Come to the Gaskins Forest Education Center near Alapaha, Georgia, for an education opportunity about the piney woods and WWALS and the Alapaha River Water Trail.
When: Setup 12 PM, Festival starts 1 PM, ends 5 PM, Saturday, April 22, 2023
Put In: Gaskins Forest Education Center, 3359 Moore Sawmill Rd., Alapaha, Georgia 31622, FMI
![[WWALS Booth, Gaskins Forest Education Center 2022-04-23]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-04-22--day-in-the-woods/many.jpg)
WWALS Booth, Gaskins Forest Education Center 2022-04-23
After more than four decades of application since 1982, on Saturday, July 25, 2026, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Okefenokee has literally joined Mount Olympus among such sites, also inscribed this year.
Sites inscribed in previous years include the Everglades, the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, and San Antonio Missions, which include the Alamo.
I’m sure we’ll hear the usual unsubstantiated complaints about Chinese control off the U.S., but if Texas isn’t worried about the Alamo being a World Heritage site, why should Georgia be worried about the Okefenokee joining that list?
Here is what the inscription says, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO, CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0.
Continue readingOkefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
The property, located in southeastern Georgia and northeastern Florida, protects the Okefenokee Swamp, the largest lowland freshwater peatland in the subtropical zone worldwide and one of the largest and most intact ecosystems within the North American Coastal Plain global biodiversity hotspot. The property comprises a diverse mosaic of wetlands, savannas, and forests shaped by the ongoing interaction of water, fire, vegetation, and wildlife, with alternating fire and rainfall processes driving peat formation, vegetation structure, and biodiversity. The site also contains significant areas of endangered Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) savanna, of which less than 3% remains, supporting high concentrations of plant species endemic to the region. Its extensive peat deposits provide an important archive of palaeo-environmental history and critical carbon storage. The property supports exceptional biodiversity, including at least 856 plant species, 48 mammal species, 238 bird species, 39 fish species, and 90 reptile and amphibian species, and provides important habitat for migratory birds, threatened species, and a significant population of American alligators.
This metal prop guard should work better than the old plastic ones, fits better, is a better design (no need to drill holes), and didn’t cost much more.
![[Metal prop guard for 25 hp outboard on WWALS jon boat, Now for rain....]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-07-15--metal-prop-guard-25-hp-outboard/many.jpg)
Metal prop guard for 25 hp outboard on WWALS jon boat, Now for rain….
Thanks to Phil Hubbard for funding this purchase.
The 25 hp Yamaha outboard motor was purchased with a generous grant from Wild Green Future, along with its original plastic prop guard.
That prop guard broke on its first outing, Outboard birding, Banks Lake 2025-12-04.
As did its replacement, Pictures: Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-06-07.
We have high hopes for this metal one lasting longer. And if it bends, we can bend it back. Continue reading
Gather at Sasser Landing, caravan to private land to put in, paddle down half a mile to Devil Shoal, then upstream towards GA 135 and back.
Help clear passage through deadfalls, leaving habitat. You can pick up trash, photograph, pull sawed limbs aside, or just paddle.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, August 29, 2026
Put In: Sasser Landing. From Jennings, Hamilton County, FL, travel east on CR 150; cross the Alapaha River; turn left onto NW 72 Court and follow to river, in Hamilton County.
![[A Devil of an Alapahoochee Cleanup, Meet at Sasser Landing, Saturday, August 28, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-08-29--alapahoochee-chainsaw/fbmany.jpg)
A Devil of an Alapahoochee Cleanup, Meet at Sasser Landing, Saturday, August 28, 2026
The Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers again tested clean for E. coli in the results we have for this week. So did Poe Springs, but with much algae.
No new sewage spills were reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.
According to the results we have, happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating, before the rains starting tomorrow afternoon.
This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.
![[Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers and Poe Springs, but algae 2026-07-29]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-07-29--wq/many.jpg)
Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers and Poe Springs, but algae 2026-07-29
Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall,
and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results
The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading
Dr. David Kaplan and Dr. Wendy Graham, both of the University of Florida, will present an online WWALS Webinar:
Noon to 1 PM, Monday, October 19, 2026
Register here to attend by zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/KPoObaVMRammKk6dKYyI0Q
You can mark going on this facebook event to encourage others to attend:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2165192244412437/
WWALS Events Committee Member Hailey Hall will introduce the speakers, who will speak for about 45 minutes, followed by questions and answers.
The Suwannee River watershed supports one of the world’s largest spring systems, productive estuarine ecosystems, working agricultural and forest landscapes, and communities whose livelihoods depend on healthy water resources. Understanding how future changes in climate and land use will affect these interconnected systems is critical for informed management and conservation.
This presentation will highlight results from a large interdisciplinary research project that coupled hydrologic, estuarine ecological, and economic models to evaluate a range of plausible future scenarios for the Suwannee River watershed and estuary. Using a landscape-scale groundwater-surface water model, we examined how alternative land-use futures—including agricultural expansion, forest restoration, conservation planning, and urban growth—interact with projected climate change to influence groundwater recharge, river flows, nitrate transport, estuarine water quality, fisheries, and regional economic outcomes.
Rather than attempting to predict a single future, this scenario-based approach explores Continue reading
Hear two experts talk about half an hour of above and underwater pictures and video footage that Ken Sulak and Chris Getlinger captured this past spring.
What better way to celebrate the Autumnal Equinox?
It’s online by zoom, noon to 1 PM, Tuesday, September 22, 2026.
Register to join the zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/o02HNIbuSaOXTx7hP4Sriw
Encourage others to join by marking going on this facebook event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1758099698528493
Ken Sulak says fall is an appropriate time to talk about sturgeon, because, “Sturgeon spawning this spring was likely a total failure due to the drought and then rapid warming of the river. But 20% of the population, a genetically distinct portion, is adapted to spawn in October-November as the river cools below 25 C. Good time to talk again about sturgeon migration and spawning—and the potential impact of naturally-occurring low river levels, exacerbated by excessive withdrawals.”
Ken Sulak described his video footage:
Over the course of approximately eight weeks, we were fortunate enough to be able to capture the ancient and enigmatic, Gulf sturgeon during their annual spawning migration up the Suwannee River. A journey that takes them up river 120 miles Continue reading
There’s a public meeting this Wednesday against the Project Arrowhead datacenter in Irwin County, organized by Matt Day.
That’s Wednesday, July 29, 5 PM,
at the Irwinville Community Center, 1937 GA 32.
![[Data Center Public Event, Irwinville Community Center, Irwinville, GA, 5 PM, July 29, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-07-29--data-center-matt-day-irwinville-community-center/fbmany.jpg)
Data Center Public Event, Irwinville Community Center, Irwinville, GA, 5 PM, July 29, 2026
As a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit, WWALS of course does not endorse or oppose Matt Day or any other candidate for office. This post is about the meeting and the issue.
For much more about datacenters, see:
https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters
Matt Day wrote on facebook, July 25, 2026:
ATTENTION IRWINVILLE, GA…
I am coming to your town next Wednesday and I am bringing two very special guests with me.
These Executives have ran companies that helped some of earth’s biggest construction projects, some of which were Data Centers. They are not the Data Center Developers, but the Construction Companies over the Blue Collar Workers who do the actual building.
These men have agreed to something very few construction firms have had the nerve todo…stop building Data Centers where the Communities are not allowing Citizens to Vote on them coming in. Nor will they Continue reading
Here’s a plan to find creek and river contamination and fix it. “This Nine-Element Plan for Cat Creek, HUC 0311020303, facilitates finding and fixing contamination that is getting into the Withlacoochee River upstream from Valdosta, Georgia, from Cat Creek and its feeder creeks in Berrien and Lowndes Counties, Georgia.”
This Plan is featured on two pages of the 2026 Comprehensive Plan Update for Lowndes County and the Cities of Dasher, Hahira, Lake Park, Remerton, & Valdosta.
The Lowndes County Commission will vote tomorrow, Tuesday, July 28, 2026, at 5:30 PM, on transmitting that update to the state of Georgia.
WWALS is also mentioned a few other places in that Update, such as under Natural Resources, Opportunities & Existing Resources, “WWALS has a water quality testing program that trains people how to conduct water tests following spills.”
And under Natural Resource, Policies, “Lowndes County and the Cities should collaborate with local outdoor groups, such as WWALS, to market and promote local outdoor events and cleanups.”
Update 2026-09-31: Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers and Poe Springs, but algae 2026-07-29.
The Withlacoochee River, Sugar Creek, and the Santa Fe River again tested clean in the results we have for this week.
No new sewage spills were reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.
According to the results we have, happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating, before the rains starting tomorrow afternoon.
This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.
![[Clean Withlacoochee River, Sugar Creek, and Santa Fe River, 2026-07-22]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-07-22--wq/many.jpg)
Clean Withlacoochee River, Sugar Creek, and Santa Fe River, 2026-07-22
Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall,
and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results
The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading
![[New UNESCO World Heritage Site, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, along with Mount Olympus, July 25, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-07-25--okefenokee-world-heritage-site/fbmany.jpg)
![[Farms, Forests, Flows & Fish: Exploring Possible Futures for the Suwannee River Watershed & Estuary, a WWALS Webinar 2026-08-19]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-10-19--farms-forests-flows-fish-wwals-webinar/fbmany.jpg)
![[Sturgeon and the Suwannee River, WWALS Webinar by Zoom, Ken Sulak and Christiaan Ard, Noon-1 PM, Tuesday, 2026-09-22]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-09-22--sturgeon-videos/fbmany.jpg)
![[Cat Creek Nine Element Plan, Find and fix contamination into Withlacoochee River, WWALS, VSU, USDA NRCS 2026-05-14]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-05-14--cat-creek-nine-element-plan/igmany.jpg)