The Lula Lake Land Trust (LLLT), established by the will of Robert M. Davenport in January of 1994, seeks to protect and preserve the natural beauty and abundant resources within the Rock Creek watershed for the benefit of present and future generations by fostering education, research and conservation stewardship of the land.

As early as 1958, Mr. Davenport began to acquire pieces of property that would later form the core of the land trust project. These original acquisitions included two exquisite natural features, Lula Lake and Lula Falls. Mining, clear-cut timber harvests, garbage dumping and unrestricted public access had left much of the surrounding land denuded of its beauty and apparent value, giving Mr. Davenport the opportunity to quietly amass several hundred acres throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Once closed to public access in the early 1980s, he began rejuvenating the land by cleaning up the dump sites and replanting timbered areas. The current attractive condition of the property is a tribute to his hard work.

Mr. Davenport had talked to his family about long-term goals for Lula Lake such as preserving the property and conducting biological inventories to identify any rare or unique plants and animals. One such species, Virginia spirea (Spiraea virginiana), was found on the property and previously known from only one other location in Georgia. When learning this, Mr. Davenport became completely convinced of the importance of preserving this unique area for future generations. By his untimely death in 1994, he had acquired over 1,200 acres around Lula Lake. Since then, the Land Trust has increased protection within the watershed to over 4,000 acres.

The Georgia Land Trust, through a recent affiliation with the Lula Lake Land Trust (LLLT),  is heading up LLLT protection and stewardship efforts by monitoring the Conservation Easements (CEs) they hold now, negotiating future CEs, working toward meeting the Land Trust Alliance Standards and Practices, and supervising the use and maintenance of their extensive trail system and their core property in the Rock Creek Watershed.

For more information regarding the Lula Lake Land Trust, please visit the LLLT web site: http://www.lulalake.org/home.asp