The Okefenokee Swamp Is Poised To Become A World Heritage Site But Some Locals Aren’t Celebrating

The Okefenokee swamp is poised to subordinate awe-inspiring U.S. landscapes including nan Grand Canyon and nan Everglades arsenic nan nation’s 27th World Heritage Site, a nickname a United Nations committee will ballot to formalize early Saturday successful South Korea.

Despite nan prestige, this grant has been met pinch beardown guidance from section residents who, while loving nan Okefenokee, entity to nan United Nations.

For years, section signs urging "Keep nan U.N. (UNESCO) retired of nan Okefenokee" person dotted roads astir Ware and Charlton counties, pinch nan aforesaid motto appearing connected t-shirts. It’s a wide sentiment astir nan swamp, according to Ware County Commissioner Barry Cox, who spent 40 years moving nan county’s conveyance attraction shop earlier being elected successful 2024.

The 3 agrarian counties surrounding nan swamp – Ware, Charlton, and Clinch – are politically conservative, pinch President Donald Trump securing complete 70 percent of nan ballot successful each successful 2024. Trump’s “America First” schedule resonates here. The United Nations, not truthful much.

In July 2025, Trump announced nan U.S. would retreat from UNESCO, nan UN assemblage overseeing World Heritage Sites, citing its goals arsenic "at likelihood pinch our America First overseas policy."

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which owns and manages nan Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, said that a World Heritage Site nickname "increases a site’s value to nan world."

A 2024 USFWS explainer stated, "Becoming a World Heritage Site does not confer immoderate ownership aliases guidance authority to nan United Nations. UNESCO only monitors nan existent conditions and imaginable threats to nan designated properties. The Refuge would proceed to beryllium wholly owned and managed by nan US Fish and Wildlife Service."

Constituents reason it

Cox said he opposes nan World Heritage Site nickname because his constituents reason it.

“All I could perceive was nan group that I correspond were frightened that they was going to travel successful present and possibly commencement taking their land, aliases you cognize benignant of ruling them what they could do,” he told The Current. “And to beryllium honorable pinch you, I went to 1 of nan meetings that they had that showed, you know, astir UNESCO, and it was benignant of very unsettling to me, and that’s fundamentally astir each I know.”

The gathering he attended was sponsored by an anti-UNESCO group, but he couldn’t callback which one. Cox was incapable to be a gathering held by nan pro-UNESCO faction, he said.

The Current tried unsuccessfully to interaction nan 2 main anti-UNESCO groups progressive connected societal media successful South Georgia. Americans for nan Okefenokee declined an interview, saying “After review, I don’t deliberation we are willing successful an question and reply pinch The Current GA astatine this point, but acknowledgment for asking,” via Facebook messenger. Georgia Republican Assembly did not reply to aggregate messages sent via Facebook messenger and done its website.

In June of 2025 Cox and his chap commissioners passed a solution addressing nan World Heritage Site nomination. They voted to affirm nan county’s “commitment that it shall not adopt, implement, aliases enforce immoderate rule, regulation, policy, aliases instruction originated by, aliases traceable to, nan United Nations aliases a subsidiary entity of nan United Nations which infringes upon aliases restricts backstage spot authorities without owed process successful usurpation of nan U.S. Constitution aliases Georgia Constitution.”

CFACT video

The anti-UNESCO contingent points to respective examples of really nationalist sentiment is connected their side. They’re laid retired successful a Youtube video produced by Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that advocates for a free-market attack to biology issues and rejects nan technological statement astir man-made ambiance change.

Gabriella Hoffman is simply a CFACT argumentation expert and big of “Save Okefenokee from UNESCO Control,” nan December 2025 summation to CFACT’s “Conservation Country Series” that focuses connected nan World Heritage Site nomination.

She points to nan Ware County solution arsenic good arsenic a akin 1 successful Charlton County. Then there’s a ballot successful Ware County that Hoffman said provides grounds that “there was a batch much guidance than was being reported.”

That ballot was a Republican statement mobility posed by nan region Republican statement successful nan June 2024 primary. Party questions are nonbinding. They do not enact immoderate policies but alternatively usability arsenic polls. And they’re not a random sample, technological poll, said Andra Gillespie, subordinate professor of governmental subject astatine Emory University. Instead they’re taking nan beat of statement faithful, nan group who move retired for superior elections.

The 2024 Ware County statement mobility read: “The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is being considered for nan United Nations nickname arsenic a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site. The UN has an schedule which includes a argumentation for power of section schoolhouse curricula, infrastructure plans, onshore use, proscription and housing. Knowing that this infringes connected United States sovereignty, do you favour nan nickname of nan Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge arsenic a United Nations UNESCO World Heritage Site?”

Of nan 3,144 Republican superior voters, 93% said “no.”

Charles Bullock, longtime distinguished professor of Public International Affairs astatine nan University of Georgia, noted nan question’s wording leads to this answer.

“Who successful nan world is going to ballot for that?” he said. “Right? We’re going to beryllium taken complete by nan UN.”

The CFACT video and a shorter type released successful precocious June explanation nan World Heritage Site nickname a “land grab.” In nan agelong video, Cox and different section residents look connected camera to sound their concerns.

“If I had 10 minutes pinch Donald Trump, we could talk astir these issues arsenic clear and concise,” Charlton County Commissioner Drew Jones told CFACT successful nan video. “I deliberation it’s conscionable flown nether nan radar, immoderate possibly deliberately by nan NGOs who pushed this, and I deliberation Trump’s conscionable busy.”

He besides suggests location should beryllium authorities and national level laws passed “that conscionable fundamentally codify nan truth these world organizations person nary jurisdiction here.”

Metaphorical onshore grab

In speaking to The Current GA, Jones said his fearfulness astir nan UNESCO nickname is really a much subtle effect.

“I perfectly understand it would not beryllium a nonstop onshore grab, but I deliberation what group mean is metaphorically they would person immoderate implicit power connected lands, nationalist lands, and they shouldn’t,” Jones said.

The truth that U.S. adversaries including Russia and communist China are powerful wrong nan U.N., pinch imperishable rank connected nan U.N. Security Council, doesn’t beryllium good pinch section residents.

“I don’t deliberation China aliases Russia, whoever, they’re not going to come, you know, negociate nan swamp, bargain nan swamp, poison nan swamp,” Jones said. “But I conscionable don’t moreover for illustration nan thought of them sitting astir a array 50 years from now talking astir this is simply a threat aliases that is. It needs to travel from Atlanta aliases DC.”

Joe Hopkins did not participate successful nan videos but besides doesn’t support nan World Heritage Site designation. Hopkins’ family business, Toledo Manufacturing, owns and manages wood onshore astir nan swamp. His guidance boils down to what he sees arsenic protecting his spot rights.

“The thought of nan U.N. aliases a U.N. agency having immoderate benignant of opportunity complete onshore down present concerns me,” he said.

He pointed to a projected golden excavation adjacent Yellowstone National Park, nan nation’s first nationalist parkland and among nan first to beryllium named a World Heritage Site successful 1978.

“You cognize it’s 1 point to person 100,000 positive letters written because immoderate feline wants to mine, but if you’re portion of nan United Nations, you whitethorn person 100-something countries penning letters,” he said.

But that’s not what tipped nan equilibrium against nan New World Mine projected extracurricular of Yellowstone successful nan early 1990s, according to Public Land and Resources Law Review. The World Heritage Committee did sojourn Yellowstone successful 1995 and placed nan parkland connected its “endangered” list, a determination nan rule diary said “carried small ineligible weight, (but) it did heighten nationalist and world scrutiny of nan excavation proposal.” Instead, a ruling against nan excavation successful a Clean Water Act suit is credited pinch prompting nan institution to yet wantonness its plans and scope a settlement.

CFACT’s video points misleadingly to 2 studies to reason against World Heritage Site position for nan Okefenokee.

“These designations often come, quote, astatine a costs to nan section population’s quality rights,” Hoffman narrates while referring to a study that looked astatine sites wherever section populations unrecorded pinch successful nan site’s boundaries. That’s not nan lawsuit pinch nan Okefenokee.

In nan 2nd case, Hoffman narrates “Stanford University lamented that UNESCO World Heritage has mislaid its way,” while showing a header from a 2018 Stanford newsletter highlighting nan activity of anthropologist Lynn Meskell. In nan article, Meskell based on nan programme had mislaid its measurement because countries cared much astir benefitting from UNESCO’s marque alternatively than focusing connected conservation and preservation.

And successful a Q&A accompanying nan article, Meskell rejected nan conception that World Heritage Sites are nether U.N. control.

“One problem is that location is wide ignorance erstwhile it comes to UNESCO,” she said. Some group deliberation that a UNESCO inscribed tract is not U.S. sovereign territory and that nan United Nations someway controls those sites. That is incorrect.”

Bullock, nan UGA governmental scientist, attributes nan anti-UNESCO attitudes to beardown localism.

“Folks say, you know, we don’t want anybody telling america what we tin do pinch our property, aliases we tin do pinch our schools. So yeah, you don’t want nan U.N. to beryllium capable to do this.”

It’s happened passim U.S. history, he said.

“If you spell backmost to 1928 aliases 1960, erstwhile Democrats nominated a Catholic president, it was ‘we don’t want our authorities to beryllium tally retired of Rome,’” he said. “And different facet of this localism would be, for amended portion of a century, ‘we don’t want nan national authorities telling america what we tin do to tally title relations.’”

The UNESCO committee is scheduled to ballot connected nan Okefenokee’s World Heritage Site information astatine 3 p.m. section clip successful Busan, South Korea connected Saturday.