Georgia to get new wildlife area on land bought from Okefenokee mining company

The new wildlife management area doesn’t have a name yet and won’t be open to visitors until 2027, according to Georgia Department of Natural Resources Deputy Commissioner Trevor Santos. But the land, which sits near the swamp’s southeast corner and covers nearly 4,000 acres, will be managed by DNR with the goal of providing “high-quality wildlife habitat,” as well as hunting and fishing opportunities, Santos said.

Georgia’s acquisition is being funded in part by a $7 million grant from the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program. The grant program was created by the Georgia General Assembly in 2018 to help create new parks and trails, plus protect wildlife habitat.

The funding for the new wildlife management area was recommended by the DNR’s board back in January, then given final approval by appropriations committees in the state House and Senate in recent days.

Santos said the land the state is set to acquire fits the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program’s intent. The property is known to contain habitat for several rare and protected species, including gopher tortoises, eastern indigo snakes and the Florida sandhill crane.

“Like any other land acquisition opportunity considered by DNR, this property is significant because of its high conservation value,” Santos said.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Georgia is buying the land from The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit that specializes in protecting at-risk lands. Last summer, The Conservation Fund purchased close to 8,000 acres from Twin Pines Minerals, an Alabama-based mining company that was seeking permits to mine on the swamp’s doorstep.

The state will now own and manage roughly half that acreage. The remainder will stay in the hands of The Conservation Fund.

All of the land sits on Trail Ridge, a line of ancient sand dunes stretching all the way from North Florida, along the Okefenokee’s eastern rim and into several southeast Georgia counties. Parts of the formation are known to contain high concentrations of titanium and zirconium-rich minerals, which has drawn interest from several mining companies over the years.

But scientists say the ridge is also critical to the health of the Okefenokee, North America’s largest blackwater wetland. Many researchers have warned that mining the formation would disrupt water flows in the vast wetland, harming wildlife and increasing the frequency of wildfires.

Stacy Funderburke, The Conservation Fund’s vice president for the central Southeast region, called the state’s land purchase a “great outcome.”

“In my mind, it gets public access (to the property) on the table sooner, but it also enhances the public recreation benefit for local communities around the swamp,” Funderburke said.

Environmental groups like the coastal conservation nonprofit One Hundred Miles also praised the state’s acquisition.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

When the Twin Pines mine was still a possibility, state officials — including Gov. Brian Kemp — faced sharp criticism for not intervening to halt the project, which many viewed as an existential threat to the Okefenokee.

Some environmentalists still believe legislation is needed to permanently protect the swamp. Still, Megan Desrosiers, One Hundred Miles’ president and CEO, called the purchase a welcome shift to a more active stance on Okefenokee conservation by the state.

“I think the state’s been given a very hard time for not participating in efforts to protect the swamp, but this move is a way of saying, ‘Yes, we heard you,’” Desrosiers said.

A spokesman for Kemp’s office said they are “excited for Georgians to be able to enjoy this new wildlife management area.”

“Our state parks and WMAs (wildlife management areas) are critical to providing outdoor recreation opportunities, help support local communities statewide, and drive tourism and economic development,” Kemp’s spokesman said in a statement.

This week The Conservation Fund also revealed more of the private philanthropic funders that provided financial backing for the purchase of Twin Pines’ land last year.

Those supporters include: the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, the Coca-Cola Foundation, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, the Knobloch Family Foundation, Laura Richards and Jim Naughton, the Bobolink Foundation, Fred and Alice Stanback and the River Branch Foundation.

The list also included the James M. Cox Foundation and the Holdfast Collective — an environmental nonprofit funded by the outdoor apparel giant Patagonia. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported they provided significant financial support for the deal.

Jim Kennedy, chairman of the James M. Cox Foundation, is chairman emeritus of Cox Enterprises, the parent company of the AJC.