Monday at 1PM or after the House adjourns, the Georgia House Natural Resources and Environment Committee (HNRE) will meet to consider the two bills against mining near the Okefenokee Swamp.

This is the committee where previous bills have died. So this is a very important meeting. Please contact your Georgia Statehouse Representative.

Feel free to mention that many city councils and county commissions have passed resolutions supporting the Okefenokee Swamp against mining. And all the Riverkeepers of Georgia and Waterkeepers of Florida have written letters.
https://wwals.net/pictures/okefenokee-resolutions/

Floridians, please ask your Georgia friends, relatives, and business associates to do the same. And you can contact those Representatives directly. Part of the Okefenokee Swamp is in Florida, and all of it is upstream from Florida, on the St. Marys River and the Suwannee River, of the Florida state song.

To find your legislator (and see below):
http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/

Georgia House Committee Meeting 2025-03-03 1 PM, on Okefenokee Bills, Natural Resources and the Environment

These are the bills:

• HB 561: Okefenokee Protection Act; similar to a previous bill
• HB 562: a five-year moratorium on mining permits on Trail Ridge; this one is new

More about those bills here:
https://wwals.net/?p=67055

Here is another place to register your support for the Okefenokee Swamp:
https://protectgeorgia.org/okefenokee/

GWC Flyer
PDF

Facebook event to remind you and others:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1333575764358362/

Plus you can vote for the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge as #1 in the USA Today 10 Best poll. Poll ends March 10, and you can vote every day.
https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/best-national-wildlife-refuge-2025/okefenokee-national-wildlife-refuge-folkston-georgia/

HNRE Members

HNRE members whose districts include part of the Suwannee River Basin are: Continue reading →