The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is a 402,000‑acre National Wildlife Refuge located in Charlton, Ware, and Clinch Counties of Georgia, and Baker County in Florida, United States. The refuge is administered from offices in Folkston, Georgia. The refuge was established in 1937 to protect a majority of the 438,000 acre Okefenokee Swamp. The name "Okefenokee" is a Native American word meaning "trembling earth."
A wildfire which began with a lightning strike near the center of the Refuge on May 5, 2007 eventually merged with another wildfire which had begun near Waycross, Georgia on April 16 due to a tree falling on a power line. By May 28, more than 580,000 acres had burned in the region, or more than 900 square miles.
Nearly 400,000 people visit the refuge each year, making it the 16th most visited refuge in the National Wildlife Refuge System. It is the largest in acreage of any that is not located in a western state. In 1999, the economic impact of tourism in Charlton, Ware, and Clinch Counties in Georgia exceeded $67 million. The refuge has a staff of 16 with a fiscal year 2005 budget of $1,451,000. The refuge also administers the Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge.