48 years ago, the Okefenokee Swamp gained protection as a federally designated Wilderness Area. During my 10 years as a Congressman, protecting Cumberland Island and the Okefenokee Swamp are the pieces of legislation I am most proud of sponsoring.
In 1972, the Cumberland Island National Seashore was established, followed quickly by a banner period for conservation and wilderness protection in Georgia. In 1974 the Okefenokee Wilderness Areas was designated, as well as the Cohutta Mountains in northwest Georgia, Ellicott’s Rock in far northeast Georgia and on the Georgia coast, Blackbeard and Wolf Islands.
Former U.S. Rep. Bill Stuckey & Okefenokee Swamp Park Executive Director Kim Bednarek
Now the Okefenokee Swamp Wilderness Area, spanning some 350,000 acres, a dense carbon sink, is under threat, and it is time for Georgia’s leaders to step up and permanently protect this natural wonder from proposed mining operations that would drain water from the swamp and significantly impact the animals that call it home and the humans that visit it by the hundreds of thousands annually.
Swamp to Sea – our Georgia Coast is a treasure. Georgia legislators need to make 2023 another banner year for conservation in Georgia by adopting the Okefenokee Protection Act during the upcoming General Assembly session. The Okefenokee feeds the St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers in Georgia and Florida, both of which are rich in outdoor recreation opportunities and provide habitat for federally protected fish and other rare wildlife. The St. Marys supplies freshwater from the Okefenokee Swamp to the Sea emptying into Cumberland Island Sound.
While federal legislation protected the swamp itself 48 years ago, it is now time for Georgia leaders to protect portions of the surrounding land that scientists and federal agencies understand play a critical role in sustaining the swamp. Our family is in the tree farm business, like many around the swamp, and we trust the UGA Warnell School of Forestry. When one of their distinguished professors, Dr. Rhett Jackson, says mining may lower the water level of the swamp and St. Marys River, we need to listen.
The Okefenokee Protection Act, as originally introduced by a bipartisan group of some 20 legislators during this year’s session, would prohibit mining on portions of Trail Ridge next to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge – a long, narrow former beach that used to form the Atlantic coastline and now helps control drainage out of the swamp and water levels within the swamp.
Since the 1990s, two mines have been proposed along portions of Trail Ridge that impound the swamp. The first was soundly defeated when both state and federal leaders urged DuPont to abandon its plans to dig for titanium along the ridge. Public outcry ended the DuPont mining effort, but the Okefenokee’s Trail Ridge remains vulnerable.
One sure way to stop current and future proposals that would damage Trail Ridge and the swamp is to pass protections that prevent mining while allowing for other traditional uses of this land such as silviculture. The Okefenokee Protection Act does just that.
Risking one of Georgia’s natural wonders for minerals that can be obtained elsewhere simply isn’t worth it. In 1970 the Georgia legislature passed the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act to prevent mining in the marsh. I urge Georgia’s leaders to finish what we began in 1974 and secure permanent protection for the Okefenokee Swamp to protect this natural resource legacy for future generations.
Bill Stuckey is a former U.S. Congressman from south Georgia’s 8th Congressional District
