After the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Refuge staff and others did a lot of work, including much public input, the Interior Department has taken the next step towards getting the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.
If approved by UNESCO, the Okefenokee will join its nearest neighbors, Everglades and Great Smokey Mountains National Parks in North Carolina and Florida, and Poverty Point Monumental Earthworks in Louisiana. Continue reading
Update 2024-12-24: Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge to be Nominated to Join UNESCO World Heritage List –U.S. Department of the Interior 2024-12-20.
This is what we sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their bid to make the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Remember, you can still help stop a strip mine from locating near the Okefenokee Swamp:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining
![[The WWALS letter 2023-06-28 and the old-growth cypress 2021-01-10]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-06-28--wwals-okefenokee-unesco/many.jpg)
The WWALS letter 2023-06-28 and the old-growth cypress 2021-01-10
It features an old-growth cypress stand with trees 400-500 years old.
![[NW: Big Cypress Camp Island, Little Cooter Lake, 30.682969, -82.200123]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-01-10--southwings-oke/ONWR-mine-site-46-of-46.jpg)
NW: Big Cypress Camp Island, Little Cooter Lake, 30.6829690, -82.2001230
seen on
a Southwings flight for Suwannee Riverkeeper 2021-01-10.
In web form below, and also in PDF and with attachments.
See also the previous WWALS letter of January 26, 2021.
And, among the references cited, thanks to WWALS Science Committee Chair Tom Potter for spotting G. Ronnie Best, et al., “An Old-Growth Cypress Stand in Okefenokee Swamp,” University of Florida, 1984. https://cfw.essie.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/312/2020/07/Best-etal-1984-OldGrowthCypressStandInOkefenokeeSwamp-BookChapter.pdf
Continue reading![[Okefenokee NWR Nominated as UNESCO World Heritage Site, U.S. Department of the Interior, December 20, 2024]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-12-20--onwr-unesco-us-interior/fbmany.jpg)