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News Articles: Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

The Red Trail of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge winds through a stand of cypress trees on the way to the Stephen C. Foster State Park on April 7, 2022, in Fargo, Ga. Scientists for the federal government said March 17, 2023, that documents that Georgia state regulators relied upon to conclude a proposed mine won't harm the nearby Okefenokee Swamp and its vast wildlife refuge contain technical errors and “critical shortcomings” that render them unreliable.

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Scientists say mine plan claiming no swamp harm has errors

Scientists for the federal government say documents that Georgia state regulators relied upon to conclude a proposed mine won't harm the nearby Okefenokee Swamp and its vast wildlife refuge are riddled with technical errors

March 24, 2023
|
By:
  • Associated Press
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

‘Stop this incursion’: Proposed mine near Okefenokee Swamp draws fierce opposition in public hearing

Thirty-seven people spoke in opposition to the project. No supporters were heard from.

February 22, 2023
|
By:
  • Benjamin Payne
Sen. Jon Ossoff speaks with U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland during a tour of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in September 2022.

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Ossoff urges state to block mine near Okefenokee Swamp, warning of dire environmental consequences

The Democratic U.S. senator urged Georgians to join him in submitting public comment to the state.

February 16, 2023
|
By:
  • Benjamin Payne
The sun sets on the lily pads and floating vegetation in the Chesser Prairie inside the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on March 30, 2022, in Folkston, Ga. A company's plan to mine minerals just outside the Okefenokee Swamp and it's federally protected wildlife refuge moved a big step closer Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, to approval by Georgia regulators, who have spent years evaluating the project that opponents say could permanently harm an ecological treasure.

Tagged as: 

  • News

Regulators move mine plan near Okefenokee a big step forward

A company's plan to mine minerals just outside the famed Okefenokee Swamp and its federally protected wildlife refuge is a big step closer to being approved by regulators in Georgia. The state's Environmental Protection Division released a draft plan Thursday for how Twin Pines Minerals would operate its proposed mine and mitigate potential impacts to the swamp.

January 19, 2023
|
By:
  • Associated Press
A group of visitors return to Stephen C. Foster State Park after an overnight camping trip on the Red Trail in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, April 6, 2022, in Fargo, Ga. Conservation groups filed suit Tuesday, Nov. 15, against a U.S. government agency challenging its decision to allow a mining project to move forward without federal permits near the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp's vast wildlife refuge.

Tagged as: 

  • News

Interior secretary: 'Unacceptable' to mine near famed swamp

A member of President Joe Biden's Cabinet is urging Georgia officials to deny permits for a proposed mine near the edge of the famed Okefenokee Swamp and its vast wildlife refuge. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp that the mining project poses "unacceptable risks" to the swamp's fragile ecosystem.

December 08, 2022
|
By:
  • Associated Press
A group of visitors return to Stephen C. Foster State Park after an overnight camping trip on the Red Trail in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, April 6, 2022, in Fargo, Ga. Conservation groups filed suit Tuesday, Nov. 15, against a U.S. government agency challenging its decision to allow a mining project to move forward without federal permits near the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp's vast wildlife refuge.

Tagged as: 

  • News

U.S. agency sued over hands-off decision on Okefenokee mine

A U.S. government agency is being sued over its decision to allow a proposed mine outside the vast Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge to move forward without federal permits.

November 15, 2022
|
By:
  • Associated Press
Okefenokee swamp at sunset

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Fate of mine at Okefenokee Swamp’s edge could soon be cemented by Georgia EPD

 

The firm that wants to mine for heavy minerals near the Okefenokee Swamp scored a major victory Monday after a federal agency reversed its decision to take control of the review process away from Georgia’s environmental agency.

August 23, 2022
|
By:
  • Stanley Dunlap
Okefenokee swamp

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Mining company sues Army Corps over project near Okefenokee

Conservation groups have protested the project since it was first proposed in 2019, saying it threatens to disrupt the flow of water into and out of the environmentally and culturally important swamp.

June 28, 2022
|
By:
  • Mary Landers
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

U.S. Army Corps revokes approval of mining near Okefenokee

The US Army Corps of Engineers on Friday reversed its approval of a mining project threatening the Okefenokee Swamp.

June 06, 2022
|
By:
  • Mary Landers
The Okefenokee Swamp is among Georgia's wildest places. It is home to some 200 species of birds and 50 reptiles, including American alligators and snowy egrets.

Tagged as: 

  • News

Georgia Today: State's beloved Okefenokee Swamp at the heart of plan for new titanium dioxide mine

A proposal to mine for titanium dioxide near the state's Okefenokee Swamp is attracting controversy. Alabama company Twin Pines has applied for a permit to extract minerals near the freshwater wetland and wildlife refuge — the largest blackwater wetland in North America — and residents, politicians and environmental advocates are pushing back to protect the Okefenokee.

RELATED: New bill aims to protect Okefenokee Swamp from mining

March 04, 2022
|
By:
  • Steve Fennessy and
  • Jess Mador
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Chemours pledges to avoid mining near Okefenokee

A large U.S. mining corporation pledged on Thursday it won’t be doing business — at least for the next five years — with Twin Pines Minerals, the company poised to mine just a few miles from the Okefenokee Swamp.

February 04, 2022
|
By:
  • Mary Landers
Alligator in swamp

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Catholic nuns pressure mining company to protect Okefenokee

Felician Sisters are behind a shareholder resolution to reject mining before it begins in the Okefenokee.

November 17, 2021
|
By:
  • Mary Landers
Okefenokee Swamp

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Former federal, state officials slam proposed mine at swamps 'doorstep'

Twin Pines Minerals wants to start out by conducting a 740-acre mining demonstration along Trail Ridge, which is a hydrological divide between the swamp and St. Mary's River. But it has signaled it plans to grow its footprint, although the state has said expansion would require new permits.

October 26, 2021
|
By:
  • Jill Nolin
Kayak in Okefenokee Swamp

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Okefenokee Lovers Still Hope State, Biden Administration Will Halt Mine

Environmentalists hold up the controversial proposal to mine for minerals near the Okefenokee Swamp as a prime example of the lands that lost federal protection under former President Donald Trump’s administration last summer. 

That rule replaced an Obama-era one that opponents criticized as government overreach and shifted the focus of the Twin Pines Minerals’ mining application from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the Ga. Department of Natural Resources, which is now poised to decide the fate of the mining project. 

March 01, 2021
|
By:
  • Stanley Dunlap
Rena Peck paddles a canoe in the Okefenokee swamp

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Georgia Environmental Issues Wait In Limbo During Senate Runoff, Presidential Transition

The Trump administration has made sweeping cuts to environmental regulations — and now the incoming Biden administration is expected to reverse them. But those changes won’t happen overnight. GPB’s Emily Jones reports on the Georgia issues waiting in limbo while the wheels of federal government turn.

December 22, 2020
|
By:
  • Emily Jones
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