Update: Corps says it's renaming Lake Lanier, then says it's 'pausing' plans
Mar. 6—Update: Will they or won't they?
Within hours of releasing documents saying the Army Corps of Engineers would move forward with recommending new names for Lake Lanier and Buford Dam, the Corps appeared to backtrack on its plans.
"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is pausing any actions related to project renaming pending further guidance from the Department of the Army," Gene Pawlik, acting chief of public affairs for the Corps, said in a statement sent to The Times Friday afternoon.
When asked why it was pausing actions, the Corps said in an email Monday, March 13, "All we are able to offer at this time is the statement we provided Friday."
Correspondence earlier in the day Friday indicated another direction.
The Corps' Mobile District "will develop and submit a new name for Lake Lanier/Buford Dam for consideration by the Department of the Army," District Commander Jeremy J. Chapman said in a letter Friday, March 10, to Lake Lanier Association executive director Amy McGuire.
The actions are being taken in accordance with the fiscal 2021 William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act, the letter says.
"Our goal is to be fully open and transparent during the renaming process, and we will solicit public and stakeholder feedback on the recommended names," Chapman said.
The agency has been "directed to provide potential name changes to Lake Sidney Lanier and Buford Dam," it said in a news release Friday, March 10.
A Corps "planning team is working to develop possible name recommendations and establish timelines for this process," the release states.
An information sheet released by the Corps on Friday shows a list of renaming milestones, with "directed renaming complete" dated Jan.1, 2024.
That timeline now seems in limbo, given the latest communication from the Corps. Adding to the confusion, late Friday the Mobile District said in a release it would continue to solicit public comment on renaming and urged the public to monitor its website for updates.
This document from the Army Corps of Engineers shows renaming milestones for Lake Lanier and Buford Dam. The timeline now appears in question after the Corps announced March 10, 2023, that it is "pausing" its plans.
Lake Lanier Renaming Milestones
The Mobile District, which includes Lake Lanier and Buford Dam, "is committed to public and stakeholder engagement."
The Corps has set up a website with a submission form for the public to suggest other names.
"The project site itself, or our rangers, while committed to providing excellent customer service, is not the appropriate place to collect comments concerning the renaming efforts," the Corps said in an email Monday.
"Ultimately, Congress has the final authority to select a new name for the project since it established the project's name (Lake Lanier) when it first authorized the project in 1946," the website states.
The issue stems from a September report issued by The Naming Commission, a congressionally chartered group assigned to reviewing federal names related to the Confederacy.
The Final Report to Congress says the lake and dam are "within its remit for consideration, but not within its purview to provide a naming recommendation."
Buford Dam is named for the city, the namesake of Lt. Col. Algernon Sidney Buford, who served in the Virginia Militia during the Civil War, the report states.
Lake Lanier is named after poet Sidney Lanier, who served in the Confederate States Army as a private. The lake drew 12.3 million visitors in 2022, said Steve J. Stanley, Army Corps of Engineers' Mobile District spokesman, on Monday, March 6.
What do you think?
Have opinions about Lake Lanier and Buford Dam possibly being renamed? Take our survey.
You can also let the Lake Lanier Association know here. The LLA will relay the results to Congress.
The Stars and Stripes, a military publication that receives public and private funding, notes in an article that commissioners included the civil works in their review of military assets but declined to offer naming recommendations for them due to the overlapping nature of their ownership and management with individual states.
The commission instead deferred a decision on their names to Congress, according to the publication.
"Everyone I've spoken to in the district agrees that this is a terrible idea," U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, whose 9th District includes the eastern part of Lake Lanier, said in an email Friday to The Times.
He said in another email the Corps' move to pause the process "is a tremendous victory for Northeast Georgians, as these renamings would have attempted to rewrite history, impose massive burdensome costs on our community and create unnecessary mass confusion.
"I will continue to closely monitor the situation to ensure that (the Corps) does not under any circumstances engage in any effort to rename Lake Lanier or Buford Dam in the future."
Clyde also said he spoke Friday afternoon to the Corps about what he called a "severely misguided proposal."
Despite repeated attempts, other lawmakers couldn't be reached for comment, including Rep. Rich McCormick, a Republican whose 6th District includes the western part of Lake Lanier, and Georgia's Democratic senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.
The Naming Commission's website has been shut down. The commission, which issued its first report in May 2022, "finished their mission" Oct. 1, 2022, according to the Department of Defense.
The group's September report "provides a lengthy list of commission-vetted names that could be used for renaming," according to the Stars and Stripes. "The commission collected more than 34,000 naming suggestions and comments from the public, resulting in more than 3,600 unique names.
"The defense secretary is required to implement a plan to rename, modify or remove Confederacy-related names, symbols, displays, monuments and paraphernalia by Jan. 1, 2024. The work was estimated to cost $62.5 million."
The possibility of Lake Lanier being renamed has caused a stir locally.
Kit Dunlap, president and CEO of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce, said she doesn't want to see the name changed and was unaware that Lake Lanier "was included in this federal review."
"Lake Lanier is our community," she said, adding that the chamber "will look at this and send a statement to officials," including Clyde, Warnoff and Ossoff.
Gainesville Mayor Sam Couvillon said, "I feel like asking for the name of Lake Lanier to change is not practical and would only create confusion and problems."
Clyde Morris, a board member with advocacy group Lake Lanier Association, said, "I'm speechless that the Corps has announced, within hours after issuing a Press Release announcing the renaming process, that it plans to "pause" it. But I'm hopeful the pause is an indication that they will reverse field and not simply resume where they left off with the renaming effort."
Earlier, Morris told The Times: "We think the connection between the Confederacy and the namesakes (of the lake and dam) are really too remote to justify changing the names of the lake and the dam.
"Both (Lanier and Buford) served for very short periods of time in the Confederacy, and they had a whole lot of other accomplishments in their lives."
Lake Lanier's history traces to 1945, when the Corps of Engineers recommended a dam in the Buford area. A groundbreaking ceremony for Buford Dam was held March 2, 1950.
Sidney Lanier's ballad "Song of the Chattahoochee," an ode to the river flowing "out of the hills of Habersham and down through the valleys of Hall," secured his legacy's immortality as the man-made lake was named in his honor upon its filling in 1956.
Algernon Buford's Confederate past isn't mentioned on the city of Buford's website, which describes the Richmond, Va., resident as president of the Atlanta and Richmond Air-Line Railroad, a lawyer, University of Virginia graduate, Virginia state legislator and "of distinguished Virginian ancestry."
------
Update: Lake Lanier and Buford Dam will be renamed because of their names' ties to Confederate soldiers, but a name hasn't been chosen yet, according to documents from the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Corps' Mobile District "will develop and submit a new name for Lake Lanier/Buford Dam for consideration by the Department of the Army," District Commander Jeremy J. Chapman said in a letter Friday, March 10, to Lake Lanier Association executive director Amy McGuire.
The actions are being taken in accordance with the fiscal 2021 William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act, the letter says.
"Our goal is to be fully open and transparent during the renaming process, and we will solicit public and stakeholder feedback on the recommended names," Chapman said.
The Corps has set up a website to obtain public comments.
The agency has been "directed to provide potential name changes to Lake Sidney Lanier and Buford Dam," said in a news release Friday, March 10.
A Corps "planning team is working to develop possible name recommendations and establish timelines for this process," the release states.
An information sheet released by the Corps on Friday shows a list of renaming milestones, with "directed renaming complete" dated Jan.1, 2024.
The Mobile District, which includes Lake Lanier and Buford Dam, "is committed to public and stakeholder engagement."
"Ultimately, Congress has the final authority to select a new name for the project since it established the project's name (Lake Lanier) when it first authorized the project in 1946," the website states.
The issue stems from a September report issued by The Naming Commission, a congressionally chartered group assigned to reviewing federal names related to the Confederacy.
The Final Report to Congress says the lake and dam are "within its remit for consideration, but not within its purview to provide a naming recommendation."
Buford Dam is named for the city, the namesake of Lt. Col. Algernon Sidney Buford, who served in the Virginia Militia during the Civil War, the report states.
Lake Lanier is named after poet Sidney Lanier, who served in the Confederate States Army as a private. The lake drew 12.3 million visitors in 2022, said Steve J. Stanley, Army Corps of Engineers' Mobile District spokesman, on Monday, March 6.
The Stars and Stripes, a military publication that receives public and private funding, notes in an article that commissioners included the civil works in their review of military assets but declined to offer naming recommendations for them due to the overlapping nature of their ownership and management with individual states.
The commission instead deferred a decision on their names to Congress, according to the publication.
Despite repeated attempts, neither of the U.S. House members representing Lake Lanier, Republicans Andrew Clyde and Rich McCormick could be reached for comment.
Nor could Georgia's Democratic senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, be reached.
The Naming Commission's website has been shut down. The commission, which issued its first report in May 2022, "finished their mission" Oct. 1, 2022, according to the Department of Defense.
The group's September report "provides a lengthy list of commission-vetted names that could be used for renaming," according to the Stars and Stripes. "The commission collected more than 34,000 naming suggestions and comments from the public, resulting in more than 3,600 unique names.
"The defense secretary is required to implement a plan to rename, modify or remove Confederacy-related names, symbols, displays, monuments and paraphernalia by Jan. 1, 2024. The work was estimated to cost $62.5 million."
The possibility of Lake Lanier being renamed has caused a stir locally.
Kit Dunlap, president and CEO of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce, said she doesn't want to see the name changed and was unaware that Lake Lanier "was included in this federal review."
"Lake Lanier is our community," she said, adding that the chamber "will look at this and send a statement to officials," including Clyde, Warnoff and Ossoff.
Gainesville Mayor Sam Couvillon said, "I feel like asking for the name of Lake Lanier to change is not practical and would only create confusion and problems."
Clyde Morris, a board member with advocacy group Lake Lanier Association, said, "We think the connection between the Confederacy and the namesakes (of the lake and dam) are really too remote to justify changing the names of the lake and the dam.
"Both (Lanier and Buford) served for very short periods of time in the Confederacy, and they had a whole lot of other accomplishments in their lives."
Lake Lanier's history traces to 1945, when the Corps of Engineers recommended a dam in the Buford area. A groundbreaking ceremony for Buford Dam was held March 2, 1950.
Sidney Lanier's ballad "Song of the Chattahoochee," an ode to the river flowing "out of the hills of Habersham and down through the valleys of Hall," secured his legacy's immortality as the man-made lake was named in his honor upon its filling in 1956.
Algernon Buford's Confederate past isn't mentioned on the city of Buford's website, which describes the Richmond, Va., resident as president of the Atlanta and Richmond Air-Line Railroad, a lawyer, University of Virginia graduate, Virginia state legislator and "of distinguished Virginian ancestry."
------
Previous story: A new name for Lake Lanier and Buford Dam?
A congressionally chartered group assigned to reviewing federal names related to the Confederacy, says the lake and dam are "within its remit for consideration, but not within its purview to provide a naming recommendation."
Buford Dam is named for the town, the namesake of Lt. Col. Algernon Sidney Buford, who served in the Virginia Militia during the Civil War, states The Naming Commission's Final Report to Congress in September.
Lake Lanier is named after poet Sidney Lanier, who served in the Confederate States Army as a private. The lake drew 12.3 million visitors in 2022, said Steve J. Stanley, Army Corps of Engineers' Mobile District spokesman, on Monday, March 6.
The Stars and Stripes, a military publication that receives public and private funding, notes in an article that commissioners included the civil works in their review of military assets but declined to offer naming recommendations for them due to the overlapping nature of their ownership and management with individual states.
The commission is instead deferring a decision on their names to Congress, according to the publication.
"Rep. Clyde and his team are aware of the matter," said Madeline Huffman, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, whose district includes Hall County and the eastern part of Lake Lanier.
"I can't comment on the ongoing situation, but I'll be (able) to discuss the congressman's reaction and future plans in the coming weeks."
Rep. Rich McCormick, R-6th District, whose district includes the western part of Lake Lanier, and Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, both Democrats, couldn't be reached.
The Naming Commission's website has been shut down. The commission, which issued its first report in May 2022, "finished their mission" Oct. 1, 2022, according to the Department of Defense.
The group's September report "provides a lengthy list of commission-vetted names that could be used for renaming," according to the Stars and Stripes. "The commission collected more than 34,000 naming suggestions and comments from the public, resulting in more than 3,600 unique names.
"The defense secretary is required to implement a plan to rename, modify or remove Confederacy-related names, symbols, displays, monuments and paraphernalia by Jan. 1, 2024. The work was estimated to cost $62.5 million."
The possibility of Lake Lanier being renamed has caused a stir locally.
Kit Dunlap, president and CEO of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce, said she doesn't want to see the name changed and was unaware that Lake Lanier "was included in this federal review."
"Lake Lanier is our community," she said, adding that the chamber "will look at this and send a statement to officials," including Clyde, Warnock and Ossoff.
Gainesville Mayor Sam Couvillon said, "I feel like asking for the name of Lake Lanier to change is not practical and would only create confusion and problems."
And Clyde Morris, a board member with advocacy group Lake Lanier Association, said, "We think the connection between the Confederacy and the namesakes (of the lake and dam) are really too remote to justify changing the names of the lake and the dam.
"Both (Lanier and Buford) served for very short periods of time in the Confederacy, and they had a whole lot of other accomplishments in their lives."
Lake Lanier's history traces to 1945, when the Corps of Engineers recommended a dam in the Buford area. A groundbreaking ceremony for Buford Dam was held March 2, 1950.
Sidney Lanier's ballad "Song of the Chattahoochee," an ode to the river flowing "out of the hills of Habersham and down through the valleys of Hall," secured his legacy's immortality as the man-made lake was named in his honor upon its filling in 1956.
Algernon Buford's Confederate past isn't mentioned on the city of Buford's website, which describes the Richmond, Va., resident as president of the Atlanta and Richmond Air-Line Railroad, a lawyer, University of Virginia graduate, Virginia state legislator and "of distinguished Virginian ancestry."
------
Previous story: A new name for Lake Lanier and Buford Dam?
A congressionally chartered group assigned to reviewing federal names related to the Confederacy, says the lake and dam are "within its remit for consideration, but not within its purview to provide a naming recommendation."
Buford Dam is named for the town, the namesake of Lt. Col. Algernon Sidney Buford, who served in the Virginia Militia during the Civil War, states The Naming Commission's Final Report to Congress in September.
Lake Lanier is named after poet Sidney Lanier, who served in the Confederate States Army as a private. The lake drew 12.3 million visitors in 2022, said Steve J. Stanley, Army Corps of Engineers' Mobile District spokesman, on Monday, March 6.
The Stars and Stripes, a military publication that receives public and private funding, notes in an article that commissioners included the civil works in their review of military assets but declined to offer naming recommendations for them due to the overlapping nature of their ownership and management with individual states.
The commission is instead deferring a decision on their names to Congress.
Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-9th District, which includes Hall County and Lake Lanier, couldn't be reached for immediate comment.
"The report provides a lengthy list of commission-vetted names that could be used for renaming," according to the Stars and Stripes. "The commission collected more than 34,000 naming suggestions and comments from the public, resulting in more than 3,600 unique names.
"The defense secretary is required to implement a plan to rename, modify or remove Confederacy-related names, symbols, displays, monuments and paraphernalia by Jan. 1, 2024. The work was estimated to cost $62.5 million."
