Buckhead Blue Heron Nature Preserve Appoints New Superintendent, Completes Blueway Trail

Blue Heron Nature Preserve appointed a new executive director shortly after completing its internal Blueway trail system.

Melody Harclerode is the new director, replacing Kevin McCauley, who retired at the end of the year. Harclerode previously served nearly three years as executive director of the Sandy Springs Conservancy. She is past president of the Atlanta Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and past director of programs for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance in DeKalb County. She also writes an architecture column for Atlanta INtown, a sister publication of Reporter Newspapers.

Harclerode joined Blue Heron members for a tour of the Blueway Trail on January 26th. Blue Heron recently completed work on the inner 3-mile section of the trail, after installing bridges in the Land O Lakes area, and is now fully open to the public. The project took three years and $750,000.

A second phase of the project, which would connect the trail to Chastain Park and the PATH400 multi-use trail, is still underway and has no current schedule, according to Blue Heron.

Blue Heron consists of three separate parcels of land totaling 30 acres. Its main entrance is at 4055 Roswell Road. It shares facilities with the Atlanta Audubon Society and the Amphibian Foundation. For more information, see bhnp.org.