Category Archives: Cleanup

Pictures: Langdale Park to Sugar Creek Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-01-27

We got some deadfalls out of the way of canoe and kayak paddling, between Langdale Park Boat Ramp and Sugar Creek on the Withlacoochee River, January 27, 2024.

Thanks to Phil Hubbard for leading and doing the most sawing, to Shawn O’Connor for sawing, to Russell Allen McBride for collecting trash, and I also sawed, although I did not video myself doing it.

The weather was sunny and warm. The water level was about 119.3 NAVD 1988 on the US 41 (North Valdosta Road) USGS gauge.

[Got some deadfalls, more to do, Langdale Park to Sugar Creek, 2024-01-27]
Got some deadfalls, more to do, Langdale Park to Sugar Creek, 2024-01-27

Join us tomorrow, February 3, to get more. The water level is down to 118.4, so it should be about a foot lower tomorrow than last Saturday, which should make our job easier.

Or join us February 11 for the Sugar Creek to Troupville chainsaw cleanup.

These chainsaw cleanups are in preparation for the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, March 2, 2024, which will run from Langdale Park three miles to the early takeout at Sugar Creek, then another four miles to Troupville Boat Ramp.

Here’s a WWALS video of last Saturday’s chainsaw cleanup:
https://youtu.be/4hrVr93KQnw

Don’t try this at home.

Continue reading →

Paddles, Chainsaws, and Okefenokee Swamp on The Spotlight Show, Talk92.1 FM 2024-02-01

Join us on The Spotlight Show on talk921.com at 6 PM, Thursday, February 1, 2024.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and “Diamond” Jim Halter will talk about chainsaw cleanups, the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, the Okefenokee Swamp, the Ichetucknee Springs and River, and the 2024 WWALS River Revue coming up this September.

[Suwannee Riverkeeper on The Spotlight Show, 6-7 PM, Thursday, February 1, 2024]
Suwannee Riverkeeper on The Spotlight Show, 6-7 PM, Thursday, February 1, 2024

https://www.facebook.com/events/792834679536648/

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Finish: Langdale Park to Sugar Creek Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2024-02-03

Update 2024-02-18: Pictures: Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Langdale Park to Sugar Creek –Phil Royce 2024-02-03.

We got quite a few deadfalls last Saturday, now to finish the rest.

Come help us remove some deadfalls that are impeding canoe and kayak paddling.

You do not have to use any kind of saw to join us. You can take pictures, or help move sawed limbs aside, or collect trash.

Bring a chainsaw if you really know how to use it. Or a handsaw, or sawzall.

Phil Hubbard led the last one. Thanks to Shawn O’Connor for leading this one.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, February 3, 2024

Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, 3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602, off I-75 Exit 22.

GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395

[We got some easy and hard deadfalls last time; finish this time. Photo: John S. Quarterman 2024-01-27]
We got some easy and hard deadfalls last time; finish this time. Photo: John S. Quarterman 2024-01-27

Continue reading →

Try again: Langdale Park to Sugar Creek Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2024-01-27

Update 2024-02-02: Pictures: Got some deadfalls, more to do, Langdale Park to Sugar Creek Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2024-01-27 2024-01-27.

Rescheduled again due to water too high and temperature too cold.

Come help us remove some deadfalls that are impeding canoe and kayak paddling. There are probably also new ones after Hurricane Idalia.

Bring a chainsaw if you really know how to use it. Or a handsaw, or sawzall.

But you do not have to use any kind of saw to join us. You can take pictures, or help move sawed limbs aside, or collect trash.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, January 27, 2024

Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, 3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602

GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395

[IG: Easy and hard deadfalls 2021-05-15 for 2024-01-27]
Easy and hard deadfalls 2021-05-15 for 2024-01-27

Continue reading →

The Real Trash Problem is the Producers, and How to Stop It 2023-12-23

Update 2025-06-28: Plastic bag bans keep trash out of rivers and the sea –a study in Science 2025-06-19.

The Crying Indian was Italian, and that ad was paid for by the producers of single-use trash, to shift blame onto individuals. Here’s what can be done about that trash.

Sure people shouldn’t litter, but Anheuser-Busch and other beer makers, as well as Nestlé, Coca Cola, and Walmart, should stop making and selling disposable bottles and cans.

[Single-use trash, The fake Crying Indian, and what can be done about that]
Single-use trash, The fake Crying Indian, and what can be done about that

Fifty years ago those things had deposits on them, and people would collect them for the cash. That could be useful to a lot of people, and a lot more cleanups would happen. Sure, there was still trash back then, but not as much.

People still do in Hawaii and nine other states: California, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Vermont, plus Guam. They don’t have nearly as big of a litter problem.

But Georgia or Florida do not have such container deposits. Maybe we should change that.

No, recycling will not solve this problem. There’s no market for plastic to recycle, and recycling has been pushed by big oil for years as an excuse to make more plastic throw-away containers. Laura Sullivan, NPR, 11 September 2020, How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled.

You’ve probably seen the famous ‘Crying Indian’ ad from 1971:

Crying Indian
A Keep America Beautiful advertisement by the Ad Council, which was launched in 1971. (Ad Council) – Original Credit: (HANDOUT)

Well, the “Indian” was Italian-American, and that ad was part of a campaign by the trash-producer front group Keep America Beautiful. Continue reading →

Pictures: Yes Another Knights Ferry to Nankin Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-08-05

Most of it was legacy trash from Valdosta, but there was less trash downstream on the Withlacoochee River than last time.

The trash jams we previously cleaned up had not accumulated as much, and we did not find as many new ones, from Knights Ferry to Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramps.

Thanks to Russell Allen McBride for leading this cleanup, and to all the others who helped.

[Trash canoes, trash pickers, creek, etc. KF to Nankin Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-08-05]
Trash canoes, trash pickers, creek, etc. KF to Nankin Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-08-05

Here’s a WWALS video playlist of some high points:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKwQ5xfKf-QyVkD0g7psED1GhTRUZ63no&si=OGTmLnmlNCgWw4yW Continue reading →

Rescheduled: Langdale Park to Sugar Creek Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2024-01-21

Update 2023-01-19: Try again: Langdale Park to Sugar Creek Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2024-01-27.

Rescheduled due to water too high, temperature too cold, and rain too likely.

Come help us remove some deadfalls that are impeding canoe and kayak paddling. There are probably also new ones after Hurricane Idalia. And maybe we won’t get rained out this time.

Bring a chainsaw if you really know how to use it. Or a handsaw, or sawzall.

But you do not have to use any kind of saw to join us.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 1 PM, Sunday, January 21, 2024

Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp

GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395

[IG: Easy and hard deadfalls 2021-05-15 for 2024-01-27]
Easy and hard deadfalls 2021-05-15 for 2024-01-27

Continue reading →

Suwannee Riverkeeper on The Spotlight Show, Talk 92.1 FM, 2023-12-07

Join us on The Spotlight Show on https://talk921.com at 6 PM, Thursday, December 7, 2023.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and “Diamond” Jim Halter will talk about upcoming outings such as this weekend’s campout at Griffis Fish Camp where naturalist C.B. Adams will tell us old-timey stories before we paddle the next day from the Okefenokee Swamp down the Suwannee River.

[Spotlight Show on Talk 92.1 FM, C.B. Adams at Griffis Fish Camp on the Suwannee River]
Spotlight Show on Talk 92.1 FM, C.B. Adams at Griffis Fish Camp on the Suwannee River

Also this December we’re having a chainsaw cleanup on the Withlacoochee River in Georgia.

To begin the New Year, swim with us on Iche Nippy Dip Day on the Ichetucknee River in Florida, and then paddle down the river.

In September, join us for the second annual WWALS River Revue sit-down fundraising dinner with new songs in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, 5-8 PM, Saturday, September 7, 2024, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia. Continue reading →

Pictures: Langdale Park Withlacoochee River Cleanup 2023-10-20

WWALS cleaned up near Langdale Park Boat Ramp during the United Way Day of Caring. We ended up with trash bagged, plus 4 shower doors, a big screen tv, a kids toy float tug boat and lots of plastic and styrofoam, glass and aluminum.

Outings leader Russell Allen McBride previously scouted the Withlacoochee River upstream and down from Langdale Park Boat Ramp, and found too many deadfalls for boating, so we cleaned up on land. Thanks to Bobby McKenzie, Suzy Hall, and Gretchen Quarterman for cleaning up.

[Trash, t-shirts, slough, and signs at Langdale Park Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-10-20]
Trash, t-shirts, slough, and signs at Langdale Park Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-10-20

Thanks to Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson for cleaning up with us, and for bringing still more donuts. Also the United Way t-shirts, to add to our Rivers Alive t-shirts.

There are more pictures below.

See also the facebook photosets by:

Continue reading →

Mostly on land: Langdale Park Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-10-20

Update 2023-10-26: Pictures: Langdale Park Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-10-20.

Join us for a WWALS river cleanup during Valdosta United Way Day of Caring.

No boat required, since we will mostly be on land.

Outings leader Russell Allen McBride scouted the Withlacoochee River upstream and down from Langdale Park Boat Ramp, and found too many deadfalls for a river cleanup.

[Deadfalls, bridge, and trash, Withlacoochee River, Langdale Park]
Deadfalls, bridge, and trash, Withlacoochee River, Langdale Park

Russell wrote, “I went down to Langdale Park yesterday. There are 3 deadfalls downstream before 3 mile branch and one deadfall upstream before the N Valdosta Bridge. I found a good size pocket of trash in a slough that is dried up downstream a short walk from boat ramp. Not much trash in river upstream. A small amount of trash in the deadfalls downstream but until they are cut out it would be hard to get. I suggest we pick up what I found on land.”

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 1 PM, Friday, October 20, 2023

Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, 3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602, in Lowndes County.

GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395, -83.32395 Continue reading →