Tag Archives: St Marys River

Explore the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Veronica Kelly-Summers, a WWALS Webinar by Zoom, 2025-09-11

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.

When: 12 PM, Thursday, September 11, 2025

Put In: Register to join with Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tUE8DKI4QJqDpfgYiuiFmw
WWALS Board Member Janet Martin will give a brief introduction.
Questions and answers will be at the end.

[Explore the Okefenokee NWR, Veronica Kelley-Summers, a WWALS Webinar by Zoom, Thursday, September 11, noon-1 PM]
Explore the Okefenokee NWR, Veronica Kelley-Summers, a WWALS Webinar by Zoom, Thursday, September 11, noon-1 PM

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.

Continue reading →

Miners bought out near Okefenokee Swamp 2025-06-20

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.

There is a direct path to adding this land into the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR), since the Okefenokee NWR Minor Acquisition Boundary Expansion was approved by USFWS 2025-01-03. Although given the current chaotic state of the federal government, keeping that land in private hands for now might be prudent.

[Miners bought out near Okefenokee Swamp 2025-06-20, Twin Pines Minerals, by The Conservation Fund]
Miners bought out near Okefenokee Swamp 2025-06-20, Twin Pines Minerals, by The Conservation Fund

We should all celebrate!

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 →

The Okefenokee: Charles R. Pendleton on The Trembling Earth, The Times, Valdosta, Ga. 1890-02-08

It was harder to get to Floyd’s Island in the Okfonok back then: several weeks bushwhacking, climbing on water lily roots, through bamboo briars (palmettos) and mosquitoes, on trails made by bears and wildcats.

The author’s tree-cutting camping method would not be allowed in the swamp these days, and his attitude towards native Americans was a product of his times. So was his urge to drain and “root” the swamp to turn it to “valuable account.”

[The Okefenokee: C.R. Pendleton on The Trembling Earth, The Times, Valdosta, Ga. 1890-02-08]
The Okefenokee: C.R. Pendleton on The Trembling Earth, The Times, Valdosta, Ga. 1890-02-08

The Times., VALDOSTA GA., FEB. 8, 1890, THE OKEFENOKEE: CHARLES R. PENDLETON ON “THE TREMBLING EARTH.”

Explanation of the Unknown Land of Georgia—The Constitution’s Hunting Party—Incidents Connected With the Swamp.

From the Atlanta Constitution,

VALDOSTA GA., Feb, 1.—I have been watching with a great deal of interest the discussion in regard to the sale of the Okefenokee Swamp. I have followed, step by step, all the developments in the case. The mistaken opinions of so many people, especially in middle and north Georgia, about this swamp surprises me more than anything else. Those who have written and spoken most seem to know least about it.

EARLY DAYS IN THE SWAMP.

A half dozen years of my boyhood were spent within an hour’s ride of the swamp, and I have sat by the hour and listened to the tales Continue reading →

Pictures: Georgia House Committee meeting on Okefenokee Bills 2025-03-03

Numerous people spoke to support the Okefenokee Swamp against mining too near it, about two bills before a subcommittee of the Georgia House Natural Resources and Environment Committee (GA HNRE), on March 3, 2025.

[Speakers on Okefenokee Bills, GA HNRE Comm. 2025-03-03, No action by Crossover Day, But already introduced for 2026]
Speakers on Okefenokee Bills, GA HNRE Comm. 2025-03-03, No action by Crossover Day, But already introduced for 2026

Unfortunately, that was just a hearing, and the Committee did not vote on those bills in any later meeting, either. Which means they did not get a chance for a vote by the full House before Crossover Day. Crossover Day was Thursday, March 6, 2025, after which any bills that passed in one house crossed over to the other house for their consideration.

The good news is that it is a two-year session, so these bills are already introduced for next year: HB 561 and HB 562. Continue reading →

Georgia House Committee meeting on Okefenokee Bills Monday 1PM 2025-03-03

Monday at 1PM or after the House adjourns, the Georgia House Natural Resources and Environment Committee (HNRE) will meet to consider the two bills against mining near the Okefenokee Swamp.

This is the committee where previous bills have died. So this is a very important meeting. Please contact your Georgia Statehouse Representative.

Feel free to mention that many city councils and county commissions have passed resolutions supporting the Okefenokee Swamp against mining. And all the Riverkeepers of Georgia and Waterkeepers of Florida have written letters.
https://wwals.net/pictures/okefenokee-resolutions/

Floridians, please ask your Georgia friends, relatives, and business associates to do the same. And you can contact those Representatives directly. Part of the Okefenokee Swamp is in Florida, and all of it is upstream from Florida, on the St. Marys River and the Suwannee River, of the Florida state song.

To find your legislator (and see below):
http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/

[Georgia House Committee Meeting 2025-03-03 1 PM, on Okefenokee Bills, Natural Resources and the Environment]
Georgia House Committee Meeting 2025-03-03 1 PM, on Okefenokee Bills, Natural Resources and the Environment

These are the bills:

More about those bills here:
https://wwals.net/?p=67055 Continue reading →

Okefenokee Bills, city and county resolutions, GA House Committee 2025-02-27

Update 2025-03-01: Georgia House Committee meeting on Okefenokee Bills Monday 1PM 2025-03-03.

Many local governments support Georgia legislation to prevent mining near the Okefenokee Swamp, and you can, too.

Please ask your Georgia Statehouse Representative to support the two bills now in the Georgia House.

More about those bills here:
https://wwals.net/?p=67055

Here are all the Georgia State Representatives whose districts include any part of the Suwannee River Basin:
https://wwals.net/about/elected-officials/georgia-house/

Find your legislator:
http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/

[Okefenokee Bills, city & county resolutions, GA House Committee, Natural Resources & Environment]
Okefenokee Bills, city & county resolutions, GA House Committee, Natural Resources & Environment

Floridians, please ask your Georgia friends and relatives to do that. And you can contact those Representatives directly. Part of the Okefenokee Swamp is in Florida, and all of it is upstream from Florida, on the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers.

Soon these bills will be heard in the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment (HNRE). Not this afternoon, despite an earlier rumor. Maybe as early as Monday. Continue reading →

Two Georgia House bills introduced to protect the Okefenokee Swamp 2025-02-20

Update 2025-02-27: Okefenokee Bills, city and county resolutions, GA House Committee 2025-02-26.

Bipartisan sponsors have introduced two Georgia House bills to protect the Okefenokee Swamp:

These bills will not stop the current mining application before the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD). But they can stop further applications for expansion, which will make the current application much less valuable. And they can stop other mining applications, including by other companies using other mining methods.

The focus of these bills is Trail Ridge east of the Okefenokee Swamp, which is in the St. Marys River Basin. But there is no dam in the Swamp between that Basin and the watershed of the Suwannee River, which drains about 85% of the Swamp.

Please contact your Georgia House Representative and ask them to support these bills.
https://wwals.net/about/elected-officials/georgia-house/

Floridians, please urge your Georgia friends and family to do so. And you can call or write the Georgia State Representatives yourself. Remember: this is all upstream from Florida.

[Two Georgia House bills introduced to protect the Okefenokee Swamp, February 20, 2025]
Two Georgia House bills introduced to protect the Okefenokee Swamp, February 20, 2025

The experienced mining company Chemours spilled 230,000 gallons of process water into the Suwannee River Basin in Florida a week ago.

The company that proposes to strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp for titanium dioxide, which is primarily used for white paint, is still under a Florida Consent Order for violations it caused when it was processing tailings at one of Chemours’ Florida mines.

So please ask your Georgia State Representatives to support these bills, and other methods of preventing mining near the Okefenokee Swamp. Continue reading →

St. Juan River in Map of East and West Florida, 1763

Can you spot the Suwannee River on this old map?

At least The Great Swamp called Owaquaphenogaw is pretty obvious: the Okefenokee Swamp.

Since the only river that is shown running south from the swamp is the one under the E in East Florida, which goes by a town called S. Juan, that looks like a good bet. But maybe not.

[Where is the Suwannee River? Map of East and West Florida, An account ...natural history of Florida, by William Roberts, 1763]
Where is the Suwannee River? Map of East and West Florida, An account …natural history of Florida, by William Roberts, 1763

Back in 1920 somebody tried to make sense of this map, in The Old Spanish Trail, A Historical Sketch, by G. M. West, 1920, Panama City Publishing Co., Panama City, Fla., online by St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas. Continue reading →

Virtual public meeting about the minor proposed expansion of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge 2024-12-09

Update 2024-12-14: WWALS comment on Okefenokee NWR Expansion 2024-12-13.

According to a press release from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS):

A virtual meeting has been scheduled for Dec. 9, from 6-8 p.m., for the public to learn more about the minor proposed expansion of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Registration for the virtual meeting is required.
https://empsi.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sJwkU7wZRKW_WkU0QlELZg

[Virtual public meeting, minor proposed expansion, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, 2024-12-09, 6-8 PM]
Virtual public meeting, minor proposed expansion, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, 2024-12-09, 6-8 PM

In addition, the public comment period has been extended to Dec. 13. Input may now be submitted until Dec. 13, 2024 via email to Okefenokee@fws.gov.

Additionally, a public meeting was held Nov. 12, 2024, from 6:30 – 8 p.m. at the Charlton County Annex Auditorium, 68 Kingsland Drive, Folkston, Georgia.

Here are some pictures from that November 12 meeting.
https://wwals.net/2024/11/13/pictures-public-meeting-about-okefenokee-nwr-expansion-2024-11-12/

Remember, nobody has to sell their land or get a conservation easement. Expansion of the acquisition boundary merely makes it easier for USFWS to acquire such land if somebody wants to sell. Continue reading →

EPA EnviroAtlas, Suwannee River Basin 2024-11-29

Here are maps of the Suwannee River Basin in the EPA EnviroAtlas, with shadings and boundaries for Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUCs). HUC-8 (eight digits) is big river basins; in this case Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe, Upper Suwannee, and Lower Suwannee. HUC-12 is more local.

[HUC 8 and 12 150%]
HUC 8 and 12 150%

What are the odd HUC-12s that are not shaded in? At least some of them, such as around Lake Octahatchee are endorheic basins. Continue reading →