Comedian Jeff Foxworthy grants conservation easement on 1,000 acres in Harris County

Blue-collar comedy star Jeff Foxworthy perpetually has preserved 1,000 acres up by Blue Springs.

The Georgia humorist who became famous for telling redneck jokes and hosting the “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader?” game show has granted a conservation easement on a third of his 3,000 acres in Harris County to the Chattahoochee Valley Land Trust.

That means the land never will be developed, even if Foxworthy later sells it, said Katherine Eddins, executive director of the Chattahoochee Valley Land Trust that serves a 13-county region around Columbus.

Property owners granting conservation easements don’t relinquish possession of their land. They agree to preserve it in its current state.

Foxworthy’s land, which is near Howard “Bo” Callaway’s family property known as Blue Springs, is off Georgia Highway 116 east of Interstate 185.

Foxworthy first bought property in Harris County from Cason J. Callaway Jr. in 2003. The 2,000-acre tract he purchased then was described as stretching from Georgia 116 north to Hopewell Church Road between Callaway Road and Massey Bridge Road. It included an octagonal barn remodeled as a lodge with sleeping quarters for 21 people.

A California developer in 1993 got the county commission’s approval to build a golf resort community there called Heritage at Callaway Farms, but his funding dried up in 2001.

The property once was part of a 40,000-acre farm belonging to the late Cason Jewell Callaway Sr. and Virginia Hand Callaway, who acquired most of between 1930 and the early 1950s, family members said.

This story was originally published January 10, 2012 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Comedian Jeff Foxworthy grants conservation easement on 1,000 acres in Harris County."