A Familiar Story, Different Details: The Latest Proposal To Mine The Okefenokee

Chip Campbell navigates Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. “It’ll capture your heart,” Campbell said of the swamp.

Emma Hurt / WABE

South Georgia is home to one of the largest freshwater wetlands in North America: the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

There’s a new plan to mine for titanium nearby, which environmentalists aren’t happy about. It reminds many of a similar fight for the swamp 22 years ago. Back then? The federal government stepped in to stop a 38,000-acre mining proposal by Du Pont.

But this time around, that’s unlikely to happen. The Trump administration has said finding domestic sources for minerals like titanium is a national security priority.