WAYCROSS — A three-person panel provided information and fielded questions from concerned citizens during Tuesday night’s two hour community meeting at the CC McCray City Auditorium regarding the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge’s UNESCO World Heritage bid.
The August 13 event was moderated by Patrick Simmons, Director of the Waycross Convention and Visitors Bureau and City of Waycross Business Integration and Information Systems Director, the panelists were Dr. William Clark, chairman of the Okefenokee Swamp Park Board of Trustees, Barclay Trimble, superintendent of Mammoth Cave National Park and World Heritage Site (former deputy superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park), and Michael Lusk, Refuge Manager of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
Approximately 200 community with a wide variety of opinions, questions and concerns were in attendance. With the exception of one man who used his two minutes for a political rant, the audience was overall courteous and well behaved.
Each of the three panelists was given 15 minutes presentation time. The first to present was Dr. Clark who gave an overview of the Swamp Park, its relationship to the refuge, and a summation of the World Heritage Site (WHS) bid.
The Swamp Park, has been on a tentative list for becoming a WHS since 1982, is a private non-profit organization located on 1,200 acres at the southern end of the Dixon Memorial State Forest. The land is leased from the state of Georgia and is in its second 50 year lease with the state.
The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, 407,000 acres of federally protected and managed land, protects about 93% of the swamp. The refuge does not contain state or private land.
In 2023 the park receive permission from the U.S. Department of Interior to actively pursue a bid. The cost of preparing the extensive application is $500,000. This fee is being raised through private donations.
“The public/private partnership to pay the Department of Interior $500,000 will pay for botanists, scientists, people from universities, experts to prepare the paperwork,” explained Dr. Clark. “No money is paid to the United Nations or to UNESCO.”
One of the driving forces behind seeking WHS designation if the promise of a possible positive economic impact for Waycross, Folkston, Homerville and other surrounding communities.
“An economic impact study published earlier this year by The Conservation Fund estimates the number of swamp related jobs will double to 1,500 and revenues will increase to $140 million a year,” said Clark.
The United States is currently home to 25 World Heritage Sites. Yellowstone National Park, mostly in Wyoming, and Mesa Verde National Park, in southwest Colorado, became the first two WHS in the United States in 1978.
Several attendees expressed concerns regarding the possible loss of sovereignty of the refuge.
“It is a designation only,” responded Dr. Clark. “It does not involve sovereignty in any way. The Okefenokee will always remain the property of the United States of America. It does not limit private property rights, it will not limit private hunting or fishing rights around the swamp, it will not affect the proposed titanium mine in Folkston.”
Lusk further explained the process of a WHS designation.
“It’s (WHS designation) an executive action,” said Lusk. “It doesn’t go through congress. Congress does not vote on whether or not an area becomes a World Hermitage Site.
“The President of the United States delegates it to the Secretary of Interior who approves sites to be nominated. Last year we received approval from the Department of the Interior to seek a nomination as a World Heritage Site.”
