Stephens Chief Vann House Dahlonega Gold Museum Etowah Indian Mounds Fort McAllister Fort King George Fort Morris Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation Jarrell Plantation Jefferson Davis Memorial Kolomoki Mounds Lapham–Patterson House Little White House New Echota Pickett's Mill Battlefield Robert Toombs House Travelers Rest Wormsloe
Forests	Bartram Broxton Rocks Dawson Dixon Memorial Hightower Paulding Spirit Creek
Other	Centennial Olympic Park Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center Jekyll Island Len Foote Hike Inn Radium Springs Sapelo Island Stone Mountain Park

County,
municipal
and other

Parks	Bobby Brown Park Chehaw Park Cobb County Parks Hartwell Lakeside John Tanner McIntosh Reserve Murphey Candler Park Okefenokee Swamp Park Robert G. Hunter Memorial Park Roswell Recreation and Parks Seaborn Jones Memorial Park Shaking Rock Park
Forests and nature preserves	Autrey Mill Nature Preserve & Heritage Center Fernbank Forest Marshall Forest Morningside Nature Preserve Phinizy Swamp Nature Park Reynolds Nature Preserve
Nature and environmental education centers	Birdsong Nature Center Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center Chattahoochee Nature Center Cochran Mill Nature Center Dauset Trails Nature Center Dunwoody Nature Center Elachee Nature Science Center Georgia Nature Center Grand Bay Wetland Education Center Melvin L. Newman Wetlands Center Oatland Island Wildlife Center Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center Panola Mountain State Park Nature Center Sandy Creek Nature Center Savannah-Ogeechee Canal Museum & Nature Center Tidelands Nature Center Tybee Island Marine Science Center West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Outdoor Activity Center