National Park Service to seek UN World Heritage Site label for Okefenokee near Jacksonville

Steve Patterson, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union
·2 min read
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Birds fly over the glassy surface of Okefenokee Swamp.
Birds fly over the glassy surface of Okefenokee Swamp.

The National Park Service will nominate the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge near Jacksonville for listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the agency has announced.

The listing would be an extraordinary endorsement of the vast swamp’s ecological value and could fuel eco-tourism travel through Jacksonville to reach the refuge about 50 miles northwest in Folkston, Ga.

A final decision through a panel of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization could be years away.

The designation wouldn’t automatically create new regulations or limits on how nearby property is used but would underscore that the 400,000-acre refuge is environmentally precious.

More: Saturday Editorial: Visit the unique wilderness of the Okefenokee

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Conservation organizations cheered the nominating decision.

Water coveers the "prairie" surface of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
Water coveers the "prairie" surface of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

“A World Heritage Site designation is reserved for the most superlative places on the earth,” Ben Prater, Southeast program director at Defenders of Wildlife, said in a written statement. “It is only fitting a place like the Okefenokee — with its unparalleled wild character, thriving biodiversity and cultural significance — be considered for this recognition. This nomination is an important step to ensure this precious and irreplaceable piece of our natural heritage is protected into the future.”

The Okefenokee holds the headwaters of the St. Marys River separating Florida and Georgia as well as the headwaters of the Suwannee River, and the alligator-laden swamp has been an iconic image of the South’s rural past.

The United States has 24 World Heritage Sites now, including the Everglades, Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina and historic sites such as Independence Hall in Philadelphia and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Virginia.

Okefenokee supporters have been working to build buy-in for its inclusion, and in June U.S. Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter, R-Ga., filed a resolution endorsing the listing.

Following Friday’s decision, the refuge’s management has to draft an extensive nomination in cooperation with the nonprofit Okefenokee Swamp Park.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Park Service nominating Okefenokee refuge as UN World Heritage Site