Media Contacts:
MORE THAN 30 GROUPS ORGANIZE TO SAVE
OKEFENOKEE SWAMP
GEORGIA
(July 14, 2020) More than 30
national, state, and local organizations have joined forces in the fight to
protect the Okefenokee Swamp. The new coalition, known as the Okefenokee
Protection Alliance (OPA), recently formed in response to a new and alarming
threat to the Okefenokee in the form of proposed heavy mineral sands mining
adjacent to the swamp.
In July 2019, Twin
Pines Minerals, LLC, submitted a permit application to the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (Corps) seeking authorization to mine the first phase of what would
eventually become a 12,000-acre project abutting the southeast corner of the
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
After the Corps was
deluged with letters opposing the project, Twin Pines withdrew that application
and submitted a second application to excavate a roughly 900-acre first phase
of the mine. The Corps is now weighing whether to approve that second
application. Twin Pines must also secure permission from the state of Georgia.
“The new Okefenokee Protection Alliance
is the first collaborative effort to have an exclusive focus on the protection
of what is arguably our country’s healthiest remaining wetland of
significance,” says Christian Hunt, Southeast Program Representative for
Defenders of Wildlife. “Everyone came together because of Twin Pines’ permit
application, but by design we intend to be active over the long-term and
address the present threat that we are dealing with today, as well as future
threats that stand to compromise the Okefenokee.”
This week, the Okefenokee Protection
Alliance introduced a new website (www.protectokefenokee.org) and began urging
citizens to write Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, asking him to protect Southeast
Georgia’s international natural treasure.
“Just as we have reached out to folks
to call on the Corps, we are reaching out to folks to call on Governor Kemp because
it is not just the Corps that has a say,” says Rena Peck, Executive Director of
the Georgia River Network. “We want Governor Kemp to stand with his
constituents and all the citizens in Georgia who are concerned about the mine
and ask the Corps for an Environmental Impact Statement.”
The Okefenokee has a long history of
support from Georgia leaders. A similar proposal to mine near the Swamp in the
1990s was stopped when Gov. Zell Miller and others spoke out against it; in the
1970s, W.S. “Bill” Stuckey, Jr. who represented the 8th District of Georgia in
Congress, successfully fought to designate portions of the swamp as a National
Wilderness Area.
Stuckey, now a resident of the Georgia
coast, said recently, “I’m hopeful that Governor Kemp will step in to protect
the Okefenokee Wilderness and stop the mine.”
OPA member
organizations and federal agencies have expressed concerns that the mine could
alter the hydrology of the area and impair the movement and storage of water
within the swamp, the St. Marys and Suwannee rivers and the Floridan Aquifer.
This could lead to an
increased risk of uncontrollable wildfires and impact access to the swamp for
boating, fishing, birding, hunting and photography. Pollution from the mining
operation could also impact the health of groundwater and surface water.
The Floridan Aquifer,
which lies beneath the swamp, is the water source for all of south Georgia and
most of Florida, and feeds many springs in the region, which are already
adversely affected by overpumping. Thus, anything that affects the swamp or the
aquifer could have far-reaching consequences.
“As the largest blackwater swamp in the
United States, the significance of the Okefenokee can not be overstated,” says
Alice Keyes, Vice President of Coastal Conservation for One Hundred Miles. “It
is recognized through many designations and determinations, but the
characteristics that are worthy of the recognitions and that bolster the local
economy continue to be threatened.”
Citing the Okefenokee’s status as a
Wetland of International Importance and the largest blackwater swamp in the
U.S., OPA’s member organizations have rallied citizens around the cause of
saving the swamp.
Over the course of two recent public
comment periods, the Corps received more than 60,000 comments, the vast
majority of which urged the Corps to deny a permit to Twin Pines for the
controversial and potentially destructive mine.
“One
voice or even a dozen can be drowned out by the interests of those who seek
only financial gain – but OPA represents the voices of millions.” says Alex Kearns,
Chair of the St. Marys EarthKeepers.
Hanging in the balance is a unique
ecosystem of incomparable beauty. With 600,000 annual visits, people from all
fifty states boat, bird, fish, and hunt within the legendary swamp that spans
across more than 400,000 acres, much of which is protected as a federal
wilderness area.
“It's a special place, but in the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service it stands out among refuges,” says Jon Andrew,
Florida Refuge Liason for the National Wildlife Refuge Association and former
Regional Chief of Refuges for the Southeast Region for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. “The Okefenokee is the largest National Wildlife Refuge east
of the Mississippi. You have to go to the Southwest or Alaska to find refuges
of comparable size, and it presents the opportunity to manage an ecosystem,
which is rare anywhere, but especially rare in the Eastern U.S.”
Tourism associated with the swamp
supports more than 700 local jobs in the four rural counties surrounding the
swamp and generates $64.7 million in local economic output annually.
In addition, the Okefenokee feeds both
the St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers in Georgia and Florida, both of which are
rich in outdoor recreation opportunities in their own right and provide habitat
for federally protected fish and other rare wildlife.
“The presence of a powerful and united
coalition such as OPA is essential,” says Kearns. “It allows local
organizations and citizens a megaphone, a way to be heard. Ours are the lives
that will be most directly impacted because our health and our economy are
fundamentally tied to the well-being of the Okefenokee.”
OPA’s mission is to “protect the Okefenokee National Wildlife
Refuge from any activities that could jeopardize the integrity of the swamp now
and in the future so that the wildlife that inhabits it and the people who
recreate and work in the swamp can thrive.”
For more information, please visit: www.protectokefenokee.org
Members
of OPA include:
Altamaha Riverkeeper, The Amphibian Foundation,
Atlanta Audubon Society, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Center for Biological
Diversity, Center for a Sustainable Coast, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Coosa
River Basin Initiative, Defenders of Wildlife, Dogwood Alliance, The
EcoStewards Program, Environment Georgia, Flint Riverkeeper, Friends of Georgia
State Parks & Historic Sites,
Georgia Conservancy, Georgia Conservation Voters, Georgia Interfaith
Power and Light, Georgia River Network, Georgia Women (And Those Who Stand With
Us), Glynn Environmental Coalition, National Parks Conservation Association,
National Wildlife Refuge Association, Ogeechee Riverkeeper, One Hundred Miles,
Our Santa Fe River, Satilla Riverkeeper, Savannah Riverkeeper, Sierra Club
Florida Chapter, Sierra Club Georgia Chapter, Sierra Club Northeast Florida
Group, Southern Environmental Law
Center, SouthWings, St. Johns Riverkeeper, St. Marys EarthKeepers, Suwannee
Riverkeeper, Waterkeeper Alliance, Waterkeepers Florida, Wayne Morgan Artistry,
the Wilderness Society, and Wilderness Watch.
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