Ossabaw Island, renown over the decades as a bastion for artistic inspiration & intellectual growth, is a secluded island that remains a unique nature preserve available only to select groups for ecological, scientific or cultural projects.
After many years as a retreat where creative individuals from a variety of disciplines could exchange ideas and work without the interruptions of a hurried civilization, Ossabaw's greatest value today lies in its biological richness of native plant and animal communities. The island has a variety of undisturbed ecosystems; beach and dunes, wooded interiors, and both coastal & fresh water marshes. Galatee Productions chronicled Ossabaw Islands unique habitat as one of their locations for their upcoming film release "OCEANS"
"The spirit of creativity is palpable on Ossabaw, primal connection with man kinds earthly roots. Here one can feel the collision of world's both natural and social. It's a place where the ordinary becomes the extraordinary;" writes Jacob Cottingham in an article for The South magazine's Feb 2007 issue.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The past reveals a historic procession of Indians, Spanish missionaries, plantation owners, African slaves and millionaires that have left their indelible footprints on the sands of Ossabaw.
Acquired by a Michigan physician in 1923 as a winter residence, the islands spirit has been cultivated and carried forward by his daughter Sandy West, now 94, who created the Ossabaw Project in 1961 with the mission "to share this place without destroying it."
In the late 1970s, Thee Nature Conservancy of Georgia purchased an option on the island and transferred ownership to the state, Ossabaw Island became the first acquisition of the Heritage Trust Act of 1975, which protects it from further development. Today the island is managed by Georgia's Department of Natural Resources, which oversees the delicate balance of diverse natural communities interlaced with more than 100 miles of dirt roads and trails and a large population of wild pigs & deer.
Each summer Ossabaw's dunes attract approximately 160 nesting loggerhead turtles, which are drawn to the dark, sandy shoreline. The threatened piping plover winters on the islands shores while the marsh hammocks support many bird species such as egrets, herons and the bald eagle.
For Additional Information go to: www.ossabawisland.org
