{"id":28238,"date":"2025-08-12T10:42:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T14:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&p=28238"},"modified":"2025-08-18T11:40:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T15:40:56","slug":"sen-ossoff-passes-bipartisan-amendment-to-encourage-further-federal-protection-of-the-okefenokee","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/sen-ossoff-passes-bipartisan-amendment-to-encourage-further-federal-protection-of-the-okefenokee\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Ossoff Passes Bipartisan Amendment to Encourage Further Federal Protection of the Okefenokee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington, D.C.<\/strong> \u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff brought Republicans and Democrats together to help protect the Okefenokee for generations to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ossoff recently passed an amendment through the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee to encourage greater expanded protection of the Okefenokee Swamp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ossoff\u2019s amendment, passed through the U.S. Senate Appropriations Interior funding bill with bipartisan support, encourages the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to acquire lands within the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge\u2019s boundaries, which would expand hunting, fishing and recreation access and help reduce fire risk in the Refuge and nearby communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The funding bill is now ready to advance to the floor and must pass the full Senate and U.S. House to become law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Okefenokee is an irreplaceable natural treasure,\u201d Sen. Ossoff said. <\/strong>\u201cThat\u2019s why I brought Republicans and Democrats to continue my efforts aimed at protecting Georgia\u2019s beloved Okefenokee Swamp for generations to come.\u201d
  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ossoff continues his years-long advocacy to protect the Okefenokee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June, Sen. Ossoff welcomed<\/a> the announcement of a land acquisition deal in which The Conservation Fund will purchase roughly 8,000 acres from Twin Pines Minerals, as well as the underlying mineral rights \u2014 effectively halting the proposed titanium mine near the swamp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May, Sen. Ossoff pressed the Trump Administration\u2019s U.S. Department of the Interior in a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, securing a public commitment<\/a> from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum that no part of the Okefenokee would be sold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2025, following Sen. Ossoff’s push,<\/a> the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it would expand<\/a>the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge\u2019s acquisition boundary by 22,000 acres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 2024, following U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff\u2019s bipartisan push, the U.S. Department of the Interiorannounced<\/a> that it would nominate the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge for the UNESCO World Heritage List.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2024, Sen. Ossoff submitted<\/a> formal public comments to Georgia\u2019s Environmental Protection Division opposing mining permits near the Okefenokee, citing the threat of \u201cirreversible damage\u201d to the swamp and surrounding ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please find below the text of Sen. Ossoff\u2019s amendment as passed in the Senate Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Funding Bill<\/u><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amendment by Senator Ossoff (regarding Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On page 12 of the report, after the paragraph titled \u201cFish and Wildlife Service\u201d, insert the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. \u2014 The Committee encourages the Service to acquire lands within the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge\u2019s boundaries, which will expand hunting, fishing, and recreation access and help reduce fire risk in the Refuge and nearby communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # #<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff brought Republicans and Democrats together to help protect the Okefenokee for generations to come. Sen. Ossoff recently passed an amendment through the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee to encourage greater expanded protection of the Okefenokee Swamp.  Sen. Ossoff\u2019s amendment, passed through the U.S. Senate Appropriations Interior funding bill with bipartisan […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28238","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/28238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/28238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28239,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/28238\/revisions\/28239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}