The Georgia Ports Authority brought together more than 400 industry leaders at its 56th annual Georgia International Trade Conference to highlight major infrastructure upgrades, record-breaking growth, and future expansion plans across its port system.
The Georgia Ports Authority hosted their 56th annual Georgia International Trade Conference which brings over 400 customers, business partners and industry leaders together to discuss the latest maritime and logistics developments.
President and CEO Griff Lynch presented the timeline of GPA’s development over 80 years which has seen 784% growth in container volume to 5.6 million TEU since 1995 and highlighted how the new lay berth option at Ocean Terminal in the Port of Savannah will be a differentiator. Next month, the new 1650’ lay berth will enable vessels to enter the port and tie up alongside before proceeding to Garden City Terminal during heavy traffic times.
“Two years ago, we embarked on a program to add more container capacity for the future by transforming Ocean Terminal from a three small ship berth for containers, RoRo and bulk cargo into a two, large ship container berth,” stated Lynch. Vessels carrying RoRo and bulk cargo have moved 90 minutes south to the Port of Brunswick enabling the Port of Savannah to now become a 100% container facility. “We knew there might be some growing pains but we’ve turned the corner now and our operations are getting back to their full potential as Ocean Terminal will continue to provide more capacity in phases,” Lynch said.
Advertisement
GPA financed Ocean Terminal’s $1.6bn capital improvement project through the issuance of bonds taking advantage of favorable conditions in 2020 -2022. GPA enjoys the highest bond rating of any Southeast port, reflecting the confidence of the financial markets in GPA’s future and growth strategy. “Ocean Terminal plays a strategic role in our future vision,” said GPA Chairman Kent Fountain. “We’re pleased to see the engineering and construction progress, especially the lay berth capabilities that will come online next month.”
The potential effects of proposed tariffs were also discussed at the conference. GPA is in discussions with customers to address changing market conditions and the use of Garden City Terminal West in the Port of Savannah as a strategic on-terminal, storage location for customers who want to flex supply chain speeds to market conditions. The $200 million, 100-acre facility was opened in 2024 adding storage space for 20,000 containers. In the Port of Brunswick, 215 acres of new, on-terminal land parcels and storage sites were added along with ample space for additional future storage needs.
Lynch also updated the audience on how the Port of Savannah has addressed vessel backlogs. Vessel operations have now overcome challenges caused by weather events, including an uncommon Savannah snowstorm in late January, coupled with river closures due to fog in February. The ongoing improvements at Ocean Terminal in Savannah have enabled berth space at Garden City Terminal to free up, resulting in two weekly services moving back to Ocean Terminal effective May 1 bringing the total to four ship calls per week at Ocean Terminal.
The Port of Savannah was the fastest growing port on the U.S. East and Gulf coasts in 2024 with throughput of 5.6 million TEU. This year, in February and March, GPA experienced record volumes in Savannah. Savannah averages 32-33 ship calls a week, generating 42 double-stack trains per week to inland markets with the industry’s best rail dwell times on port, averaging just 22 hours in March 2025.
“Customers are bringing new business to Georgia because of our world-class service, facilities and speed at the port,” Lynch said. Garden City Terminal handles 14,000-16,000 truck gate moves per day. Drivers moving a single container can be on and off the port in an average of 35 minutes. Dual export-import truck moves take only 57 minutes on average. Garden City Terminals gates are open 0400 hrs – 1800 hrs, enabling many truckers to perform 6-8 port visits a day for trucking imports and exports to local distribution centers which is a financial differentiator for inventory levels and supply chain velocity.
Advertisement
Other trends discussed were the acceleration of source shifting in overseas markets which included an example of how GPA is uniquely situated and qualified to accommodate trade growth between India and the U.S. India to Savannah transits are 10-14 days faster via the Suez Canal and 3-5 days taster via the Cape of Good Hope than India to U.S. West Coast routings. Other trends mentioned were the U.S. population shift to the South with Georgia being one of the fast-growing states and the manufacturing shift to the Southeast U.S. where Georgia is a pacesetter.
Lynch also illustrated how GPA is well-positioned for the future with the current container terminal capacity of 5.6 million TEU in Savannah, increasing to 7.5 million TEU in 2030 and 9 million TEU in 2035. Specific highlights are:
Savannah: Garden City Terminal
Ship berths
2025: 7 container berths
2030+: 12 container berths (100% increase)
Yard capacity
2025: 105,000 containers in 2025
2030+: 190,000 (80% increase)
Truck lanes
2025: 53
2030+: 100 lanes (72% increase)
Ondock rail
2025: 10x 10,000’ trains
2030+: 15 x 10,000’ trains (50% increase)
Savannah harbor improvements: Deepening by 5’ and creation of passing zones for ships.
Talmadge Bridge (over the Savannah River): Raising height above main channel. A partnership with the Georgia Dept. of Transportation, completion date 2029.
Advertisement
Savannah: Ocean Terminal berth capacity
2025: 1 lay berth, serving 1.5 big ships per week (15% increase)
2026: 2 lay berths, serving 3 big ships per week (30% increase)
2027: 1 lay berth, 1 working berth, serving 4.5 big ships per week (45% increase)
2028: 2 working berths, serving 6 big ships per week (60% increase)
Georgia football landed a pair of commitments Sunday for its 2027 recruiting class.
Wide receiver Taurean Rawlins from Mount Vernon School in Atlanta posted on his X account on May 31 that he’s pledged to the Bulldogs.
Georgia also picked up a commitment from offensive tackle DJ Dotson from Hattiesburg, Miss., he posted on his Instagram account.
Advertisement
Both are rated 3-star prospects.
“I loved the support and love they showed towards me and my family,” Dotson said in a text message to the Athens Banner-Herald.
The 6-foot, 175-pound Rawlins is rated the No. 58 wide receiver in the 2027 class and the No. 478 overall prospect.
Rawlins had 67 catches for 1,395 yards and 17 touchdowns last season, according to MaxPreps.
Rawlins and Dotson give Georgia 10 commitments for this cycle.
Advertisement
Rawlins is the first wide receiver commitment. He also had offers from Ohio State, Florida and Michigan.
Georgia signed four wide receivers in its 2026 class: Craig Dandridge, Ryan Mosley, Dallas Dickerson and late addition Tre Shields.
Rawlins’ coach at Mount Vernon is former Georgia star wide receiver Terrence Edwards.
The 6-foot-7, 330-pound Dotson is rated as the nation’s No. 85 offensive tackle prospect and the No. 851 overall prospect.
Advertisement
He picked Georgia over Ole Miss, LSU and Georgia Tech, according to 247Sports.
Georgia also has offensive line commitments in its 2027 class from Kelsey Adams from Langston Hughes, Abram Eisenhower from Lowndes and Ty Johnson from Mount Pleasant, S.C.
FOLKSTON, Ga.—The world’s smallest heron hops from blade to blade in a patch of tall grass, testing its footing above the dark water as it searches for an evening meal.
“This was already worth the trip out today,” Joshua Howard said earlier this month from a gray flat-bottomed tour boat just a few yards away. The tiny creatures, called Least Bitterns, are secretive birds, not easy to spot.
With one quick movement of its neck, which seems to take up most of its body, the tiny heron plunges into the water and comes up with a fish. Howard and his guide continue down the swamp between walls of Spanish moss-adorned cypress trees and alligators, hoping to find more of the birds and wildlife that call the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge home.
A least bittern fishes in tall grass on the banks of the Okefenokee Swamp. Credit: Ryan Krugman/Inside Climate News
By July, the vast swamp Howard has visited since childhood and still tries to reach at least once a week could be internationally recognized as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.
The Okefenokee, on the Florida border in southeast Georgia, hosts the largest blackwater swamp in North America, a slow-moving wilderness roughly five times the size of Atlanta. It began forming hundreds of thousands of years ago, as the Atlantic Ocean retreated and left behind Trail Ridge, a long, low fossilized beach dune, and a shallow depression that trapped water between the ridge and higher uplands to the west.
Advertisement
The Okefenokee is a blackwater swamp, meaning its dark waters are stained by tannins released from decaying vegetation and cypress trees. Beneath the dense canopy, the water takes on the color of steeped tea, reflecting cypress trunks and drifting lily pads like dark glass.
The refuge was established in 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, following a series of visits from Cornell biologist Francis Harper. Harper had come to admire both the swamp’s landscape and its people, but it was his wife—who had once tutored Roosevelt’s children—who ultimately helped push the president toward protecting the land.
The refuge’s latest conservation effort now depends partly on another layer of federal and international politics. The Okefenokee’s UNESCO nomination comes amid renewed uncertainty over the United States’ relationship with the organization.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump moved to again withdraw the United States from UNESCO, though the withdrawal would not take effect until December—months after a decision on the Okefenokee nomination is expected. The United States also remains part of the World Heritage Convention, the international agreement governing World Heritage Sites.
In addition, World Heritage designations have continued in the United States during previous periods when the country was formally withdrawn from UNESCO, including under both Trump and President Ronald Reagan. The Okefenokee effort has also received support from prominent Republicans, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, who served as Trump’s agriculture secretary.
Still, regardless of shifting politics around UNESCO, the landscape at the center of the nomination remains largely unchanged.
Advertisement
Today, the Okefenokee stands as a protected wilderness of blackwater channels, peat and dense wetland forests, supporting a rich array of wildlife and plant life.
A great blue heron and a barred owl perch among Spanish moss in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Credit: Ryan Krugman/Inside Climate News
As Howard floated through the swamp at the refuge’s eastern entrance for about an hour and a half, he saw nearly 200 alligators, owl fledglings, hawks, herons and more. What he somewhat incredulously called an “above average” number of encounters was partly driven by drought conditions that pushed animals toward remaining water, though abundant wildlife sightings are far from unusual.
Across the swamp, an estimated 15,000 alligators inhabit the blackwater alongside almost 250 bird and 64 reptile species. Black bears and bobcats move through the uplands, and there are rumors of Florida panthers wandering the refuge. It is also a stronghold for endangered species, including red-cockaded woodpeckers, wood storks and eastern indigo snakes.
Hooded pitcher plants, one of the many carnivorous plants found in the Okefenokee. Credit: Ryan Krugman/Inside Climate News
To fully experience the Okefenokee, visitors often paddle deep into the backcountry by canoe or kayak, traveling through areas inaccessible to motorboats. Along the way, they pass open prairies filled with lilies, wildflowers and carnivorous plants, including the Okefenokee giant pitcher plant, which can grow more than four feet tall and traps insects inside its tubular leaves.
Some visitors spend nights on raised wooden platforms scattered throughout the swamp, with multi-day trips carrying paddlers far into the blackwater wilderness. Yet even with those routes, only about 5 percent of the Okefenokee is currently accessible to humans.
Advertisement
Despite being one of the best-preserved wetlands in North America, and especially on the eastern seaboard, the Okefenokee has repeatedly faced pressure from industry and development. Before it became a wildlife refuge and federally designated wilderness area nearly a century ago, logging companies cut through vast cypress forests, disrupting habitats and the natural systems that shaped the swamp.
Later, the Suwanee Canal Company attempted to drain the Okefenokee to clear the way for development. The company planned to carve a canal through Trail Ridge and connect the swamp to the Suwannee River, but water repeatedly flowed back into the basin. The project ultimately collapsed, driving the company into bankruptcy before the canal could be completed.
More recently, the Okefenokee has faced renewed pressure from a high-profile mining dispute near Trail Ridge and continued development across the Florida border. Yet the swamp’s beauty and biodiversity continue to draw roughly 800,000 visitors each year—and now the attention of UNESCO.
The Okefenokee was first placed on the United States’ tentative UNESCO World Heritage list in 1981, but the nomination stalled for decades. In 2023, the Department of the Interior authorized work on a formal nomination, a push driven in large part by advocates including Kim Bednarek, executive director of Okefenokee Swamp Park.
Kim Bednarek, executive director of Okefenokee Swamp Park, in the wildlife refuge. Credit: Frank Fortune
The nonprofit, which runs tours and educational programs near and in the refuge, helped lead the campaign and raise money for the years-long nomination process. To qualify, researchers and advocates had to demonstrate the swamp’s “outstanding universal value,” the central standard for World Heritage designation.
The nomination was formally submitted in January 2025. Later that year, scientists with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which advises UNESCO on natural sites, visited the swamp as part of the evaluation process. Advocates are now awaiting a recommendation from the organization ahead of a final decision expected this July at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in Busan, South Korea.
Advertisement
UNESCO’s standard of “outstanding universal value” is reserved for places considered significant not just to one country, but to humanity. Advocates and scientists argue the Okefenokee qualifies because of its biodiversity and the remarkable condition of its peatlands, which have remained largely intact for thousands of years and are a natural carbon sink.
Peatlands form when organic material builds up faster than it decomposes. In the Okefenokee, still blackwater, low oxygen levels and acidic conditions—created largely by tannins from cypress trees—slow decay enough for layers of plant matter to accumulate over thousands of years.
“We do not have a similar peatland in the world in the subtropics,” said Hans Joosten, one of the world’s leading peatland experts. According to Joosten, the swamp’s location—sandwiched between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic—provides the humidity and rainfall needed to sustain this rare subtropical peatland.
An inch of peat can take more than 50 years to form. In parts of the Okefenokee, those layers reach more than 15 feet deep, storing an estimated 124 million tons of carbon and forming one of North America’s most significant peat systems.
Many of the estimated 15,000 Alligators in the Okefenokee are tagged as part of research initiatives. Credit: Ryan Krugman
Advertisement
The swamp’s Muscogee Creek name, often translated as “land of the trembling earth,” reflects what lies beneath its surface. Deep peat can shift, swell and occasionally rise toward the top, where visitors may see methane bubbles break through the blackwater or floating mats of peat drifting at the surface. Those peat mats can become platforms for new plant growth, reshaping the swamp as they move and settle.
The biodiversity hotspot is supported by another cycle, one much faster than peat formation. The swamp is frequently reshaped and renewed through natural wildfires. The fires clear dense vegetation and invasive species, return nutrients to the soil, and maintain the open conditions needed for fire-dependent ecosystems like the longleaf pine, one of the most endangered forest types in North America.
“To be put on the same list as places like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone would just be amazing,” Howard said with a Southern drawl as he floated along the remnants of the Suwannee Canal.
This story is funded by readers like you.
Our nonprofit newsroom provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Please donate now to support our work.
Donate Now
Advertisement
Howard, tall and broad with silvering hair and an easy smile, had arrived at the swamp after a long day working as a school administrator in Charlton County. “You want to know why I think this place deserves to be on that list?” he asked. “Because when I got here this evening, I was stressed and now I am not.”
Howard has been coming to the swamp for almost 50 years and has spent the last seven serving as president of Friends of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, a nonprofit that helps raise money for its preservation. While the group is not directly involved in the UNESCO bid, Howard said its members strongly support the designation.
If approved in July, the designation would make the Okefenokee Georgia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site and the first national wildlife refuge in the country to receive the status.
For Bednarek, the recognition would do more than honor the swamp’s ecology. It could fundamentally change how the Okefenokee is seen internationally. National wildlife refuges typically operate with far less tourism, funding and global visibility than national parks.
Advertisement
“They have this iconic brand that refuges don’t,” Bednarek said. UNESCO World Heritage status, she said, functions differently. “It’s a global brand that people travel far and wide to see.”
For now, though, the Okefenokee remains what it has long been: a slow-moving wilderness of blackwater, peat and cypress.
As dusk settled over the swamp, Howard’s guide cut the boat motor and the sounds of insects and distant birds filled the blackwater again. Methane bubbles continued rising quietly to the surface, signs of the trembling earth beneath the water.
In July, delegates in South Korea will decide whether the Okefenokee receives World Heritage status. But the swamp itself will keep moving at its own pace.
The Okefenokee’s blackwater swamp is surrounded by a dense canopy of cypress trees. Credit: Ryan Krugman/Inside Climate News
About This Story
Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That’s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.
That’s not all. We also share our news for free with scores of other media organizations around the country. Many of them can’t afford to do environmental journalism of their own. We’ve built bureaus from coast to coast to report local stories, collaborate with local newsrooms and co-publish articles so that this vital work is shared as widely as possible.
Advertisement
Two of us launched ICN in 2007. Six years later we earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and now we run the oldest and largest dedicated climate newsroom in the nation. We tell the story in all its complexity. We hold polluters accountable. We expose environmental injustice. We debunk misinformation. We scrutinize solutions and inspire action.
Donations from readers like you fund every aspect of what we do. If you don’t already, will you support our ongoing work, our reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet, and help us reach even more readers in more places?
Please take a moment to make a tax-deductible donation. Every one of them makes a difference.
Thank you,
Advertisement
Ryan Krugman
Contributor
Ryan Krugman is a recent graduate of Columbia University’s Climate School focusing on climate change reporting and communications. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree from St. Lawrence University where he studied Environmental Science and Sociology. As a former Inside Climate News fellow, he is now reporting on climate and environmental issues in New England and Georgia.
Live updates from Athens, Georgia as the Bulldogs take on Liberty in game two of the Athens Regional.
The Georgia Bulldogs are back in action this afternoon as they are set to take on the Liberty Flames for game two of the Athens regional. The Dawgs are coming off a dominant victory over Long Island =, in a game that concluded earlier this morning following a rain delay.
With a win, the Bulldogs will advance to face the winner of a matchup between Liberty and the victor of Boston College and Long Island. First pitch for that game is scheduled to take place this Sunday at 5 p.m. As action continues in Athens, stay tuned with Bulldogs on SI for more updates from today’s game.
Advertisement
Georgia Bulldogs vs Liberty Flames Live Updates:
May 29, 2026; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs infielder Ryan Wynn (0) reacts in the dugout with teammates after hitting a home run against the LIU Sharks during the fourth inning at Foley Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Advertisement
Editor’s Note**: This article will be updated periodically as action continues throughout today’s game
Top of the First (UGA at Bat)
Tre Phelps singles to left center field for his first hit of the afternoon.
Daniel Jackson homers to right center field. Georgia leads 2-0.
Rylan Lujo flies out to right field.
Brennan Hudson is walked on a 3-1 count.
Kenny Ishikawa flies out to right field.
Ryan Wynn grounds out to second base to retire the side. Georgia leads 2-0.
Bottom of the First (Liberty at Bat)
Tanner Marsh singles to the pitcher.
Riley DeCandido strikes out swinging.
Tanner Marsh steals second to put a runner in scoring position.
Jordan Jaffe singles to right center field. Tanner Marsh scores. Georgia leads 2-1.
Jaxon Sorenson is walked on a full count. Jaffe advances to second.
Nick Barone reaches first on a fielder’s choice. Sorenson is tagged out at second. Jaffe advances to third and scores on a throwing error. Game is tied 2-2.
Nick Barone is tagged out trying to steal second to retire the side. Game is tied 2-2.
Top of the Second (UGA at Bat)
Jack Arcamone flies out to right field.
Kolby Branch is walked on a full count.
Ryan Black fouled out to the catcher.
Tre Phelps is walked on a full count. Branch advances to second.
Daniel Jackson is walked. Tre Phelps advances to second. Kolby Branch advances.
Rylan Lujo grounds out to third to retire the side. Game is tied 2-2.
Bottom of the Second (Liberty at Bat)
Easton Swofford grounds out to shortstop.
Landon Scilley is walked on a 3-1 count.
Kyle Hvidsten is walked on a 3-0 count. Scilley advances to second.
Josh Campos lines out to right field.
Tanner Marsh strikes out swinging to retire the side. Game is tied 2-2.
Top of the Third (UGA at Bat)
Brennan Hudson flies out to right field.
Kenny Ishikawa homers to right field. Georgia leads 3-2.
Ryan Wynn homers to center field. Georgia leads 4-2.
Nick Arcamone singles to right field.
Kolby Branch pops up to shortstop.
Ryan Black flies out to right field.
Bottom of the Third (Liberty at Bat)
Riley DeCandido flies out to left field
Jordan Jaffe grounds out to the pitcher.
Jaxon Sorenson flies out to center field to retire the side. Georgia leads 4-2.
Top of the Fourth (UGA at Bat)
Tre Phelps grounds out to shortstop.
Daniel Jackson strikes out swinging on a full count.
Rylan Lujo singles to left field.
Brennan Hudson singles through the right side. Lujo advances to second.
Kenny Ishikawa is walked on a full count. Hudson advances to second, Lujo advances to third.
Ryan Wynn reaches first on a fielder’s choice. Ishikawa is tagged out at second to retire the side. Georgia leads 4-2.
Bottom of the Fourth (Liberty at Bat)
Nick Barone grounds out to shortstop.
Easton Swofford strikes out swinging.
Landon Scilley grounds out to shortstop to retire the side. Georgia leads 4-2.
Top of the Fifth (UGA at Bat)
Nick Arcamone strikes out swinging.
Kolby Branch strikes out looking on a 1-2 count.
Ryan Black singles to first base.
Tre Phelps grounds out to third base to retire the side. Georgia leads 4-2.
