Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1937 as a "refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife." It conserves the unique features of the Okefenokee Swamp, the headwaters of the Suwannee and St. Marys rivers. Today the refuge is approximately 407,000 acres and is the largest National Wildlife Refuge east of the Mississippi River, as well as a Wetland of International Importance under the RAMSAR Convention because it is one of the world's largest intact freshwater ecosystems. The swamp provides habitat for threatened and endangered species such as red-cockaded woodpeckers, wood storks and indigo snakes, along with a wide variety of other wildlife. It is world renowned for its amphibian populations, which are bio-indicators of global health, and more than 600 plant species have been identified on refuge lands. Its diverse habitats range from open lakes, marshes and scrub-shrub to cypress and hardwood forests and pine islands. The Okefenokee Wilderness was designated in 1974 and totals 353,981 acres. The legislation that created it grandfathered in historic uses such as fishing and the use of motorboats up to ten horsepower, and required the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to maintain four access areas and up to 120 miles of trails. Okefenokee is also one of only 21 refuges across the country with the additional protection of a Class I Air Shed under the 1990 Clean Air Act. Historically, the Okefenokee was the indigenous homeland of the Deptford and Swift Creek Cultures, Weeden Island Culture, Cord-Marked Culture, Timucuan people, and the Seminoles. The wilderness is managed to restore, preserve, and protect the primeval character and natural processes of the designated lands, leaving it untrammeled by man while providing recreational solitude, education, scientific study, conservation ethics, and scenic vistas.