Daily Archives: October 18, 2024

Clean rivers, dirty Franks Creek 2024-10-17

Update 2024-10-20: Clean Withlacoochee River 2024-10-18.

The Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers tested clean for E. coli.

The weather report is sunny and cool for the next week, although you never know what might blow in off the Gulf or the Atlantic.

Many national, state, and local parks are still closed, especially on rivers. We did not hold the Banks Lake Full Hunters Moon paddle Thursday, because Banks Lake is closed indefinitely due to unstable trees.

The Santa Fe River is in Action Stage upstream and in flood at TREPO, and the Lower Suwannee River is in Action Stage from Rock Bluff to Manatee Springs.

The Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers are all back to paddleable levels.

Happy paddling, motoring, fishing, or swimming this weekend, if you can find a place to put in and take out, and be careful.

Afterwards, there will be plenty of more opportunities for pleasant paddles and chainsaw cleanups.

[Clean Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha Rivers 2024-10-17 Dirty Franks Creek 2024-10-16]
Clean Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha Rivers 2024-10-17 Dirty Franks Creek 2024-10-16

No new sewage spills were reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida. by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), or in Georgia by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD).

John S. Quarterman tested three rivers on GA 122. Continue reading →

Proposed Okefenokee NWR expansion to include TiO2 miners’ land and more 2024-10-18

Update 2024-10-24: The date of the public meeting is now Nov. 12, changed from the originally published date of Oct. 29.

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

Update 2024-10-18: Miner president says he was not contacted.

Here’s one answer to who can afford to buy the land from the miners: the U.S. federal government.

[Okefenokee NWR Expansion 2024-10-18 Including TiO2 Mine site]
Okefenokee NWR Expansion 2024-10-18 Including TiO2 Mine site

Leslie Hull-Ryde, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, October 18, 2024, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is Seeking Public Input on Proposal for Minor Expansion of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge Boundary: Proposal designed to enable voluntary actions to protect hydrological integrity, conserve wetlands and key wildlife habitat, and create fuel reduction zone to help protect neighboring properties.

The Southeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a proposal that would expand the boundary of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, adding approximately 22,000 acres adjacent to the existing refuge. The Service is seeking public input on the proposal.

If adopted, the proposed minor boundary expansion would enable the Service to work with willing landowners to explore voluntary conservation actions, including potential acquisition, that would further protect the refuge’s globally significant freshwater wetland system and wildlife habitat.

The proposed expansion includes lands currently held by Twin Pines Minerals, LLC as well as a one-mile fuel reduction zone adjacent to the refuge. Continue reading →