Docks, warehouses, rare creatures

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Good morning! Today we’re taking a look at new rules that would allow bigger private docks in Coastal Georgia; rolled back protections for endangered species like the state marine mammal, the north Atlantic right whale; and an update on a database that charts the growth of warehouses in the Savannah area.

Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org

NEWS: ENVIRONMENT

Docks in Turners Creek. Dec. 10, 2025. (Justin Taylor/The Current GA/Catchlight Local/Report for America)

Dock rules

Georgia officials have proposed new regulations for private recreational docks in Coastal Georgia that would increase their maximum width to 6 feet and coverage to over 0.1 acres, as The Current GA’s Mary Landers and Maggie Lee report. While proponents argue the changes improve accessibility for golf carts and the mobility-impaired, conservationists warn the expansion will fragment marsh habitats and damage biodiversity. The public has until July 24 to submit comments before the DNR Board votes on the proposal in late August.

CLICK HERE FOR THE STORY

The calf of North Atlantic right whale catalog No. 2614 (Tripelago) on the surface and its mom under the water -- showing as a shadow -- about 30 nautical miles off Ossabaw Island, Ga., on Dec. 20, 2025. This was the season's eighth sighting of a new mom and calf pair in the Southeast. Tripelago is 30 years old and this is her sixth known calf. — The calf of North Atlantic right whale catalog No. 2614 (Tripelago) on the surface and its mom under the water — showing as a shadow — about 30 nautical miles off Ossabaw Island on Dec. 20, 2025. Right whales are highly endangered. Credit: Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, taken under NOAA permit 26919.

Endangered species

What do the frosted flatwoods salamanders, right whales and hairy rattleweed plants have in common? They’re all endangered species found in Georgia and protections for them are being stripped away. The Trump administration recently redefined the term “harm” within the Endangered Species Act, removing federal requirements for developers and industries to account for habitat degradation, as WABE’s Marisa Mecke reports. While direct killing of protected species remains illegal, legal challenges from organizations like the Southern Environmental Law Center argue this rollback threatens ecosystems in Georgia. This change follows a Supreme Court decision that shifts regulatory interpretation power from federal agencies to the courts.

Read a list of endangered and threatened species that occur in Georgia.

CLICK HERE FOR THE STORY

Warehouse facility in Tradeport East, the site that spurred warehouse development in east Liberty County. Credit: Justin Taylor/The Current

Putting the where in warehouse

Local environmental organizations Savannah Riverkeeper, Ogeechee Riverkeeper, and One Hundred Miles recently improved their Warehouse Dashboard — an interactive tool developed to help community members, stakeholders, and decision-makers visualize and understand the full scope of established industrial facilities in the Greater Savannah Area.

The dashboard includes a map and data illustrating the area’s expansive warehouse market. As of July 1, 2026, nearly 700 individual developments have been charted on the dashboard, which includes completed facilities, facilities under construction, and those slated to be built in the near future.

“Not only we’re getting more over time, but they’re getting bigger over time,” said Jeff Beauvais of One Hundred Miles.

The Warehouse Dashboard is available here.

Warehouse impacts include wetlands loss and greater stormwater runoff. And there’s a less tangible impact, too.

“I think a big thing for people is the loss of sense of place and a sense of community that comes in when these these things arrive,” Beauvais said. You’ve cut down what was probably a wooded area that was pleasant to look at and live nearby and you’ve replaced it with a giant parking lot for trucks.”

View from Susie King Taylor Freedom Park at Jones Creek looking towards I-95, Midway, April 13, 2026. Credit: Robin Kemp/The Current GA

Also noted

The National Park Service has added the Susie King Taylor Museum in downtown Hinesville and the Susie King Taylor Freedom Park at Jones Creek in Midway to its Reconstruction Era National Historic Network of over 100 sites, The Current GA’s Robin Kemp reports.

Color My Outdoors, a nonprofit dedicated to reconnecting people of color with the outdoors, hosted a kayaking trip through Ebenezer Creek last month. The paddle highlighted both the creek’s extraordinary natural beauty and the memory of one of the Civil War’s least-known tragedies, as The Current GA’s Justin Taylor reports.