Category Archives: Cleanup

Nankin to Four Freedoms Trail, Withlacoochee River, Cleanup and Paddle 2019-11-16

Update 2019-11-22: Some pictures.

Join us to clean up trash at Nankin Boat Ramp in Lowndes County, Georgia. Bring a boat and join us paddling down the Withlacoochee River, continuing cleanuing up. We will stop at second-magnitude McIntyre Spring in Brooks County, Georgia, which should be flowing fine about now. Thanks to special permission from Madison County, Florida, we will take a few vehicles down to the river at the end of the Four Freedoms Trail to collect an abandoned canoe and other items, and we will take out there.

When: Gather 9:00 AM, launch 10 AM, Saturday, November 16, 2019

Put In: Nankin Boat Ramp, 6899 Clyattville-Nankin Rd, Valdosta, GA 31601, in Lowndes County.

GPS: 30.675192, -83.394143

Take Out: Four Freedoms Trail, NE Peppermint Trail, Pinetta, FL, Madison County.

Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup, especially this one.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

[Upstream, 2019:10:17 15:59:44, 30.6294432, -83.3186451]
Photo: John S Quarterman, Upstream under the abandoned railroad trestle, at the end of Four Freedoms Trail, 2019:10:17 15:59:44, 30.6294432, -83.3186451

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Pictures: Cleanup, Alapaha River, Lakeland and Pafford’s Landing 2019-10-12

A fun couple of hours and a truckload of #Rivers Alive trash picked up in and around the Alapaha River at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Pafford’s Landing, on the Alapaha River Water Trail, yesterday, October 12, 2019.

[WWALS #RiversAlive Alapaha River]
Photo: Gretchen Quarterman, WWALS #RiversAlive Alapaha River

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ARWT Sign to Pafford’s Landing: Cleanup this Saturday 2019-10-12

Stay to the left to go to Lanier Boat Ramp first, then come back and take the right fork to Pafford’s Landing for the WWALS and Rivers Alive cleanup this 10 AM this Saturday, October 12, 2019, on the Alapaha River near Lakeland, Georgia. It’s free!

[With roads]
With roads

You can also help pay for these Alapaha River Water Trail road signs Continue reading →

Trash in wetlands at Flying J, Exit 2, I-75 2019-08-23

Update 2019-12-19: Cleanup finishing at Flying J, Exit 2, I-75, Lowndes County, GA 2019-12-10.

I must compliment Lowndes County Code Enforcement, the Flying J, Dynamis, and Deep South Sanitation, about this cleanup at the Flying J, Exit 2, I-75, Lake Park, Georgia, about a mile from the GA-FL line.

[Trash in gap]
Trash in gap

On August 23, 2019, I sent this picture and the location to Lowndes County Code Enforcement:

[Still more trash]
Still more trash

Code Enforcement Director Mindy Bates responded within the hour: Continue reading →

Franklinville Landing Clean Up, Withlacoochee River, 2019-08-03

Update 2019-07-24: Free to everyone!

Come help WWALS clean up at Franklinville Landing at Tyler Bridge on Franklinville Road on the Withlacoochee River, and on adjoining private land, courtesy of the landowner. Per our usual arrangement, Lowndes County Public Works will come get the trash after we bag it and set it on the public road right of way. We will also visit the nearby monument to Franklinville, which was the county seat of Lowndes County before Valdosta and before Troupville.

When: 9 AM, Saturday, August 3, 2019

Gather at: Franklinville Landing, 6560 Franklinville Road, Hahira, GA 31632. in Lowndes County.
Be sure to get to Franklinville Road from the west, from Skipper Bridge Road; you can’t get to the clean up site from Cat Creek Road.

From Valdosta, go north on N. Oak Street Extension, which becomes Cherry Creek Road and then Staten Road. After you cross the Withlacoochee River on Staten Road, turn right on the next paved road, which is McMillan Road. Turn left onto Skipper Bridge Road. After 2.4 miles, turn right onto Franklinville Road, which is a dirt road. Continue to Tyler Bridge, which is closed, so you can’t miss it because you can’t go any further.

From Hahira, go east on GA 122, after 4.2 miles turn right onto Skipper Bridge Road, and after 0.9 miles turn left onto dirt Franklinville Road.

GPS: 30.981249, -83.268027

Take Out: Same.

Bring: Cleanup materials will be provided, but if you’ve got a trash picker, bring it along. No boat required, although you can bring one to paddle up and down if you want to.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members everyone! We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

For those interested, afterwards go to Langdale Park Boat Ramp for an additional cleanup. That is downstream on the Withlacoochee River, also on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.

Event: facebook, meetup

[Downstream from bridge, 13:38:58, 30.981386, -83.267655]
Downstream from bridge, 13:38:58,, 2018-02-11 30.9813860, -83.2676550,

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The #Trashtag Challenge: Cleanups are good, but throwaway plastic needs to be stopped

It’s great the #Trashtag Challenge is getting people to clean up litter, but remember the straw and the sea turtle. Let’s also get on with fixing the problem, which is throwaway plastic and other discardable containers and wrappers.

[A new challenge.]
A new challenge.

It’s fun and useful to clean up a creek, like we did Sunday on Onemile Branch at Azalea Festival in Valdosta.

[Scotti downstream]
Scotti downstream

WWALS does this on every outing, which is also a cleanup, plus some specific cleanups, such as two at Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River and one at Sheboggy on the Alapaha River last year. We find the amount of trash tends to go down, as more people catch on that we need to take care of our waters.

Yet more needs to be done. Remember last year at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, the sea turtle and the straw? Continue reading →

Onemile Branch Cleanup, Drexel Park, during Azalea Festival 2019-03-10

Update 2019-03-12: The #Trashtag Challenge: Cleanups are good, but throwaway plastic needs to be stopped.

Not bad for an idea from a few days before: a cleanup at Onemile Branch in Drexel Park during Azalea Festival.

[Beatriz assisting]
Beatriz assisting

Juan and Luisa from Colombia with the VSU English Language Institute waded into the stream, with Beatriz Potter holding the bucket and Tom Potter advising.

Sara Jay explained her WWALS water quality test kit.

[Sara explaining]
Sara explaining

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Troupville Boat Ramp Water Trail Signs back up 2019-01-15

Three tasks at once at Troupville Boat Ramp last Tuesday! Scotti Jay picked up trash, while Sara Jay did water quality testing (you, too can learn to do that). Then while Sara finished up Scotti and I replanted the signs for the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

Signs and test kit, Signs
Sara Jay with water quality testing kit, Scotti Jay with trash bag, Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail signs.

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Pictures: Troupville Cleanup 2018-10-13

We had fun cleaning up at Troupville Boat Ramp and the private land down the Little River to its Confluence with the Withlacoochee River, and then up the Withlacoochee a bit. Boy Scouts did much of the work, in Ronnie Thomas’ troup: this cleanup was his idea. Two of the landowners who let us into the land down to the Confluence were there; that property is for sale. Scotti Jay and Bobby and the McKenzie clan were also there. Brown Dog and Yellow Dog liked getting into another river.

[Red, yellow, white, blue, 10:09:03, 30.8454610, -83.3467969]
Red, yellow, white, blue, 10:09:03, 30.8454610, -83.3467969

Landowner Helen Tapp promised donuts, and delivered. Continue reading →

Troupville Boat Ramp Cleanup, Little River, 2018-10-13

Update 2018-10-13: Pictures.

Update 2018-10-12: Yes, the cleanup is still on for Saturday, October 13, 2018.

A fun Saturday morning by the Little River: WWALS cleanup of the Troupville Boat Ramp and adjacent riverfront down to the Little River Confluence with the Withlacoochee River, in conjunction with Rivers Alive and Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful (KLVB). We have the enthusiastic support of the landowners south of the boat ramp to the Confluence, including much of the site of historic Troupville, the former seat of Lowndes County before Valdosta, in the middle of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.

When: 8:00 AM – Noon, 2018-10-13

Put In: Troupville Boat Ramp, 19664 Valdosta Hwy, Valdosta, GA 31602: on GA 133 off I-75 exit 18, in Lowndes County, just west of Valdosta.

GPS: 30.85131, -83.34743

Bring: Cleanup materials will be provided, but if you’ve got a trash picker, bring it along.
No boat required. You can bring a boat if you like, but unless it rains before then, there will be very little water in the river.

Free: This outing is free. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

All ages, Sign
Photo: Bobby McKenzie from the last WWALS Troupville Boat Ramp Cleanup, 2018-04-21.

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