A federal judge has stopped residents’ plans to destroy cypress trees near Statesboro, a decision that’s supported by Ogeechee-Canoochee Riverkeeper Chandra Brown.

Cypress Lake is a picturesque pond on Lotts Creek in Bulloch County. Like many mill ponds across the region, it’s lined with cypress trees and homes. It feeds a slow-moving river the color of iced tea. Except on this lake, residents want to turn the cypress into mulch. Ogeechee-Canoochee Riverkeeper Chandra Brown says, that would alter federally-protected wetlands, something requiring a permit under the Clean Water Act. “These areas are absolutely critical,” Brown says. “They are what make these rivers blackwater rivers.”

Read more of the report from WSVH’s Orlando Montoya here.