WWALS Outings, Rivers, and Pipeline on Chris Beckham drive-time radio WVGA 105.9 FM 8:00 7:30 AM 2016-09-02

8AM Friday morning WWALS will be on Chris Beckham’s drive-time radio show. WWALS president John S. Quarterman will be talking about Saturday morning’s Suwannee River paddle outing and other outings upcoming on the Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers, along with other developments on the Alapaha River Water Trail and the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail, along with many other things WWALS does. Plus what you can do about the FERC rubberstamp of the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline drilling under the Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers.

When: 8:00 7:30AM Friday September 2nd 2016

Where: 105.9 FM WVGA, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia

What: John S. Quarterman, president of WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc., on Chris Beckham drive-time radio show

How: Listen on the air, or through many online services such as Streema.

I’ll also take video and post it, like I did before.

Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline

Yes, I’ll talk about what can still be done to stop the unnecessary, destructive, and hazardous Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline, but this radio show is mostly about all the other things WWALS does.

Suwannee River Wilderness Trail

So popular a few weeks ago we’re doing it again Saturday morning!

10 AM Saturday September 3rd 2016, Redoux Suwannee River Roline to Cypress Creek.

The chair of the Suwannee-St Johns Group of the Florida Sierra Club came last time, and now WWALS and Sierra Club are cooperating on paddle outings in north Florida.

Alapaha River Water Trail

Our next Alapaha outing requires no boats: 4PM Saturday September 10th 2016 Rivers-Alive Cleanup at Berrien Beach Launch (GA 168) east of Nashville, GA.

Come help us clean up litter (everything from straws to tires) on the beautiful Alapaha River with its exotic A+ scenery, and people fishing and swimming around every bend.

Update 2016-08-31: Hike to Dead River Sink from Alapaha River 2016-11-06.

These outings continue the WWALS explorations of the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT), with a few more stretches still to go.

Back in the spring we reprinted another 5,000 copies of the ARWT brochure, thanks to funding from the Hamilton County, Florida Tourism Development Committee.

We have agreement from the Georgia Department of Transportation about placing road signs at access points, and now we’re talking to all the county 911 centers to be sure they all agree on the names and addresses of the landings and other river landmarks. WWALS seeks cooperation from county commissions, chambers of commerce, school and youth groups, and everyone to fund and place road signs and kiosks at each water trail landing.

North of the ARWT there’s a new Alapaha River Wildlife Management Area, which will show up on the ARWT online map soon.

Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail

July 9th on our paddle from Nankin to Madison Highway on the Withlacoochee River we found three years since we did that before. Come help us find MacIntyre Spring, one of only six second magnitude springs in the state of Georgia. We also found Arnold Springs (all three of them together), so we got to two out of the three second magnitude springs on the Withlacoochee in Georgia; the third is Wade Springs (or Blue Spring) just below the US 84 bridge.

We continue our exploration of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail 20AM Sunday October 9th 2016, fromm Madison Highway on the state line to Sullivan Launch in Florida.

The Valdosta-Lowndes Tourism Authority has contributed $500 towards printing a WLRWT brochure, expanding on our current WLRWT Pamphlet.

You or your organization can help WWALS build the WLRWT and the ARWT by contributing time or money, as V-L Tourism, Hamilton County TDC, and others have already done.

More Outings and Advocacy

Watch the WWALS blog, facebook page, or twitter, and newsletter for still more outings and events, or check the WWALS calendar.

On the radio Friday I’ll also compliment Valdosta for apparently fixing its main ongoing wastewater improvements, with the two big pieces of the force main, and the new, uphill, out-of-the-flood-plain Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant. There are still some questions to be answered, of course.

I’ll also ask what is Bill Gates up to with his recent purchases of thousands of acres of farmland in five six counties around here?

If you want to help with this or other WWALS work or or fun, we’re always looking for more committee members or board members.

-jsq

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!