• Even though a major land deal in July 2025 protected 7,800 acres of Trail Ridge, the work is not done. Thousands more acres still need protecting. Contact your legislator to urge them to protect the legacy of the Okefenokee.

• The Okefenokee is the Wild Heart of Georgia and the largest blackwater swamp in North America. At over 400,000 acres, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is the nation’s largest wildlife refuge east of the Mississippi.

• Over 100 Georgia faith leaders have urged Georgia’s political leaders to protect the Okefenokee. Their open letter describes the Okefenokee as “a uniquely holy and sacred space.

• Noting its tremendous ecological significance, the National Park Service announced in 2023 that it would nominate the Okefenokee as a World Heritage site.

• According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service: "The 2017 Banking on Nature Report (Caudill and Carver 2019) identifies the total recreational expenditures for the four counties surrounding the refuge to be $64.7 million with non-residents accounting for $59.8 million. This was associated with the creation of about 753 jobs, $17.2 million in employment income generated, and $5.4 million in total tax revenue for the counties. The future of people and communities surrounding the swamp is dependent on conserving this popular natural landmark." Donald W. Imm, Field Supervisor, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Letter to US Army Corps of Engineers, May 28, 2020.

• The Okefenokee is rich in biological diversity and home to over 2,000 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and plants. Mining along Trail Ridge could compromise the habitat the swamp offers all species, including the endangered gopher tortoises, round-tailed muskrats, red-cockaded woodpeckers, wood storks, and eastern indigo snakes.

• The Okefenokee protects our climate by storing millions of tons of carbon-rich peat deposits. 

• The human and cultural history of the Okefenokee is significant as well. The Okefenokee has provided a refuge for thousands of years: 

• “There are a number of indigenous culture sites across the Okefenokee. Man-made earthen mounds are scattered across the swamp that stand as a testament to Native People living and thriving in the Okefenokee for hundreds of generations prior to the arrival of Europeans.” Turner W. Hunt, Historic and Cultural Preservation Department | Archaeological Technician, Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

   

• Due to the minerals present in this area, mining companies have long sought to establish operations. 

• Protections for this vulnerable area under federal law are unclear. Georgians shouldn’t have to rely on the federal government to protect our valuable and irreplaceable Okefenokee.

• Additionally, current state law leaves this vital area vulnerable to risky mining operations. Passing legislation is the only way to ensure the Okefenokee will be protected for generations to come.

• Trail Ridge forms the eastern boundary of the Okefenokee swamp.

• In September 2022, dozens of noted scientists and engineers signed on to an open letter outlining significant concerns with mining on Trail Ridge adjacent to the Okefenokee. Specifically, this area acts as an “earthen dam that creates the swamp itself."

• Trail Ridge is the barrier that separates the Okefenokee Swamp from the St. Marys River. In the one small, specific area where Trail Ridge was breached by nature we find the beginning of the St. Marys as it flows from the swamp.

• In May 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cited concerns with the proposed project, including lower water levels creating  increased chances for wildfire in the swamp and on private property nearby. The agency reiterated those concerns in letters issued December 2021 and again in March 2023:

“FWS is concerned that the mining operations are likely to negatively impact the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR)...resulting in decreased habitat quality for federally listed and at-risk species that rely on the wetland ecosystem and the possibility of permanently altering the hydrology and fire regimes.

FWS is concerned that the ONWR may be negatively affected by changes to the existing soils in Trail Ridge from the proposed mining activities.

Additionally lowered water tables within the Okefenokee swamp would elevate wildland fire frequency and intensity due to increased exposure of typically wetted areas and result in degradation of carbon-rich peat soils. This would in turn reduce the capacity of the swamp, a major carbon storage area in Georgia, to retain and capture carbon and assist in controlling greenhouse gasses and climate change.” Mike Oetker Acting Regional Director, US Fish and Wildlife Service Letter to Richard Dunn, March 17, 2023, Reference: FWS/R4/ES/DCN 078450

• Wildfires and lower water levels have been found to increase toxic mercury levels in wildlife in the Okefenokee.

• In the 1990s, DuPont Corporation proposed a titanium sands mine and Georgia’s leaders spoke out against a mining proposal along the same ridge. DuPont withdrew its proposal to mine.
  

• Chemours, DuPont’s successor and the largest titanium sands miner in the US, recently elected to build a new mine in northeast Florida, rather than pursue mining next to the Okefenokee.

• In 2019, an Alabama-based company, Twin Pines Minerals, LLC proposed a mining operation that threatens the Okefenokee and tourism related jobs in the area. 
  • • Georgia EPD issued draft permits to Twin Pines Minerals, LLC in February 2024 with an extended public comment period. The final permits were not issued before a major deal with The Conservation Fund in July protected the land once threatened by mining. Around 7,800 acres of Trail Ridge are now protected from mining.

• Trail Ridge is a mixed-sand ridge with deposits of heavy mineral sands, which can be processed into commonly available materials like titanium dioxide and zirconium.

• The mineral sands found in this vulnerable area are available in abundance elsewhere in the US.

• Titanium dioxide sands in this area are not the same as titanium metal. Mining sands along the Okefenokee are not needed for national defense. These widely available sands are used in white paint, sunscreen, and as food additives.

• The Okefenokee is a regional economic engine. In 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service noted that the location of the proposed industrial mining operation is near the entrance of a wilderness area–impacting an estimated $64.7 million in tourism dollars and local jobs.

• A growing list of communities around the Okefenokee and in south Georgia have passed local resolutions urging the protection of the Okefenokee from risky mining. Concerns include impacts to:
  • • Local drinking water supplies
    • Tourism and jobs
    • Natural resources

• The Okefenokee is the birthplace of two major river systems: the St. Marys River and the Suwannee River.
• The mining could lower water flows to the Okefenokee and the St. Marys River system, particularly during droughts. (Click here to view the full presentation on this issue given by Dr. Rhett Jackson, UGA Warnell School of Forest Resources)
• In May 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cited concerns with proposed mining on Trail Ridge, including lowered water levels and increased chances for wildfire in the swamp and on private property nearby. The agency reiterated those concerns in letters issued December 2021 and again in 2023:

“Additionally lowered water tables within the Okefenokee swamp would elevate wildland fire frequency and intensity due to increased exposure of typically wetted areas … Increased wildland fire activity could also threaten the millions of dollars of commercial timberland that immediately surround the Okefenokee swamp. In 2017, the 152,515-acre West Mims Fire cost taxpayers an estimated $45.5 million to suppress and destroyed over $58 million in private timberland, the majority of which is in close (proximity) to the proposed mine site.” Mike Oetker Acting Regional Director, US Fish and Wildlife Service Letter to Richard Dunn, March 17, 2023, Reference: FWS/R4/ES/DCN 078450

• A growing list of communities around the Okefenokee and in south Georgia have passed local resolutions urging the protection of the Okefenokee from risky mining. Concerns include impacts to:
  • • • Local drinking water supplies
      • Tourism and jobs
      • Natural resources

• No. Trail Ridge is made of many stratified layers laid down over tens of thousands of years–like a layer cake. These layers make the ridge a structurally sound earthen dam for the swamp. After mining, the layers will become a single mixture. This will make Trail Ridge more porous and unable to hold in water, thus threatening the swamp. 

• Click here to learn more about how water flows through Trail Ridge.

Graphic provided by Science for Georgia: