Georgia subcommittee holds hearing on Okefenokee Protection Act, supporters urge ban on Trail Ridge mining

The Subcommittee on Resource Management of the Natural Resources & Environment Committee held a hearing on House Bill 561, the Okefenokee Protection Act, a proposal to prohibit surface mining along Trail Ridge where it abuts the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Representative Darlene Taylor, sponsor of HB 561, opened the hearing, saying the bill would protect the swamp and its surrounding communities from proposed mining.

The bill would bar surface mining on the portion of Trail Ridge coterminous with the eastern boundary of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Representative Darlene Taylor (sponsor) told the committee that the Okefenokee is “the largest blackwater wetland in North America” and said the bill is “about us, who we are and what we value.”

Nut graf: Supporters framed HB 561 as a preventive measure to keep Trail Ridge — which witnesses described as the hydraulic ridge that helps retain water in the swamp — intact. Opponents, including landowners and industry representatives, said mining permits should continue to be decided by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) on a project‑by‑project basis and warned that a statutory ban could raise constitutional and economic issues.

Experts and conservation groups who testified in favor of the bill warned of hydrologic and ecological effects from proposed mining…