Today is a great day for our children and our grandchildren.
It is a great day for the American alligator, the Seminole bat, the Southern cricket frog, the black bear, the wood stork, the brown-headed nuthatch and over 1,000 different species of plants, reptiles, mammals and birds that call the Okefenokee Swamp home.
It is a great day for conservationists, birders, paddlers, hikers, nature-lovers and schoolteachers.
It is a great day for the proud residents of Charlton County.
It is a great day for Georgia.
An extraordinary deal brokered by The Conservation Fund, with the support of private foundations, ensures an extraordinary sanctuary will not be sacrificed to the ambitions of an Alabama mining company, keen to extract mineral sands to produce an ordinary compound commonly found in toothpaste whitener and powdered doughnuts.
Neither the legislature nor the governor stepped up as they should have
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Just over a year ago, the fate of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was all but sealed. The state’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD) appeared poised to issue official permits enabling Twin Pines Minerals to mine the 582 acres of Trail Ridge, an ecologically significant natural barrier of wetlands, flatwoods and ancient sand dunes that protect the largest wildlife refuge east of the Mississippi River.
Last ditch legislative efforts to save the swamp by declaring a temporary mining moratorium failed despite substantial bipartisan support. The issue that prevented some lawmakers from doing the right thing for generations of Georgians: property rights. Some lawmakers declared the mineral rights owned by Twin Pines trumped the efforts of those seeking to protect a lush and enchanting patch of the planet. And they worried about the precedent for timber farmers and landowners of Charlton County, whose interests are worth tens of millions of dollars, if the mining company was rebuffed.
Into the void stepped Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns, who himself has personal interests in the timber industry. The speaker’s support helped pave the way for a moratorium bill to clear his chamber last year, but his counterpart in the Senate, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, failed to take a similar leadership position. Some legislators said there was no time to bring the bill to a Senate vote, despite passing dozens of bills on the final day of the session.
At the time, Burns vowed the fight wasn’t over, telling the AJC’s Politically Georgia podcast, “There is no more important issue to any of us in Georgia, and certainly to me.” Burns maintained there was a way to balance private property rights and preservation, and he expressed a hope that private interests would get involved to drive a solution.
There was precedent for the speaker’s suggestion.
In the late 1990s, public and private interests came together to head off a bid by the chemical and materials company DuPont to mine near the swamp. Republicans and Democrats in Washington and here at home came together, working with environmental groups to pressure the company to abandon its plans. In 2003, DuPont donated 16,000 acres it planned to mine to The Conservation Fund. A portion of that land is now part of the Okefenokee refuge. The rest is held by The Conservation Fund, which says it plans to donate the property to the refuge in the future.
The Conservation Fund showed needed leadership that will benefit generations
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Earlier this year, when the state legislature once again stonewalled two Okefenokee protection bills, The Conservation Fund stepped into the breach once more. The next time you find yourself paddling through the pristine waters of the swamp, take a moment and thank Stacy Funderburke.
The Fund’s vice president for the Central Southeast Region, a tireless champion of the swamp marshaled support from some leading private individuals and philanthropies, including Patagonia’s Holdfast Collective and the James M. Cox foundation.
Funderburke is a hero at a time when we can all use one. Jim Kennedy, chairman emeritus of Cox Enterprises and chairman of the James M. Cox Foundation; and Cox Enterprises Chairman and CEO Alex Taylor are both longtime supporters of the Okefenokee and Funderburke’s conservation efforts. Cox Enterprises is, of course, the AJC’s parent company.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has been absent from the public efforts to protect the Okefenokee. As he often does when faced with a politically thorny issue, whether prison reform, state patrol chase policies or conservation, Kemp chose to sit on the sidelines. The governor had the ability to make a difference in this effort. Some lawmakers say putting his thumb on the scale could have driven legislative action and might have encouraged the EPD to step back from the abyss sooner. Privately, his aides claimed his hands were tied. More likely, the governor just didn’t want to get his hands dirty.
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Speculation persists that the governor harbors national political ambitions. Some believe he decided not to challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, a vocal supporter of the swamp, in 2026, so he can run for president in 2028. If Kemp wants to lead the nation, he has to lead on all fronts, and on this issue, he has so far squandered an opportunity to secure his legacy for generations.
His predecessor, former Gov. Sonny Perdue, a former Trump Cabinet official, now chancellor of the University of Georgia System, wrote in April to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, throwing his weight behind the Okefenokee’s bid to become a UNESCO World Heritage site. Calling President Donald Trump a “champion” of clean air and water as well as local business interests, Purdue made a case that should appeal to all Georgians. “This is a rare opportunity to celebrate our national heritage and create meaningful opportunities for rural Southwest Georgia,” Perdue wrote.
It’s not too late for Kemp to lead. His leadership and the state’s support will be critical in this next chapter. The governor should offer his full-throated advocacy for the UNESCO bid.
The Okefenokee is our Yellowstone. Our Everglades. If the swamp is granted UNESCO status like those global treasures, The Conservation Fund estimates it will double the number of annual visitors to 1.6 million. The influx could create 750 long-term jobs and add $60 million to the economies of nearby counties.
The name Okefenokee has Native American roots and means “the land of the trembling earth.” It is a sprawling and special wonderland right in our backyard. It has provided untold riches to generations of school children who have explored it, and, in protecting it for generations to come, it may now provide riches to those lucky enough to call it a neighbor.
This editorial reflects the institutional viewpoint of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Editorial Board, comprising President & Publisher Andrew Morse, Editor-in-Chief Leroy Chapman, Standards Head Samira Jafari and Opinion Editor David Plazas. Andrew Morse wrote this editorial on behalf of the editorial board.
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