Historic land deal halts mine planned next to Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp

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Great news for one of the world's most treasured wilderness areas!

After six years, a controversial bid to mine next door to Georgia’s famed Okefenokee Swamp is no more.

The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit specializing in acquiring at-risk lands, announced Friday it has purchased property near the Okefenokee where an Alabama-based company had planned to mine. The move puts an immediate halt to a project that scientists and environmentalists had feared could irreparably damage North America’s largest blackwater swamp.

It’s a stunning end to a yearslong fight over the mine that has been waged in courtrooms, the halls of the Georgia General Assembly and in rural counties surrounding the vast wilderness.

For environmental advocates who had pushed federal and state officials to reject the project, the agreement is likely to be seen as a monumental victory, even though other land along the swamp’s edge remains open to mining exploration.

The acquisition was brokered with the financial support of some of the country’s leading private philanthropies, including the James M. Cox Foundation and the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit focused on environmental protection. Holdfast is funded by the outdoor apparel giant Patagonia. Jim Kennedy, the chairman of the James M. Cox Foundation, is chairman emeritus of Cox Enterprises, the parent company of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Much more at links:

• https://www.ajc.com/business/2025/06/historic-land-deal-halts-mine-planned-next-to-georgias-okefenokee-swamp/


• https://www.conservationfund.org/our-impact/press-room/the-conservation-fund-halts-okefenokee-mining-threat/

(Cross-posted to Environment & Energy, Georgia, Outdoor Life, and General Discussion forums.)