Letter: Okefenokee Swamp is too valuable to endanger it with nearby strip mining

Ramsey Nix
·2 min read
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FILE: The Okefenokee Swamp and wildlife refuge is popular for outdoor recreation. The National Wildlife Refuge has become the site of recent hot debate since an Alabama-based mining company, Twin Pines Minerals, has applied to open a titanium dioxide mine at the edge of the swamp.
FILE: The Okefenokee Swamp and wildlife refuge is popular for outdoor recreation. The National Wildlife Refuge has become the site of recent hot debate since an Alabama-based mining company, Twin Pines Minerals, has applied to open a titanium dioxide mine at the edge of the swamp.

This letter is from Ramsey Nix of Athens

Dear Gov. Kemp and Environmental Protection Division director Jeff Cown:

The Okefenokee Swamp has always held a mythical allure, bolstered by tall tales and folk songs my father used to sing about it. So when my family had the opportunity to visit during the spring several years ago, we set out on a journey to trace our roots south and reconnect with nature.

We hired a guide to take us into the swamp, where we paddled under towering ancient cypress trees, around lily pads and through native marsh grass. A white ibis sailed ahead of us, its black wingtips pointing the way through the maze of veins that carry port wine-colored water to the heart of the swamp.

We followed the song of a prothonotary warbler to a hardwood nest, where the pudgy, little yellow bird was singing. We were delighted to find this increasingly rare species living alongside huge alligators.

The cycle of life is no more evident than inside the Okefenokee Swamp. Beautiful flora grows out of decay. Saplings spring out of dead trees. No plant stands alone. The Swamp showed me that independence is an illusion. Our roots run deeper than our family trees even suggest. If you follow them far enough, you will reach the life-giving source. Mother Nature can be found in the heart of the Okefenokee.

Please protect the beloved Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge by denying permits to any strip mining operation in or around the swamp. Trail Ridge holds the water in the swamp and therefore cannot be mined without impacting its hydrology. The Okefenokee also helps us naturally fight climate change because it is a massive carbon sink. Although peatlands make up just 3% of land on Earth, they store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined.

Now that the Clean Water Act no longer protects wetlands, the decision to allow the Twin Pines strip mine lies solely with you. Georgia citizens love the Okefenokee. It is our Yellowstone and has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Let’s protect what we love. Thank you for your service to our state of natural wonders.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Letter: Okefenokee is too valuable to endanger it with strip mining