Monthly Archives: May 2018

Deadline extended to June 1, 2018 for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

We got more submissions, but we want more, so we’ve extended the deadline!

New Deadline: Friday, June 1, 2018

What: You can submit a song in any musical genre or style, as long as it is about one or more of our rivers, creeks, springs, sinks, swamps, ponds, etc. in the Suwannee River Basin.

Prizes: $300 First Prize, $50 winner from within the Suwannee River Basin, $50 winner from elsewhere, and one winner in each musical genre. Finalists must be present to win.

More: Follow this link for all the details.

Long

-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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

Deadline today for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2018-05-13

Update May 15, 2018: Deadline extended to Friday, June 1, 2018!

Calling all songwriters: today’s the deadline to submit for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. There is no age limit; songwriters so far range from 14 to 64.

You can submit in any musical genre, so the committee can select seven finalists, and the judges can pick multiple winners.

Submit your song: entry form

Deadline: Continue reading →

Wanted: Missing Sheboggy Signs

If returned, no questions asked.

Don’t wait for the Sheriff to find them.

You don’t have to steal them: WWALS will sell you a similar smaller metal sign. Those will be $20 each, available by the end of May 2018, and we’ll have an online order form.

Born, April 25, 2018.

Continue reading →

National Wetlands Inventory

The National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) provides data on wetlands throughout the country, plus a mapper, from which I’ve pulled these stills of the Suwannee River Basin.

I used a topo map as background.

Phosphate Mines

One that already exists, and where another one wants to be.

PCS, Hamilton Co., FL, Phosphate mine

All those straight lines don’t look natural, because Continue reading →

Jay Jourden sends song to Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2018-05-07

Update May 15, 2018: Deadline extended to Friday, June 1, 2018!

Jay Jourden says we can say he submitted a song, and you can, too!

ReverbNation Jay “Blue Jay” Jourden, Jacksonville Beach, FL,

Jay “Blue Jay” Jourden Singer/Songwriter/Performer/Activist Producer/Writer/Actor/Film & Video Toronto Pictures/Global Film Studios BMI, a world renowned producer and musical/vocal artist as well as an accomplished concert promoter/performer having worked on and help organize major concerts for The American Indian Movement AIM, Wounded Knee & The Longest Walk, The No Nukes Concert Series, Disaster Relief 96′, The 40th Anniversary of Woodstock 1969-2009 “West Fest”, and many, many, more, is currently signed with Toronto Pictures, a socially active, major international film company, under internationally acclaimed director Bruno Pischiutta and producer Daria Trifu, Toronto Pictures is currently in pre-production of several films in Romania and other parts of the world, addressing important socially significant issues, affecting changes in global thinking, all done without the “Hollywood Standard” gratuitous sex and violence “norm”.

We don’t announce which song someone may have submitted, but Continue reading →

Phosphate Mine on Bradford BOCC agenda this morning 2018-05-07

The HPS II proponents don’t want to pay for consultant work on future effects of their phosphate mine. Why should the county (the taxpayers) be stuck with all or part of $53,265.00 to consultants about a for-profit mine that would adversely affect the waters on which the whole county depends, not to mention downstream on the New, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers and perhaps beyond in the Floridan Aquifer? Mine proponents also complained that one subconsultant had “articulated a position of opposition to the HPS application”. If the consultants were uniformly in favor of the mine, what would be the point of hiring them at all?

A map as clear as mining mud. Legend: Union Project Boundary (5,421.91 Acres); Bradford Project Boundary (5,262.92 Acres)

I sent Chairman Ross Chandler the the Resolution Against Phosphate Mines in Florida by several Waterkeepers across Florida.

Cost

In the agenda sheet for agenda item 4.B. Direction to staff regarding scope-of-work/subconsultants for Onsite Environmental Consultants (OEC) — Review of application for Special Permit for Mining (Section 14.6, LDR): Continue reading →

Film Festival and Wild & Scenic Rivers

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival WWALS is holding 7PM Thursday, May 31, 2018 at Mathis Auditorium in Valdosta, GA is about:

Celebrating fifty years of Wild and Scenic River designations by Congress, this film festival showcases frontline issues and activism with stunning cinematography. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that individuals propel the groundswell of the environmental movement. Collectively, we CAN make a difference!

There aren’t any Wild & Scenic rivers in the Suwannee River Basin, although maybe after seeing this film festival, people will be motivated to fix that.

We have river gems unknown even to most of the people who live here: the Alapaha, the Little, the Withlacoochee, and the Suwannee River.

Alapaha River

Some Atlantans paddled the Alapaha River Water Trail last month, and confirmed its A+ rating for scenery. Even portaging around a deadfall didn’t dampen their spirits.

Consensus: we love the Alapaha!

Photo: Robert Marshall of First Camp: a beach on a point

Little River

When retired outfitter Continue reading →

Sabal Trail offers barely-investment-grade bonds

I’ve wondered whatever happened to Andrea Grover since she no longer has landowner “stakeholders” to try to sell on her pipeline. Turns out she’s selling debt bonds for Sabal Trail now, according to a press release of Monday.

The notes were issued in three tranches as follows (collectively, the “Notes”): $500 million principal amount of 4.246% senior notes due 2028, $600 million principal amount of 4.682% senior notes due 2038, and $400 million principal amount of 4.832% senior notes due 2048.

Those sound like good interest rates, especially that 4.832%. But why is it listed on the Berlin Stock Exchange, and what about that Baa1 Moody’s bond rating? That is eight steps from the top and three steps above “Non-Investment Grade” aka junk bonds.

I wonder what happens if Sabal Trail doesn’t make its FERC-extended construction deadlines? Somebody remind me, what assets does Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC have, as in what recourse would a bond-holder have if the issuer decided to cancel them?

Graph: by WWALS, from Sabal Trail’s FERC-required Informational Postings.

Or maybe, unlike the amount of gas Sabal Trail is pumping (see above graph), SEP’s stock price will stop dropping and Continue reading →

Road trip to Cedar Key Saturday 2018-05-05

This Saturday, several WWALS people are heading for Cedar Key to present and ask for questions, suggestions, etc. about:

who we are: WWALS Watershed Coalition is Suwannee Riverkeeper
what we do (outings, races, water trails, water quality, advocacy, etc.),
how that benefits Cedar Key (which is downstream from everything we do),
and we’re holding a songwriting contest in Cedar Key on June 23rd.

The main goal is encouraging long-term interactions between Cedar Key and Suwannee Riverkeeper.

The secondary goal is to organize the songwriting contest.

When: All day, Saturday, May 5, 2018
Presentation at 3PM
Or let us know and we’ll come to your office.

Photo: Pelican at Cedar Key, by Gretchen Quarterman, 2018-02-25

Contact: Continue reading →

Judges, Songwriting Contest

Update May 15, 2018: Deadline extended to June 1, 2018!

The Songwriting Contest Committee has chosen three judges. After the Committee picks seven finalists, the judges at the contest will pick winners from those finalists, all according to criteria listed in the Rules.

The judges are, in alphabetical order: Cindy Bear, Dan Crews, and J.J. Rolle.

Cindy Bear, Jacksonville, Florida,

Cindy Bear is an award winning singer-songwriter based in Jacksonville, FL, who performs at music festivals, house concerts, listening rooms, and charity fundraisers throughout the Southeastern U.S. She is a successful solo artist, and also half of Bear and Robert (pronounced “Row-bear”), a Blues, Folk and Americana duo with her husband, Franc Robert….

Cindy Bear is also Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.