Conservation group makes $60M land deal to end mining threat outside Okefenokee Swamp

SAVANNAH, Ga. — A conservation group said Friday it has reached a $60 million deal to buy land outside the Okefenokee Swamp from a mining company that environmentalists spent years battling over a proposed mine that opponents feared could irreparably damage an ecological treasure.

The Conservation Fund said it will buy all 7,700 acres (31.16 square kilometers) that Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals owns outside the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Georgia, halting the company's mining plans.

''It's a big undertaking, but it was also an existential threat to the entire refuge," said Stacy Funderburke, the Conservation Fund's vice president for the central Southeast. ''We've done larger deals for larger acres, but dollar-wise this is the largest deal we've ever done in Georgia."

Twin Pines President Steven Ingle confirmed the sale through a spokesman, but declined to comment further.

Twin Pines of Birmingham, Alabama, had worked since 2019 to obtain permits to mine titanium dioxide, a pigment used to whiten products from paint to toothpaste, less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the southeastern boundary of the Okefenokee refuge near the Georgia-Florida line.

The Okefenokee is the largest U.S. refuge east of the Mississippi River, covering nearly 630 square miles (1,630 square kilometers) in southeast Georgia. It is home to abundant alligators, stilt-legged wood storks and more than 400 other animal species.

The mine appeared to be on the cusp of winning final approval early last year. Georgia regulators issued draft permits in February 2024 despite warnings from scientists that mining near the Okefenokee's bowl-like rim could damage its ability to hold water and increase the frequency of withering droughts.

Twin Pines insisted it could mine without damaging the swamp. Regulators with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division agreed, concluding last year that mining should have a ''minimal impact'' on the refuge.

The decisions by Georgia regulators played an outsize role in the Twin Pines project after environmental rollbacks during President Donald Trump's first term stripped the federal government of any oversight.

Advocates battling Twin Pines said there is still a potential threat to the Okefenokee, with thousands of acres of privately owned land remaining unprotected. Georgia lawmakers have batted aside multiple attempts in recent years to prohibit mining near the refuge.

''There's maybe 30,000 acres that's still vulnerable outside the Okefenokee on Trail Ridge that needs to be conserved,'' said Rena Ann Peck of the Georgia River Network.

Josh Marks, an Atlanta environmental attorney who fought the mining project, called the land sale ''a huge victory.'' But he also called on conservationists to redouble efforts for a state law protecting the Okefenokee and to keep pressure on other companies to refrain from mining near the refuge.

Funderburke said the steep purchase price for Twin Pines' land was driven largely by its mineral-rich soils that would have been highly valued by other mining operations. Reaching a deal became more urgent with the company so close to obtaining its final permits.

''It became pretty clear once a draft permit was issued last year that this was the final exit ramp'' to stopping the project, Funderburke said.

He said his group was closing Friday on about 40% of the property that includes the 820-acre (332-hectare) site for which Twin Pines' had sought its mining permit. The Conservation Fund plans to close on the rest by the end of July.

Funderburke said he hopes there is eventually a deal for the land to pass into government ownership and protection.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees the Okefenokee refuge, in January approved a plan to expand the refuge by buying up to 22,000 acres (8,900) along its perimeter from private owners. The proposal included land owned by Twin Pines.

Negotiations with the Conservation Fund might explain why Twin Pines had yet to follow through on a financial commitment required before Georgia regulators could make a final decision on its mining permit.

The Environmental Protection Division recently confirmed Twin Pines had been notified in February 2024 that it needed to set aside $2 million for future restoration of the mining site. The company never followed through in the 16 months before the sale was announced.