About a year ago, opponents determined to stop an Alabama company from mining next to Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp were running out of options.
Georgia environmental regulators released draft permits in February 2024 that put the project on the verge of becoming reality. Soon after, efforts to delay the mine faltered at the state Legislature, which adjourned without passing any new protections for North America’s largest blackwater swamp.
By April of last year, it seemed little stood between the company — Twin Pines Minerals — and its quest to mine on the doorstep of what some have called Georgia’s Yellowstone.
ExploreOur Yellowstone: A heroic deal to save the Okefenokee
But a determined coalition of environmental groups, scientists and outdoorsmen kept the pressure on Twin Pines, Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division and elected officials, buying precious time for a deal to develop, those involved say.
As negotiations to purchase the company’s land took shape behind the scenes, they were buoyed by the efforts of MAGA stalwarts, Georgia icons and a series of surprising recent events that all but crippled the project.
It all culminated on June 20 in a historic announcement of a $60 million deal brokered by The Conservation Fund to acquire the land Twin Pines planned to begin mining on, along with all of its other holdings near the fragile wetlands.
Credit: Photo courtesy Georgia Conservancy
Credit: Photo courtesy Georgia Conservancy
It halted the project and ended a development that scientists, environmentalists and other leaders worried could irreparably damage one of Georgia’s sacred sites.
Stacy Funderburke, who led negotiations for The Conservation Fund, said there’s no doubt the outpouring of support for protecting the Okefenokee helped their cause.
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