Skip to content
An egret walks through the shallow water of Okefenokee Swamp.
Okefenokee Swamp The Okefenokee is home to a thousand species of plants and animals. © TNC

Stories in Georgia

Take Action Now to Protect the Okefenokee Swamp

Voice your support for one of Georgia's most precious natural resources.

February 14, 2024

America’s Okefenokee Swamp is a world-renowned treasure. Spanning across 438,000 acres of southeast Georgia, the Okefenokee Swamp is the largest intact freshwater wetland in North America.

But right now, this unique landscape is threatened by a proposed titanium mine at the edge of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. On Friday, February 9, Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division issued draft permits moving the mining company, Twin Pines Minerals, one step closer to their plan to strip mine along Trail Ridge, a geological formation that is critical to maintaining the swamp’s complex water system.

Protect the Okefenokee

Make Your Voice Heard

There is wide consensus among experts that mining in this location will threaten the water levels of the swamp and the two rivers it feeds, increasing wildfire risks, harming fish and wildlife and releasing toxic contaminants into nearby surface and groundwater.

Floating lily pads cover the surface of a small pond. Cypress trees tower above the water.
Okefenokee swamp Lily pads and cypress trees are among the many plant species that thrive in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. © TimothyJ/Creative Commons

Building a mine adjacent to one of the world’s most precious natural resources is all risk with no reward. There are countless titanium mines around the world—but there is only one Okefenokee Swamp. We have a responsibility—to nature, to Georgia and to ourselves—to preserve it.

Take action and join us today to protect this precious natural resource which is home to more than 1,000 species of plants and animals and attracts more than 600,000 visitors per year, sustaining a vibrant local economy.

Here’s what you can do today to make your voice heard:

  • Submit a public comment to Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division by April 9, 2024, stating your opposition to mining along the Okefenokee and sharing what makes the Okefenokee special to you.

Further Reading

Solar panels in Mojave desert.

Clean Energy for People and Wildlife

The Nature Conservancy is working across the country to help private and public partners deliver clean, wildlife-friendly renewable power to customers faster and cheaper.

Wind turbines in a field of crops.

Siting Wind Right for Wildlife

How can we balance renewable energy development with the need to safeguard wildlife and their habitats? Site Renewables Right, a new analysis by The Nature Conservancy has some answers.

A field of solar panels

Leading the Way on Clean Energy

States have been exploring policy opportunities that encourage the growth of clean energy and energy efficiency.