Monthly Archives: October 2024

Walking Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup after Hurricane Helene, Troupville Boat Ramp 2024-11-02 2024-11-16

Update 2024-11-15: Rescheduled to 2024-12-23 2024-11-23 due to water too high and contaminated at previous date after the flash flood. Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup after Hurricane Helene, Troupville Boat Ramp 2024-11-23.

Update 2024-11-15: Changed to November 16, 2024, due to schedule conflicts.

Join us, walking between the Little River Confluence and GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River seeking deadfalls to chainsaw and trash to collect.

Hurricane Helene blew down many trees, so we should find plenty of deadfalls.

Nobody has to use a saw of any kind. You can help by photographing, pulling limbs out of the way, or just being there.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 2 PM, Saturday, November 2, 2024

Put In: Troupville Boat Ramp, 19664 Valdosta Hwy, Valdosta, GA 31602. I-75 exit 18, west on GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) away from the Valdosta Mall, at the traffic light for Val Tech Road, turn left down to the boat ramp, in Lowndes County.
 
The water level is well below our recommended low level for paddling, but if you do want to put in a kayak or canoe, you might try sliding it down the sand slope under the GA 133 bridge.

GPS: 30.851842, -83.346536

[Walking Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-11-02, after Hurricane Helene, Troupville Boat Ramp]
Walking Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-11-02, after Hurricane Helene, Troupville Boat Ramp

Continue reading →

Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council meeting in Valdosta 2024-11-21

Update 2024-12-06: Videos: Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council meeting in Valdosta 2024-11-21.

Near Franks Creek and the Little River, not far from the Withlacoochee River.

SUWANNEE-SATILLA

REGIONAL WATER PLANNING COUNCIL MEETING

Announcement Date: October 22, 2024

[Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council 2024-11-21 at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, Valdosta, Georgia]
Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council 2024-11-21 at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, Valdosta, Georgia

TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS AND PARTIES:

The Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council

will hold a council meeting at the following date, time and location:

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Registration: 10:30 A.M. – 11:00 A.M.
Meeting: 11:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M.

Note: This Meeting may be attended In-Person or Virtually via the MS Teams Link with Call-In Information Provided Below

Wiregrass Georgia Technical College (Berrien Hall Classroom 229)

4089 Val Tech Road Valdosta, GA 31602

If you are planning to attend the meeting Continue reading →

Pictures: Santa Fe River BMAP meeting, Lake Butler, FL 2024-10-28

Update 2024-11-05: Pictures: Suwannee River Basin BMAP meeting in Live Oak 2024-10-30

There was better communication than last time, but of course that was a low bar.

You can follow up after that meeting, and the next ones: here are some ideas.
https://wwals.net/?p=66108

The other two BMAP meetings are today (see below).

[Santa Fe River BMAP Meeting, Lake Butler, FL 2024-10-28 Better communication than last time]
Santa Fe River BMAP Meeting, Lake Butler, FL 2024-10-28 Better communication than last time

At the Santa Fe BMAP meeting in Lake Butler, none of the people from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) volunteered an answer to the most basic question: how has the situation improved since the BMAPs started?

Thanks to the graph Ryan Smart of the Florida Springs Council (FSC) brought, showing “Changes in pounds of nitrogen at spring vent”, several of them did agree that in fact the situation has gotten worse. Continue reading →

Edwin Alphin Griffis, June 21, 1930 – October 27, 2024 2024-10-27

Many of us remember Mr. Griffis, jovially greeting us at Griffis Fish Camp on the Suwannee River just downstream from the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, and showing us his museum. He will be missed.

According to Roundtree Funeral Home, Inc.

Edwin Alphin Griffis

June 21, 1930 — October 27, 2024

Edwin Alphin Griffis, 94, of Fargo passed away Sunday morning, October 27, 2024 at his residence after an extended illness. He was born in Clinch County to the late Elemuel “Lem” and Alice Howell Griffis. Mr. Griffis lived in Clinch County for most of his life where he retired from the Clinch County Board of Education as the Principal of Fargo Elementary School. He was a member of the Clinch County Retired Teacher’s Association, Fargo Senior Citizens. Mr. Griffis was a member of the Fargo United Methodist Church where he taught Sunday School for thirty-five years. He always enjoyed talking with people staying at Griffis Campground in Fargo.

[Alphin Griffis at the Griffis Camp office, near Fargo, Georgia. The office is home to dozens of well-prepared mounts of animals native to the swamp (as a young man, Griffis taught himself the craft of taxidermy). [Dirk Stevenson/for Savannah Morning News]]
Alphin Griffis at the Griffis Camp office, near Fargo, Georgia. The office is home to dozens of well-prepared mounts of animals native to the swamp (as a young man, Griffis taught himself the craft of taxidermy). [Dirk Stevenson/for Savannah Morning News
Dirk J. Stevenson, SavannahNow, August 16, 2019, Learning from a lifelong swamper.

Along with his parents he was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy Grace Barineau Griffis; grandson, Kyle Ware; two sisters, Maldine Barnhill and Mary Alice Griffis; one brother, Arden Griffis.

Survivors include Continue reading →

Pictures: Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-10-26

The water level was not too low on the Little River, but it was too low on the Withlacoochee River for the WWALS jon boat with outboard. So, there was no chainsawing.

We’ve been waiting for the Withlacoochee River to get down to a level where we can do a walking chainsaw cleanup. With no rain in sight, it will be plenty low next Saturday, so that will be the time.

[Water too low for jon boat outboard, Withlacoochee River, Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-10-26]
Water too low for jon boat outboard, Withlacoochee River, Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-10-26

Thanks to TJ Johnson for driving an hour from Live Oak to get there with chainsaws to lead this expedition, and for helping haul the jon boat back upstream on muscle and trolling motor batteries after the outboard did not restart after Trashy Shoals. Continue reading →

Clean Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers 2024-10-24

Update 2024-11-02: Clean Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers 2024-10-31.

WWALS testers Cindy Vedas and Kimberly Godden Tanner got zero (0) E. coli for the Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers Thursday. That matches the very low results from Valdosta Utilities for the Withlacoochee River Wednesday.

The weather prediction is still sunny and cool.

The water levels are back down to normal, except for the Santa Fe River at Three Rivers Estates, which is still in Action Stage and predicted to stay there for a while. Some rivers, such as the Withlacoochee near Valdosta, are almost too low.

However, many parks and put-ins remain closed after Hurricane Helene, including Ichetucknee Springs North.

So if you can find an accessible stretch, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing.

[Clean Withlacoochee and Alapaha River 2024-10-24 Sunny and No Rain. Happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing.]
Clean Withlacoochee and Alapaha River 2024-10-24 Sunny and No Rain. Happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing.

Cindy Vedas noted for Franklinville Thursday, “Several trees down. River looks clean. And it is.”

For Staten Road Thursday, also on the Withlacoochee River, she wrote, “ Got lots of chainsaw work to do. River level looks good for fishing. And clean!”

Kimberley Tanner noted for Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach on the Alapaha River Thursday, “Both locations looked great and the samples were clean. No issues with the control this time using the microwave method. Hard to believe what a difference a couple weeks makes.” Continue reading →

Date change for Public Meeting about Okefenokee NWR expansion 2024-10-24

Update 2024-11-13: Pictures: Public Meeting about Okefenokee NWR expansion 2024-11-12.

The Public Meeting for the proposed expansion of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge has been changed to Tuesday, November 12, 2024, still from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Charlton County Annex Auditorium, 68 Kingsland Drive, Folkston, Georgia, according to https://www.fws.gov/refuge/okefenokee

Here’s a facebook event to remind you:
https://www.facebook.com/events/556272616789217/

This part is unchanged: “The public has until November 18, 2024 to submit input via email to Okefenokee@fws.gov”

[Okefenokee NWR Expansion Public Meeting 2024-11-12, Maybe including proposed TiO2 mine site]
Okefenokee NWR Expansion Public Meeting 2024-11-12, Maybe including proposed TiO2 mine site

Also, the same day the proposed expansion was announced, the miners said they had not been contacted.

Russ Bynum, AP, October 18, 2024, Proposed Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge expansion could lead to buyout of mining project, Continue reading →

New Troupville town historic marker on GA 133 just west of the Withlacoochee River 2024-10-23

It’s back: the Georgia Historical Society marker for the town of Troupville.

It’s on the north side of GA-133 (St. Augustine Road), west of I-75 exit 18, just east of the Withlacoochee River.

[Troupville Town Site Historical Marker 2024, Georgia Historical Society, Plus UDC marker]
Troupville Town Site Historical Marker 2024, Georgia Historical Society, Plus UDC marker

TROUPVILLE

The settlement of Troupville once existed near here, about four miles northwest of present-day Valdosta. The town was named Troupville in honor of George M. Troup, governor of Georgia from 1823 to 1827. In 1833, the county seat of Lowndes County moved from Franklinville to Troupville, which was incorporated in 1837 and continued as county seat until 1860. When the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad, running from Savannah toward Pensacola, surveyed for right-of-way in the area, the proposed route bypassed Troupville. Lowndes County established the new town of Valdosta on the new railroad line. Shortly after train operations began in 1860 the county seat transferred to Valdosta. Early residents of the town include the Ayer, Briggs, Ellis, Griffin, Hall, Howell, Jones, Morgan, Smith, and Treadwell families, many of whom are buried at the nearby Troupville Cemetery.

092-2

Re-erected by the Georgia Historical Society in 2024

1961

Continue reading →

Langdale Park still closed, Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, GA 2024-10-23

The gate is open, but there is room for improvement on the access road.

[Deadfalls on entry road, 2024:10:23 17:52:25, 30.8860860, -83.3192000]
Deadfalls on entry road, 2024:10:23 17:52:25, 30.8860860, -83.3192000

Those deadfalls from Hurricane Helene are not even halfway down to Langdale Park Boat Ramp.

I will mention them to Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA) and Lowndes County Public Works, but I doubt this park is high on their priority list. Continue reading →

Navigable Streams: Georgia House Study Committee in Newnan, GA 2024-11-13

Update 2024-12-27: Final Report: Georgia House Study Committee on Navigable Streams 2024-12-01.

The Georgia House Navigable Streams Committee is meeting in Newnan on Wednesday morning, November 13, 2024, after the Nahunta meeting a few weeks ago was cancelled due to Hurricane Helene aftermath.

[Georgia House Study Committee on Navigable Streams in Newnan 2024-11-13: Law: Ownership, Property Rights; Passage: Recreation, Economy]
Georgia House Study Committee on Navigable Streams in Newnan 2024-11-13: Law: Ownership, Property Rights; Passage: Recreation, Economy

Instead of a whole meeting, we get this item:

  • South Georgia Waterways Perspective (45 min.; holdover from cancelled Waycross meeting)

And this subject of the entire meeting:

Meeting #3: Utilizing Mechanisms to Increase Public Access to Waterways

We don’t need fancy mechanisms. We just need a Georgia navigability law that matches what people actually use waterways for these days: paddling, motoring, fishing, and swimming. That’s a substantial part of the outdoor economy and recreation.

So if you want to continue to be able to paddle or motor on your favorite stream, you may want to show up and speak, or send written input to your state representative. You can ask them for a 21st-century update to the 1863 Georgia navigability law.

Here is the meeting notice and agenda (local copy): Continue reading →