Years in the making by VLPRA, received in response to a WWALS open records request, this new Parks & Rec. Master Plan adds to the traditional team sports strategy new strategies including “STRATEGY 6: IMPROVE ACCESS AND AMENITIES TO THE COUNTY’S RIVERS,” involving land acquisition and for not just one but for a chain of river camps.

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They incorporated all of WWALS Vision for water quality and access in Lowndes County, Georgia 2021-03-01.

Strategy 6:
IMPROVE ACCESS AND AMENITIES TO THE COUNTY’S RIVERS
to Create a Regional Ecotourism Destination for Residents and Visitors

RECOMMENDATIONS	ESTIMATED COSTS
6.1 Continue to work with the county and WWALS to construct a network of launches, ramps, camp sites, and river camps, similar to the amenities along the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail (SRWT) in north Florida (where possible).	$1-$2M, see WWALS recommendations and estimated costs
6.2 Incorporate WWALS recommendations for improvements (for water quality, health and safety, and river access) into to a phased, 12-year River Access Improvement Plan, consistent with the SPLOST funding cycles.	VLPRA, County, and WWALS Staff

STRATEGY 6: IMPROVE ACCESS AND AMENITIES TO THE COUNTY’S RIVERS

In VLPRA’s thorough evaluation of all its parks by numerous criteria, on a 1 (bad) to 5 (good) overall scale, you can guess which one came in dead last: Knights Ferry Boat Ramp. Fortunately, the Knights Ferry situation has improved since VLPRA put up signs and Lowndes County’s litter crew started picking up trash weekly.

FIGURE 1.10 – PARK EVALUATIONS SUMMARY MATRIX

Our Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail signs at Troupville Boat Ramp get pictured.

VLPRA is still calling that location “Little River Boat Ramp” which still doesn’t make any sense, since there are five boat ramps on the Little River. Does VLPRA want to be a regional leader, using names that make sense outside Lowndes County?

Example of limited signage in Little River Boat Ramp

Not sure what “Example of limited signage” means. There’s more information on those signs than on any typical VLPRA sign. Here’s what those WLRWT signs looked like before they got shot up:

Not RTP: Troupville-Boat-Ramp-Sign.pdf

The Plan explicitly refers to the River Camps on Florida’s Suwannee River Wilderness Trail (SRWT) as a model:

“The river camps all have the same components – five screened sleeping platforms with electricity and ceiling fans, restrooms with hot showers, potable water, picnic areas and fire rings.”

Troupville River Camp and Troupville River Camp are mentioned.

Proposed Improvements

While it may not be feasible to replicate the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail, numerous improvements can be made to improve the paddling experience for residents, and to attract more visitors to Lowndes County. These include:

Improve Existing Ramps:

• “Amenitize” boat ramps as local parks, with many of the amenities illustrated in Figure 4.11;
• Add tamper-proof trash cans and fishing line recycling stations;
• Add security cameras at problem locations;
• Conduct additional volunteer clean-ups;
• Work with Georgia DNR to upgrade existing parking areas and ramps;
• Add way-finding signs to direct users to ramps;
• Add informational and educational kiosks (cultural, historical, environmental);

Expand Boat Ramps, Launches, and Camp Sites:

• Acquire and develop additional boat ramps;
• Acquire land to expand Troupville River Park into a nature park and river camp;
• Develop additional paddling launches and river camps where feasible {ideally every 10-15 miles along the most popular paddling routes);

Enhance the Paddling Experience:

• Work with property owners fo establish conservation easements along the rivers-edge;
• Add informational and educational kiosks at key sites;
• Publish paddling maps and guides (the SRWT guide is an excellent example);
• Advocate for water quality and habitat improvements; and
• Add or improve directional and information signs at key sites.

The river camps all have the same components – five screened sleeping platforms with electricity and ceiling fans, restrooms with hot showers, potable water, picnic areas and fire rings.”
PDF

In a blast from the past, at least three “Stakeholders” wrote some version of “School systems should be consolidated.” Maybe they’ve forgotten when that was tried a decade ago, and the voters rejected it four to one.

There’s far more in this new VLPRA Master Plan, most of it very good.

The entire Plan, and images of each page, are on the WWALS website.

See also the corresponding presentation slides with LAKE video of a presentation by David Barth, who consulted for VLPRA on this project.

And see some more recent WWALS recommendations.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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

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