trembling earth and bubbling water

It doesn't much matter which etymology is used when defining "Okefenokee".

Either way, the addition of the word "swamp" pretty well says it all.

It's been in my life for almost as long as I can remember.

This afternoon, I was at the Tybee Post Theatre to hear about the latest danger to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

The blackwater swamp lies adjacent to a source of white pigment and yet another mining company wants to go after rights to dig in to the pristine land.

It isn't as if Titanium dioxide isn't readily, and cheaply, available in many areas.

No, that isn't the case at all for this common mineral.

The company wanting to mine it here, along the eastern edge of Trail Ridge, the sandbar that keeps the Okefenokee Swamp in check, wants to take advantage of the total lack of competition in the area.

It doesn't matter to Twin Pines Minerals LLC if the sandbar might collapse and endanger the many lives that call the refuge their home.

After all, that's just 'gators and frogs and birds, right?

Who cares about that?

Well, I do.

It's never "just" 'gators and frogs and birds.

It's animal life not found anywhere else, it's plant life that's indigenous to this one place on Earth, it's humans that owe their living to the existence of this swap and its denizens.

I even took advantage of the offer to write on the poster.

"Okefenokee Swamp was 

one of the places I'd visit each 

summer with my grandparents.

They lived in Waycross, GA, our summer

vacation site. Every time I go now,

it's like seeing it with them again."

The words just flowed, as If I'd known I was going to write them.

(smile!)

 

I was there through an invitation from One Hundred Miles.

I'm not sure how Barbara and Kal learned of the free event.

Perhaps it was through an article in the newspaper, perhaps it was through a variety of groups in support of the effort to save the area.

Quite a few people had come out on this Sunday afternoon, though, so that was good.

We all viewed two films, both shorts.

The first was about flyfishing and had two young men enjoying an outing, poles in hand.

After "Okefenokee Swamp: On The Fly" came the longer film, "Sacred Waters: The Okefenokee In Peril" (available on youTube via the Okefenokee Protection Alliance).

Both movies were quite enjoyable, as well as educational...

and absolutely full of beautiful cinematography.

Then came the part I was most interested in:

the roundtable discussion of the issue of how to stop the mining company from obtaining the rights to dig.

On the left is Kim Dinan, Media Specialist with the Center for Biological Diversity, part of the effort to have the region in south Georgia become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

What a boon to the economy that would be!

On the right is Cathy A. Sakas, notable for her work with the Grays Reef National Marine Sanctuary, among other ecologically-conscious groups, and author of "Swamp Goddess: Tales from the Okefenokee Swamp".

And the man in the middle, whose name is either Ken or Charles, is possibly a lawyer and very knowledgeable of the politics surrounding not only this case, but also one several years back of a similar take-over attempt. Probably he is with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, as he was quite familiar with the Twin Pines Minerals LLC bid for operation. He was sure to talk about the importance of contacting our elected officials during this period for public comment.

I've already done so, even before this event.

I do hope others will follow suit.

They gave me a sign and it goes up in the front yard tomorrow to promote the Okefenokee Swamp in the hopes that my neighbors will get involved, and maybe even those high school students that drive through.

I feel I owe it to my grandparents to make sure that wildlife refuge stays alive.

Plus, one of their ancestors died in that swamp.

I found that out in my recent genealogy work.

Guess that makes it personal, as if it weren't already.

(smile!)