Behind the deal to protect Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp

For the last six years, environmental groups have been fighting the project. But with few “exit ramps” remaining, opponents of the mine said it grew increasingly clear that a deal to buy the land might be their only hope.

“So, at some point, the advocates said, ‘Hey, our best bet might be going to the private sector, going to philanthropies to try to preserve this land,’” Kann said.

The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit specializing in acquiring at-risk lands, announced Friday it has purchased property near the Okefenokee.

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.

But even with this new deal in place, Kann added that the fight to save the swamp is “by no means over.”

“It’ll be interesting to see with this imminent threat off the table for now, if that helps or hurts the efforts to pass new legislation that could protect the swamp from mining,” he said.

The episode also featured an interview the AJC’s Tia Mitchell conducted with Skyler Akins of the Log Cabin Republicans over the conservative LGBTQ group’s clash with Smyrna Pride.

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