A.M. ATL: Swamp rocks

Morning, y’all! The first Monday back after a big trip is always kind of eh, but the weekend’s wonderful Okefenokee news makes it a little better. Thank you to Cassidy and Adam for holding down the A.M. ATL fort with aplomb.

Oh, and hello to our new A.M. ATL fam joining us from Kick It, the AJC’s World Cup newsletter! I’m so happy you’re here.

Let’s get to it.

A GREAT DAY FOR GATORS AND GOO

Credit: (Hyosub Shin / AJC)

Credit: (Hyosub Shin / AJC)

The Okefenokee Swamp is officially a UNESCO World Heritage site!

The designation is a first for Georgia and a huge win for dedicated conservationists, scientists, government officials, nonprofits and swamp neighbors who have spent more than four decades advocating for our wetland wonder.
The World Heritage Committee made the decision at its 48th annual session in Busan, South Korea, this weekend. The AJC’s Drew Kann was on the ground for the decision, and we’ll be hearing more from him this week.
The Okefenokee is the 27th UNESCO World Heritage site in the U.S. It is home to more than 1,270 species of plants and animals, and has been a place of natural and spiritual import since 2,500 B.C.

The Okefenokee is a place where nature still reigns. Across more than 400,000 acres, water, fire, peat and time continue to shape an intact wetland, reminding us that conservation is about protecting the natural systems that sustain life itself.

- Kim Bednarek, exec. director of Okefenokee Swamp Park, in a speech to the WHC

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TIPS FOR YOUR OKEFENOKEE VISIT

Credit: (Hyosub Shin / AJC)

Itching to make your own Okefenokee trip? Thank goodness we have the AJC wildlife expert Charles Seabrook, who wrote a characteristically lovely piece on the swamp’s secrets and the best ways to explore them.

It’s definitely worth a read, but here are some highlights.

Swamp facts

The swamp spans about 700 square miles.
It’s a blackwater swamp, named for the tea-colored water tinted by tannins from decaying vegetation. It sounds fetid, but it’s actually the opposite. The water is extremely clean despite the hue.
The swamp’s most common wildflower, especially in the prairie regions, is the white-flowered water lily.
As many as 13,000 alligators call the swamp home.

How to enjoy it

Given its size, most of the swamp is only accessible by helicopter or similarly intrepid means. However, there are plenty of boat routes, hiking paths, biking trails and auto tours in different parts of the swamp.
Seabrook says: “If you’re a first-time visitor, a guided boat ride may be a good way to familiarize yourself with the swamp before taking a hike or canoe trek on your own.”

If you can swing it, Seabrook also recommends an overnight camping visit.

“In my mind, there’s no greater outdoor experience than being in the Okefenokee at dusk and dawn. Nighttime in the Okefenokee is filled with a wild cacophony — the choruses of pig frogs, hooting owls, crickets and sometimes the deep, nerve-jerking bellowing of bull alligators.”

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

🧊 The Oakwood and Flowery Branch police departments have formalized new partnerships with ICE to more easily arrest people suspected of being unauthorized immigrants. ICE’s 287(g) program allows local police to perform some immigration enforcement functions, and Georgia participation has skyrocketed. Before January 2025, only six Georgia law enforcement agencies were actively involved. As of July 2026, there are 69.

🚇 MARTA’s interim CEO Jonathan Hunt says he wants the job full-time. MARTA is conducting a national search for its new chief, and Hunt has been in the role for more than a year.

📚 Several jilted metro Atlanta students are livid after Howard University, an HBCU in Washington, D.C., abruptly unenrolled more than 500 students just days before classes started. The school says the students didn’t make proper tuition arrangements.

⏱️ PSA: We’re less than 100 days from November’s midterm elections. Conserve your political energy accordingly.

SUPER BOWL 2028, HERE WE COME!

Credit: (Jason Getz / AJC)

The Super Bowl is headed back to Mercedes-Benz Stadium. What a joy and relief for our World Cup-hungry souls.

Super Bowl 62 will be played Feb. 13, 2028.
This will be Atlanta’s fourth Super Bowl, and the second in our great air-conditioned downtown barnacle.
The NCAA men’s Final Four will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2031.
It’s also possible the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which is expected to be awarded to the U.S., Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica, could feature games here, as well.

Remember, the Benz requires near-constant attention and praise, or it will spew lava out the top of its retractable roof like a volcano.

NEWS BITES

Andruw Jones officially inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame

The Curaçaoan legend is the eighth Hall of Famer from the hallowed 1990s Atlanta Braves brotherhood.

‘The Odyssey’ is still going strong with $87 million second weekend

If Matt Damon isn’t playing Odysseus with a Boston accent, I’m not interested.

New book ‘Are They Dead Yet?’ considers the art of the newspaper obituary

You may or may not know about the news practice of HFR (hold for release) obits in which journalists write obituaries for still-living people so they can be quickly published upon someone’s death. (Until then, the articles are usually filed in the digital equivalent of a locked box wrapped in eight layers of caution tape.)

This is good, because it allows for decedents to be swiftly honored with thoughtful, well-researched biographies. It’s also weird, because planning an HFR obit involves a grim, nebulous equation along the lines of “level of fame + likelihood said person may die soon.”

ON THIS DATE

July 27, 1996

Credit: AJC

Park explosion. An explosion rocked Centennial Olympic Park at 1:19 a.m. today, killing two people and injuring nearly 100 more. Police officers on the scene said they suspected that the explosion was caused by a bomb. Security officials discovered two additional suspicious packages in the park but determined they were harmless. The FBI assumed control of the investigation early today.

Thirty years ago, Atlanta’s Olympic moment was marred when a pipe bomb detonated in the newly-built Centennial Olympic Park. In addition to the loss of life, you may remember the ensuing investigation was a nightmare. Security guard Richard Jewell was falsely implicated for months, and it took years for the real perpetrator, Eric Rudolph, to be brought to justice.

ONE MORE THING

You know what candy is criminally underrated? Andes mints. They’re like foil-wrapped rectangles of dopamine. Shoutout to any restaurant that throws a few of those puppies in with the check. You’ve earned my business.

Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.

Until next time.

About the Author

Okefenokee backers ‘cautiously optimistic’ ahead of World Heritage vote

The delegation that's in Busan, South Korea to support the Okefenokee's bid to join the World Heritage List is "cautiously optimistic" about the swamp's chances.

The Okefenokee is now a World Heritage site. Now comes the hard part.

Those who pushed for the designation say their journey, both to protect the refuge and deliver on their vision of the swamp as a regional economic driver, is only beginning.

1h ago