Protecting Georgia Land

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia will benefit from a complex partnership that will protect 870 acres of land burned during the 2007 wildfires, enabling the refuge to expand habitat for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in partnership with Rayonier International Forestry Products Co., the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and The Nature Conservancy, has been awarded a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Grant to purchase the land from Rayonier.

This partnership matches $500,000 of National Fish and Wildlife Foundation/Southern Power Longleaf Legacy grant funding with $500,000 awarded to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources by the Service. Funding will be used in part to plant 170,000 longleaf seedlings over half the newly-acquired acreage.

The strategic acquisition will also significantly improve the ability of state and federal agencies to contain wildfires within Okefenokee Refuge and protect adjacent private lands. It is just one of many strategies the Greater Okefenokee Alliance of Landowners has established to create fire resilient - wildlife conservation zone around Okefenokee Swamp. The lands to be acquired were burned over during the 2007 Georgia Bay - Bugaboo Fires, and the purchase is based on Rayonier accepting a fair market price, based on the appraisal process.

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