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U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., has secured wins for his northeast Georgia constituents—as well as for all Georgians– to help protect both Lake Lanier’s name and recreation sites through the ongoing Fiscal Year 2026 House of Representatives appropriations process. According to Clyde, “The Energy and Water Development appropriations bill includes critical provisions to both protect Lake Lanier’s name and help keep its parks open by providing local partners with flexibility to more effectively spend collected user fees.” 

“I will continue using every avenue at my disposal,” Clyde continued, “to advocate for commonsense solutions to preserve and improve Lake Lanier for Northeast Georgians and visitors. The other day the House Appropriations Committee approved the FY26 appropriations bill by a vote of 35-27. According to his office, during the bill’s markup the congressman specifically: 

• Preserved a commonsense provision  (Sec. 109) he requested and obtained in the base bill to prohibit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) from using significant taxpayer money to rename civil works projects such as Lake Lanier. A Democrat-led amendment to remove this provision failed by a vote of 26-35. (Publisher’s note: Democrats groused that the lake’s namesake Sidney Lanier, a prominent Georgia poet/song writer, was once a private in the Confederate army in the 1860s.)  

• Secured an amendment to allow local partners that manage multiple recreation sites at a USACE civil works project to spend collected user fees across all sites they oversee at that project, rather than being limited to using the fees only at the specific site where the funds were collected. The amendment mirrors Reps. and Rich McCormick’s Lanier Parks Local Access Act, which the pair introduced last week ahead of the markup. 

Additionally, the Committee approved the FY26 Energy and Water appropriations bill report, which includes language requested by Clyde to urge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to collaborate with state and local partners to facilitate the transfer of management of park operations where appropriate, as well as to streamline the lengthy approval process for leasing USACE sites. 

 Observers tell James Magazine Online that this should soon pass the Republican-controlled House chamber.