Georgia's Okefenokee

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Take a photo tour of the Okefenokee Swamp in South Georgia. The U.S. Department of the Interior has cleared the way for the refuge to be officially nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage site, alongside wonders of the world such as Angkor Wat and the Great Barrier Reef.

A variety of birds, like this great blue heron in the Okefenokee Swamp, can be seen in the 17 sites along Georgia's Colonial Coast Birding Trail. The Okefenokee is largest National Wildlife Refuge east of the Mississippi River, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. (Charles Seabrook for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Georgia's world-famous wetland, the Okefenokee Swamp, and other wetlands around the globe was celebrated during World Wetlands Day. (Charles Seabrook for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Twin Pines Minerals has filing a permit for a mining project near the Okefenokee Swamp. on 582 acres of wetlands and flatwoods it owns just 3 miles from the refuge. This Aug. 6, 2019, photo shows the view from the Owls Roost Tower in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. HYOSUB SHIN / HYOSUB.SHIN@AJC.COM

August 6, 2019 Saint George - Aerial photography shows a portion of Trail Ridge and also proposed mining site located north of Georgia Highway 94 and southeastern edge of the Okefenokee Swamp (background) in Saint George on Tuesday, August 6, 2019. The 2,414 acre site is located North of Georgia Highway 94, West of Georgia Highway 23, and East of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. (Hyosub Shin / Hyosub.Shin@ajc.com)

FILE: Paddlers in the Okefenokee. (Photo Courtesy of Georgia Conservancy)

Georgia, with financial help from the Nature Conservancy, the federal government and private donors, bought a 4,000-acre tract in southwest Georgia that is one of the final properties the state is stitching together to create a 120-mile-long wildlife corridor stretching from Florida and the Okefenokee Swamp to Fort Stewart.

Original caption: "As a part of their state-wide conservation program, the Conservation Committee of the Georgia Legislature recently took a boat ride through the famous area of 'trembling earth,' which as been proposed as a national park and a wildlife refuge. The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was eventually established in 1937."

Susan Brooks of Decatur took this photo in Okefenokee Swamp in south Georgia in November of 2018. “The Okefenokee is a treasure. It is a dark sky preserve and represents a true wilderness right in Georgia,” she wrote. “I have been visiting annually (mostly) for at least 40 years. We were walking the Chesser Island boardwalk on the east side of the swamp. We came upon a family of three raccoons, two adults and a young raccoon. As we walked on the boardwalk, the raccoons were wading through the water under and on both sides of the boardwalk. They seemed to be looking for items to eat. The baby was so cute.”

Tourists enjoy the view from the Owls Roost Tower in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Folkston. HYOSUB SHIN / HYOSUB.SHIN@AJC.COM

An alligator is seen from the Owls Roost Tower in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge near Folkston, Ga. The refuge is a federally protected area that is home to hundreds of species of vertebrates, including more than 200 varieties of birds and 60 kinds of reptiles that live in the swamp. HYOSUB SHIN / HYOSUB.SHIN@AJC.COM

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A variety of birds, like this great blue heron in the Okefenokee Swamp, can be seen in the 17 sites along Georgia's Colonial Coast Birding Trail. The Okefenokee is largest National Wildlife Refuge east of the Mississippi River, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. (Charles Seabrook for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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