Hours after saying it would move ahead in a process that could lead to a renaming of both Lake Lanier and Buford Dam, late Friday the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers put that effort on pause.

The Corps says it needs additional guidance from the Department of the Army.

Clyde Morris, vice president of the Lake Lanier Association, tells WSB Radio, “I hope that it is because they are going to consider reversing field and stop the process altogether. But pausing is not the same thing as stopping.”

Earlier on Friday, the Association received word that the Corps was set to move ahead after a congressional naming panel’s recommendation to rename the two sites due to names with ties to the Confederacy.

The lake is named after Sidney Lanier, a 19th-century musician, and poet, who penned the poem song of the Chattahoochee. He also served several months as a private in the Confederate army. The dam is named for Algernon Sydney Buford. The city took on his name in recognition of his ownership of a local railroad, not his participation in the Civil War.

U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton had been a member of the Renaming Commission that offered new names for military bases around the country. Those included two in Georgia with names of Confederate leaders.

Scott told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the “USACE made the right decision to pause any actions.”

Georgia U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde’s district includes Lake Lanier. He told the AJC he was happy to hear a “misguided proposal” was now paused.

The Army Corps has this webpage explaining the earlier renaming recommendation for both Lake Lanier and Buford Dam.

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