State of Georgia to acquire land once slated for mining near the iconic Okefenokee swamp | Hatch Magazine

Nine months after The Conservation Fund purchased the site of a proposed heavy sands mine on the southeastern fringes of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge from Twin Pines Minerals for a whopping $60 million, the state of Georgia will now acquire the land for “conservation and public enjoyment,” according to the state’s department of natural resources. The acquisition should forever protect the once-vulnerable swath of real estate that helps contain the wilderness waters of the storied Okefenokee Swamp. The asking price? Just $7 million.

The site, located on Trail Ridge, a strand of elevated forestland on a sand ridge that serves as a berm to contain the 400,000-acre black-water swamp on the Georgia-Florida border, was tentatively approved for a titanium and zirconium mining project until the protective purchase last June. The transfer of the land to the state brings a successful close to the effort to protect the Okefenokee and its fragile hydrology from the potentially disastrous impacts of drag-line mining on its edge.

The mining effort would have produced millions of gallons of groundwater each day as a byproduct of the effort to sift heavy titanium and zirconium from the white sands that lie beneath the area’s pine-and-palmetto forests. The fear, scientists say, is that the produced water would alter the hydrology of the swamp and, potentially, water levels in the St. Marys river, which starts in the swamp and forms the boundary between Georgia and Florida on its way to the Atlantic.

The swamp is also the wellspring of the iconic Suwannee River, which flows south from Georgia and into Florida before dumping into the Gulf of Mexico. Both rivers are home to rare and endangered species, like the Atlantic sturgeon found in the St. Marys River and the gulf sturgeon found in Suwannee. The swamp itself is home to protect red cockaded woodpeckers, wood storks, sandhill cranes, black bears, river otters, and about 13,000 American alligators. It’s also home to the Okefenokee Wilderness Area, some 350,000 acres of pristine backcountry swamp and marsh habitat — it’s the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi.

The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is under consideration as a United Nations World Heritage Site. The bid to earn such a distinction is a multi-year process. As of 2025, there are only 25 such sites in the United States. Yellowstone and Mesa Verde national parks were the first two sites to be recognized as World Heritage Sites. The Okefenokee, should it eventually earn such a distinction, would be the first such natural and cultural site along America’s subtropical coastal plain.

While much of the attention during the years-long fight to keep the dragline out of the shadow of the refuge was on the swamp’s natural resources, it’s important to note that the Okefenokee is an important resource for its cultural and recreational assets. The swamp was once the primary hunting ground for indigenous Creek tribes, and it played a vital role in the Second Seminole War in the late 1830s, when forts and roads were built around the swamp’s perimeter. Between 1620 and 1656, Timicuan villages and Spanish missions were present in the swamp.

The first Anglo settlers arrived in the swamp around 1805, and families started to move onto the swamps islands and hammocks in the 1850s.

After an unsuccessful effort to drain the swamp via a canal built to expand its drainage into the Suwannee River in the early 1930s, president Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1938, designated the swamp as a national wildlife refuge. Now, less than an hour from Florida’s largest city — Jacksonville — the swamp sees about 700,000 annual visitors, many who come to paddle its pristine waters and take in its unspoiled landscape that’s not unlike it was half a century ago.

Photo: Chris Hunt.

For anglers, the swap offers a respite from traditional Georgia and Florida fishing, where largemouth and various strains of black bass are the most sought-after targets. The swamp is home to some unique fish, like chain pickerel, long-nosed gar, warmouth and flyers (sunfish), and the burly bowfin, a prehistoric air breather than can grow to lengths of 40 inches or more in the acidic black waters of this wild water. The bowfin have cultivated a cult following among fly rodders — they’ll willingly hit a stripped fly, and they are tremendous fighters and leapers.

According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the purchase of the former proposed mine site is an investment in land and water conservation. “This acquisition will protect critical wildlife habitat and preserve the ecological integrity of the region while expanding opportunities for nature-based recreation,” the department’s purchase announcement reads. “Once acquired, the property will be managed as a Wildlife Management Area, providing public access for activities such as hunting and fishing. The project will ensure the long-term stewardship of this important natural resource while supporting outdoor recreation and wildlife conservation.”