– Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024 –
Update 5:35 p.m. Oct. 23, 2024: The US Fish & Wildlife Service is seeking public input on a proposal to expand the boundaries of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and will hold a public meeting from 6:30 – 8 p.m. Nov. 12, at the Charlton County Annex Auditorium, 68 Kingsland Drive, Folkston, Georgia. Please note, this is a change in the date of the public meeting, originally scheduled for Oct. 29.
Good morning! We start today with an update on the investigation into Saturday’s tragic dock collapse on Sapelo. We then stay in McIntosh to examine the costs of terminating a special election there. Finally, we have two reports of very different kinds of growth, one at the Okefenokee and the other in the right whale population.
Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org
NEWS: PUBLIC SAFETY
DNR investigates dock collapse
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Department of Natural Resources are investigating the cause of the ramp collapse that plunged more than 20 people into the water at the Sapelo Island ferry landing Saturday and left seven dead. The investigators took custody of the 80-foot ramp and removed it to a warehouse, DNR Commissioner Walter Rabon said on Tuesday.
“From standing there when they removed the gangplank [from the water] on Sunday afternoon, it does look like that it buckled somewhere in the mid-section of the gangplank that resulted with it going into the water,” Rabon said, adding that the investigation is still ongoing.
The Current’s Maggie Lee reports.
NEWS: ELECTIONS
Legal fees mount for McIntosh County
When the expense of a then-ongoing McIntosh County referendum came up last month in litigation aimed at quashing that vote, it raised a question. How did the cost of holding an election compare to the cost of hiring attorneys to invalidate one?
The referendum gave voters a chance to repeal controversial zoning in Sapelo’s Hogg Hummock community. A judge stopped that vote after more than 800 people cast ballots in early voting and after the county spent more than $38,000 in legal fees. That’s almost twice the estimated cost of staffing the polls. And the spending continues as the case now heads to the Georgia Supreme Court, as The Current’s Mary Landers reports.
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Okefenokee seeks expansion
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a proposal to increase the size of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, adding about 22,000 acres adjacent to the existing site. The Service says it would work with willing landowners to explore voluntary conservation actions, including potential acquisition, that would further protect the refuge’s globally significant freshwater wetland system and wildlife habitat.
Included in the expanded boundary are lands currently held by Twin Pines Minerals, which has applied to strip mine for titanium dioxide near the refuge. The company is currently awaiting a permit decision from state officials.
For more information, including maps of the land targeted for the expansion, see the USFWS press release here.
The public may submit comment on the proposal by Nov. 18, 2024 via email to Okefenokee@fws.gov. A public meeting will be held from 6:30 – 8 p.m. Nov. 12, 2024 at the Charlton County Annex Auditorium, 68 Kingsland Drive, Folkston.
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Right whale numbers bump up
North Atlantic right whales face serious threats from ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. But there’s some recent good news about these bus-sized winter visitors to the Georgia coast, as Emily Jones of WABE/Grist reports.
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Stopping Sapelo zoning referendum costs McIntosh County more than holding it
Legal fees mount as McIntosh County heads to the Georgia Supreme Court to oppose an election .
DNR chief: Buckle may be cause of Sapelo gangplank failure
The collapsed ramp was among the longest DNR operates but officials say it should have been able to support the number boarding the ferry.
Right whale numbers up slightly in 2023
Right whale numbers are up slightly but the species remains in trouble.
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