Looks like you could paddle through the Suwannee River Sill, but it’s not clear how far you would get through the Narrows below Stephen C. Foster State Park Ramp
before you got to the Sill.
Yesterday Shirley Kokidko checked on water levels in the Suwannee River in the Okefenokee Swamp.
She says there is enough water to paddle to Billys Island or Minnies Lake.
Until we get some rain to break this drought, paddling
from SCFSP to Griffis Fish Camp will be doubtful.
Here is a video Shirley sent from the First Gate at the Suwannee River Sill,
the 4.5-mile-long earthen dam that was supposed to keep water levels up
in the Okefenokee Swamp to prevent fires, but did not work.
Actually, the Suwannee River Sill Gates are always open.
This was a facebook comment yesterday, “Open the dam in the swamp.”
It was on this WWALS facebook post:
Very low water, Fargo Ramp, Suwannee River 2025-11-12 Video by Shirley Kokidko for WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS):
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1946665392780126
The Sill itself was an experiment in fire prevention that did not work,
and also turned out to be a bad idea, because the Okefenokee Swamp
needs fire to regenerate itself.
Veronica Kelly-Summers, a dedicated Visitor Services Manager with
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge,
talked about the Okefenokee Swamp, its history, significance, places to go, things to do, and what’s next,
in this largest and best-preserved freshwater wetland in the U.S.
The Swamp is the headwaters of two rivers: the St. Marys that forms the border between Georgia and Florida,
and the Suwannee, which flows through Georgia and the Florida state song.
Here is the WWALS video of Veronica’s webinar, from noon-1 PM, Thursday, September 11, 2025:
https://youtu.be/pvLU8wPLsZc
The WWALS
campout at Floyd’s Island
in the middle of the Okefenokee Swamp
has unfortunately been cancelled due to low water.
So you can watch Veronica’s presentation instead.
WWALS Board Member Janet Martin gave a brief introduction.
In questions and answers at the end,
Veronica elaborated on what it means
for the Okefenokee NWR to become a World Heritage Site:
more visibility, more visitors, but no additional federal funding.
Veronica Kelly-Summers is a dedicated Visitor Services Manager with
over 15 years of experience in protecting natural resources and
connecting people with nature. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s
degree in forestry from Southern Illinois University with a focus on
forest recreation and wildlife habitat management. Her career with
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has taken her to eight national
wildlife refuges from the woods and swamps of southern Illinois to
the Loess Bluffs of Iowa and Missouri, the Florida Everglades, and
she’s now stationed at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in
Georgia. She works closely with staff and partners to provide
leadership and strategic direction for the Visitor Services program
including managing visitor facilities and recreational opportunities
for camping, boating, interpretation, environmental education,
special events, outreach, hunting, fishing, managing volunteers, and
much more. When not at work, she enjoys spending time with her
husband, Jacob, and their pets, a yellow lab named Charlie and a
spicy tuxedo cat named Tino.
Join us for a fascinating historical exploration of Georgia’s Wiregrass Region and the complex stories of survival, resistance, and adaptation that unfolded there after the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson.
Native American and Passageways to Freedom within the Wiregrass Region1
As settlers moved south of the Oconee River, drawn by the land’s
economic promise, waves of migration and militia efforts reshaped
the landscape—and the lives of the Native American families
who called it home. Through rivers, streams, and the vast Okefenokee
Swamp, Indigenous people found ways not only to endure but to carve
out paths of freedom and self-determination amid the U.S. Indian
Removal Policy of the 1830s.
Drawing from original correspondence between settlers, militia, and
Georgia’s governors in Milledgeville, this presentation reveals how
waterways became corridors of escape and survival. As Everitte
reminds us, “Swamps are places on the margins — as much,
they are places of transition, opportunity, and challenge.”2
A Wildlife Biologist with GA-DNR, Samuel Holst,
talked about the bats of Georgia, including in Banks Lake and the Okefenokee Swamp.
Plus some of our rare small mammals that are found around the Okefenokee.
WWALS Board Member Janet Martin gave a brief introduction,
with questions and answers at the end.
Including where to put your bat house.
He sent some papers about that, and how to make a bat house, how to attract bats, how to identify bats, their importance in agriculture, and how to keep them out of your house:
https://wwals.net/pictures/bat-papers
Florida Men Complete Nonstop 242-Mile Paddle of the Suwannee River in
2.5 to Spotlight Wild Florida
SUWANNEE RIVER, FL — In an inspiring demonstration of
endurance and purpose, six Florida men, Mason Gravley, Jordon
Wolfram, Zach Franco, Bo Meyering, Robin Beemer, Daniel Weber
successfully canoed the entire Suwannee River, over 242 miles, in
just 2.5 days. Launching from the headwaters in Georgia’s Okefenokee
Swamp at daybreak on 9/26 and finishing in the Gulf at Suwannee, FL
on 9/28, World Rivers Day, the group completed the nonstop journey
to raise awareness for the urgent protection of this area of the
Florida Wildlife Corridor, and the connection of water and land
between Georgia and Florida.
The expedition, which began at daybreak from Stephen Foster State
Park in Georgia on Friday, September 26th and concluded after sunset
on Sunday, September 28th, combined grueling physical effort with a
message rooted in conservation. Two of the paddlers work for Florida
conservation groups. Franco, the Conservation Partnership
Coordinator at Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid; Gravley,
the Impact Campaigns Manager at the Florida Wildlife Corridor
Foundation in St. Pete.
What is overflowing in that floodwater from those five Chemours mines on Trail Ridge at the top of the Santa Fe River Basin?
“If I lived near Chemours, I’d be paranoid too,” said
John Quarterman, who serves as the Suwannee Riverkeeper, a staff
position for an organization of the same name that advocates for
conservation of the numerous watersheds within the Suwannee River
Basin. “Some of the stuff they’re paranoid about is probably
actually happening, but it’s hard to document which of it is and
which of it isn’t.”
Until the Florida Department of Environmental Protection takes
frequent measurements up and down the state’s rivers, Quarterman
said, it will be difficult to pin down the impact of Chemours’
activities. And without such studies, he said, it’s difficult to
identify bad actors — let alone hold them accountable.
WWALS has a volunteer water quality monitoring program,
and two recently-trained testers may start testing in the Santa Fe River Basin soon.
https://wwals.net/issues/testing
The storm had passed, but the water kept rising. In September 2017,
Hurricane Irma slammed into Florida, causing tides to surge and
dumping about a foot of water across much of the state. A few days
later, Jane Blais stood on a bridge with her neighbors near her High
Springs ranch, watching the Santa Fe River below swell higher and
higher.
Discover all that Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge has to offer in our upcoming presentation focused on things to see and do around the 407,000-acre national wildlife refuge. From camping under the stars to paddling scenic water trails, the refuge is a haven for outdoor enthusiasts. Learn about wildlife watching ethics, areas for hiking and biking, guided boat tours, overnight excursions, hunting and fishing opportunities, and so much more. Whether you’re seeking outdoor adventure or a peaceful connection with nature, this presentation will showcase how Okefenokee has something for everyone.
Veronica Kelly-Summers is a dedicated Visitor Services Manager with
over 15 years of experience in protecting natural resources and
connecting people with nature. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s
degree in forestry from Southern Illinois University with a focus on
forest recreation and wildlife habitat management. Her career with
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has taken her to eight national
wildlife refuges from the woods and swamps of southern Illinois to
the Loess Bluffs of Iowa and Missouri, the Florida Everglades, and
she’s now stationed at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in
Georgia. She works closely with staff and partners to provide
leadership and strategic direction for the Visitor Services program
including managing visitor facilities and recreational opportunities
for camping, boating, interpretation, environmental education,
special events, outreach, hunting, fishing, managing volunteers, and
much more. When not at work, she enjoys spending time with her
husband, Jacob, and their pets, a yellow lab named Charlie and a
spicy tuxedo cat name Tino.
I’m going to agree with something a supporter of the now
bought-out mine said:
we need better economic solutions for south Georgia forest owners.
And beyond that, for south Georgia.
So counties and cities won’t be tempted by jobs promised by
mines, landfills, private prisons, and pellet plants.
Very good news today!
The coal miners from Alabama have been bought out,
ending mining on their specific property.
First, the thanks. Then the rest of the story.
Many thanks to The Conservation Fund for buying out Twin Pines Minerals, LLC (TPM),
and to the James M. Cox Foundation and the Holdfast Collective (Patagonia)
for helping fund that acquisition.
Thanks to everyone who helped,
and to everyone who has opposed this bad mining proposal since at least 2019.
But this land acquisition is not the end of the mining story.
There is much more we can do to protect the entire Okefenokee Swamp,
the blackwater rivers of south Georgia, and to pass a constitutional amendment for
Right to Clean Water, Air, and Soil.
Directly to the north of TPM’s parcels is much more land, Continue reading →
![[Low water, first gate, Suwannee River Sill, Okefenokee Swamp, Thursday, November 20, 2025]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-11-20--suwannee-sill-gate-1/fbmany.jpg)
![[Open the Okefenokee Gates, Suwannee River Sill, Actually always open, Since around 2000]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-11-15--open-the-okefenokee-gates/fbmany.jpg)
![[Okefenokee Swamp by Veronica Kelley-Summers, a WWALS Webinar by Zoom, 2025-09-11]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-09-11--okefenokee-swamp-webinar-video/fbmany.jpg)
![[Geography of Opportunity in Georgia's Wiregrass Region, by History Instructor Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, Noon-1 PM by zoom, 2025-12-11]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-12-11--geography-of-opportunity-webinar/many.jpg)
![[Video: Bats of Georgia, Samuel Holst, GA-DNR, a WWALS Webinar, August 21, 2025]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-08-21--bats-of-georgia-wwals-webinar-pictures/fbmany.jpg)
![[Florida Men Canoe Entire 240-Mile Suwannee River in 48 Hours, 2025-09-26-28]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-10-02--florida-friends-paddle-suwannee-river/fbmany.jpg)
![[Is Chemours to blame for flooding rural Santa Fe River Basin? --Grist 2025-09-04]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-09-04--grist-chemours/fbmany.jpg)
![[Explore the Okefenokee NWR, Veronica Kelley-Summers, a WWALS Webinar by Zoom, Thursday, September 11, noon-1 PM]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-09-11--okefenokee-swamp-unique-headwaters/many.jpg)
![[Georgia needs better economics, for forestry & rural south Georgia, Drew Jones, Charlton Co. Commission, Okefenokee Swamp & blackwater rivers]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-06-26--forests-okefenokee/fbmany.jpg)
![[Miners bought out near Okefenokee Swamp 2025-06-20, Twin Pines Minerals, by The Conservation Fund]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-06-20--okefenokee-land-deal-tpm-conservation-fund/fbmany.jpg)