Proposed expansion of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge draws strong support

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan to expand the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge – including land near the swamp being eyed by a mining company – received strong support this week.

Speakers at a public hearing on the proposal in Folkston were overwhelmingly in favor of the plan to add about 22,000 acres to the existing refuge.

This week's hearing was the fourth in a row where public opposition to Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals' (TPM) plan for a titanium mine along Trail Ridge adjacent to the Okefenokee was strong, said Josh Marks, president of Georgians for the Okefenokee.

'Georgians overwhelmingly said they want the Okefenokee protected, and they do not want mining,' Marks wrote in an email to Capitol Beat. 'Hopefully, Governor (Brian) Kemp will finally listen to his constituents, deny the TPM permits, and instead join the federal government in permanently protecting Trail Ridge and the swamp once and for all.'

Proposed state draft permits would allow Twin Pines Minerals to mine titanium oxide along Trail Ridge on the Okefenokee’s eastern rim. Scientific research has shown a mine would threaten the swamp’s water levels, increase wildfire risks, harm wildlife, and release toxic contaminants into nearby surface and groundwater.

Twin Pines officials say the project would not harm the largest blackwater swamp in North America.

In a news release last month, the Fish and Wildlife Service wrote the planned expansion of the refuge would 'enable the service to work with willing landowners to explore voluntary conservation actions, including potential acquisition, that would further protect the refuge’s globally significant freshwater wetland system and wildlife habitat.'

There is precedence for adding to the wildlife refuge to head off proposed mining. That's what happened in the 1990s when DuPont abandoned its plans to mine titanium near the swamp.

Public comment on the Fish and Wildlife Service expansion plan must be submitted by Nov. 18 via email to Okefenokee@fws.gov.