Category Archives: Forestry

Okefenokee NWR Minor Acquisition Boundary Expansion approved by USFWS 2025-01-03

Now anyone who wants to sell property within the new boundary to the Refuge can do so.

That includes the coal miners from Alabama who want to strip mine within three miles of the Okefenokee Swamp. Sure, right now they say they don’t want to do that, but things could change.

See also the WWALS support letter for this Minor Expansion, which notes that this action protects not just Trail Ridge, but the entire circumference of the Swamp.
https://wwals.net/?p=66587

Leslie Hull-Ryde, USFWS PR, January 3, 2025, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Finalizes Plan for a Minor Expansion of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge Boundary
Enables voluntary actions to protect hydrological integrity, conserve wetlands and key wildlife habitat, and create fuel reduction zone to help protect neighboring properties

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced its final decision to expand the acquisition boundary of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge by approximately 22,000 acres. The new acquisition boundary includes lands currently held by a variety of owners within a 1-mile fuel reduction zone adjacent to the refuge. Potential conservation actions on the lands within the boundary expansion could strengthen protection of the hydrological integrity of the swamp, provide habitat for the gopher tortoise, mitigate impacts of wildfires, and provide opportunities for longleaf pine restoration to benefit the red-cockaded woodpecker.

The expanded boundary allows the Service to potentially offer priority public uses such as hunting, fishing, wildlife watching, and education to the more than 400,000 annual visitors to the refuge, thereby driving a growing ecotourism economy within the community.

[Okefenokee NWR Minor Expansion of Acquisition Boundary approved 2025-01-05 by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service]
Okefenokee NWR Minor Expansion of Acquisition Boundary approved 2025-01-05 by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Today’s decision follows the Department’s recent announcement that Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge will be nominated to the UNESCO World Heritage List. If designated, the refuge would join the list recognizing 1,223 cultural and natural sites of universal importance, such as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, the Taj Mahal in India, the Great Wall in China, and the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador. Continue reading →

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge to be Nominated to Join UNESCO World Heritage List –U.S. Department of the Interior 2024-12-20

After the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Refuge staff and others did a lot of work, including much public input, the Interior Department has taken the next step towards getting the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.

[Okefenokee NWR Nominated as UNESCO World Heritage Site, U.S. Department of the Interior, December 20, 2024]
Okefenokee NWR Nominated as UNESCO World Heritage Site, U.S. Department of the Interior, December 20, 2024

If approved by UNESCO, the Okefenokee will join its nearest neighbors, Everglades and Great Smokey Mountains National Parks in North Carolina and Florida, and Poverty Point Monumental Earthworks in Louisiana. Continue reading →

WWALS comment on Okefenokee NWR Expansion 2024-12-13

Update 2025-01-05: Okefenokee NWR Minor Acquisition Boundary Expansion approved by USFWS 2025-01-03.

Here is the letter I sent to USFWS yesterday. I have added some images and links for this web publication, plus a few extra paragraph breaks to fit the pictures. See also the PDF.

December 13, 2024

To: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Okefenokee@fws.gov

Re: WWALS comment on Okefenokee NWR Expansion

Dear Fish and Wildlife Service,

Suwannee Riverkeeper for WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS) files these comments in support of the proposed minor expansion of the acquisition boundary for the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR).

I further recommend that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or the Department of Interior, or Congress, provide sufficient funds to make competitive offers to buy land.

[WWALS Comments 2024-12-13, Proposed Minor Expansion of the Okefenokee, National Wildlife Refuge]
WWALS Comments 2024-12-13, Proposed Minor Expansion of the Okefenokee, National Wildlife Refuge

I sympathize with concerns I have heard expressed by people living near the ONWR, perhaps most basically Continue reading →

WWALS Day of Giving 2024 #GAGIVES

You don’t have to be in Georgia, and you don’t have to wait until Tuesday, to donate to this fundraiser to support WWALS:
https://www.gagives.org/story/Wwals-Gagives2024

[Day of Giving 2024: Banks Lake, Alapaha River Rise, Juneteenth, Festivals, Chainsaw Cleanups, Sewage, Water Quality, Okefenokee Swamp]
Day of Giving 2024: Banks Lake, Alapaha River Rise, Juneteenth, Festivals, Chainsaw Cleanups, Sewage, Water Quality, Okefenokee Swamp

WWALS Mission

WWALS advocates for conservation and stewardship of the surface waters and groundwater of the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary, in south Georgia and north Florida, among them the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River watersheds, through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.

Advocacy

Continue reading →

Video: The effects of forest management on water quality –Heather Brasell, WWALS Webinar 2024-11-14

Heather Brasell demonstrated why she is the 2023 Tree Farmer of the Year of the American Tree Farm System, in a thorough discussion of many aspects of forest management, from water quality testing to logging, replanting, prescribed burns, and herbicides, to educating the public.

As she said, forestry is more than just Best Management Practices, and sustainable forestry is more than replanting trees. Plus good stewardship costs money that may not be offset by income.

Here is the video:
https://youtu.be/WLyaMNlBAx4

She spoke in a WWALS Webinar via zoom on the impacts of forest management on water quality, from noon to 1 PM, Thursday, November 14, 2024. WWALS president Sara Squires Jones gave a brief introduction before Heather spoke, and the last ten minutes were for questions and answers.

[Forest Management and Waterways, Heather Brasell, GEFC, WWALS Webinar 2024-11-14]
Forest Management and Waterways, Heather Brasell, GEFC, WWALS Webinar 2024-11-14

This is the same topic as when Heather spoke at the Continue reading →

Why Okefenokee NWR expansion matters in Florida –Rose Schnabel, WUFT 2024-11-16

Update 2024-12-09: Virtual public meeting about the minor proposed expansion of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge 2024-12-09.

This is still my bottom line:

“If we’re not going to protect the Okefenokee,” said John S. Quarterman, Suwannee Riverkeeper, “what are we going to protect?”

Joe Hopkins knows how to turn a pithy quote, but people are working on economic development in the counties surrounding the Okefenokee Swamp; see below.

Rose Schnabel, WUFT, November 16, 2024, Georgia’s biggest wildlife refuge is poised for expansion. Here’s why it matters in Florida.

[What it means to Florida, Okefenokee NWR Expansion, Rose Schnabel, WUFT 2024-11-14]
What it means to Florida, Okefenokee NWR Expansion, Rose Schnabel, WUFT 2024-11-14
The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is the largest in Georgia. (Courtesy of Michael Lusk)

Florida’s water levels, rare plants and ancient fish are among the natural resources that could be protected by a proposed expansion to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

The refuge is within the Okefenokee Swamp: a blackwater bog almost half the size of Rhode Island that feeds the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed expansion, announced earlier this month, would extend the refuge’s borders by 22,000 acres. The deadline for public comment is Dec. 9.

Continue reading →

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

Update 2024-12-09: Virtual public meeting about the minor proposed expansion of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge 2024-12-09.

Update 2024-11-16: Why Okefenokee NWR expansion matters in Florida –Rose Schnabel, WUFT 2024-11-16.

Chip Campbell, formerly of Okefenokee Expeditions Adventures, summed it up so everyone could understand, the proposed expansion of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge: nobody has to sell land.

According to https://www.fws.gov/refuge/okefenokee, “The public has until November 18, 2024 to submit input via email to Okefenokee@fws.gov”

[Nobody has to sell land with Okefenokee NWR expansion, Public Meeting, Folkston, GA 2024-11-12]
Nobody has to sell land with Okefenokee NWR expansion, Public Meeting, Folkston, GA 2024-11-12

To paraphrase Chip’s paraphrase: the Refuge expansion is aspirational. With it, if someone wants to sell to the Refuge they can. Without it, they can’t.

The expansion does nothing to affect the strip mine application. The miners could choose to sell or donate the land before any permit. They could mine and later donate or sell the land. Or neither. But without the expansion, there is no mechanism for their land to join the Refuge.

Addressing the dozen or so people from Charlton and the other counties surrounding the Refuge, Chip said they could sell or take out a conservation easement, or not, if they are within the expansion boundary. Nobody is making them do anything. Continue reading →

The effects of forest management on water quality –Heather Brasell, WWALS Webinar 2024-11-14

Update 2024-11-18: Video: The effects of forest management on water quality –Heather Brasell, WWALS Webinar 2024-11-14.

Heather Brasell will speak on the impacts of forest management on water quality, by zoom from noon to 1 PM, Thursday, November 14, 2024.

[Effects of Forest Management on Water Quality 2024-11-14, Heather Brasell, WWALS Webinar]
Effects of Forest Management on Water Quality 2024-11-14, Heather Brasell, WWALS Webinar

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpd-iqrDkuGtV59UFeunR2rGYoX_KDdPsp

Here’s a facebook to encourage people to attend:
https://www.facebook.com/events/936192075233375/

But you must register for the zoom.

This is the same topic as when she spoke at the WWALS River Revue 2024, but in this WWALS Webinar she gets 45 minutes instead of 20 minutes.

WWALS president Sara Squires Jones will give a brief introduction, Heather will speak, and the last ten minutes will be for questions and answers.

Heather Brasell is the Founder of the Gaskins Forest Education Center, Alapaha, Georgia. Continue reading →

Solar in Brooks County Town Hall 2024-09-12

Tomorrow (Thursday) at 6 PM at the Brooks County Courthouse is a Town Hall for the county to hear from citizens about solar power.

According to a Brooks County Attorney, “At this time there are no active applications for solar in Brooks County. There is a moratorium on solar applications until February of 2025 (unless extended).”

Which of course does not mean there are no applications ready to go in February 2025.

[Solar in Brooks County, Town Hall 6 PM 2024-09-12, Brooks County Courthouse, 100 E. Screven St., Quitman, GA]
Solar in Brooks County, Town Hall 6 PM 2024-09-12, Brooks County Courthouse, 100 E. Screven St., Quitman, GA

Jason Kemp sent two responses yesterday to our open records request for presentation materials for the town hall and any board packet materials for preceding solar proposals in Brooks County. Continue reading →

Speakers and last call for songs for WWALS River Revue

Last call, songwriters: August 14, 2024 is the last day to send in your excellent song about the Suwannee River Basin. We mean it this time. Here’s the entry form:
https://forms.gle/ett6ne6DxMc8Ln897

The Finals for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest will be at the WWALS River Revue, Saturday, September 7, 2024, at the Turner Center for the Arts, in Valdosta, Georgia.

Songwriters will perform for the audience and the three judges will decide, after the speakers from Florida and Georgia.

[Logo: WWALS River Revue 2024]
Logo: WWALS River Revue 2024

Dr. Jason Evans will speak about his many-year study of water lettuce, which establishes definitively that it is native to Florida. This may mean that the state should not spray to try to get rid of it.

He is Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Studies, Stetson University, DeLand, Florida. Jason Evans is an interdisciplinary systems and landscape ecologist who works in the fields of climate adaptation, land cover change, and water quality improvement within the built environment.

[Dr. Jason M. Evans, Stetson University, Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience, DeLand, Florida, speaking to the Santa Fe Springs Working Group, December 14, 2023]
Dr. Jason M. Evans, Stetson University, Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience, DeLand, Florida, speaking to the Santa Fe Springs Working Group, December 14, 2023

Heather Brasell will speak on the impacts of forest management on water quality.

She is the founder of the Gaskins Forest Education Center, Alapaha, Georgia, where she has won state and national forestry awards. She holds frequent events for adults and children, such as the annual A Day in the Woods, where WWALS always has a booth. She has won state and national forestry awards. She owns several miles of the Alapaha River and has paddled many times with WWALS. She is a former WWALS board member. She is a WWALS water quality tester.

[Heather Brasell, Gaskins Forest Education Center, Alapaha, Georgia]
Heather Brasell, Gaskins Forest Education Center, Alapaha, Georgia

“Musicians, we have some songs, but we also want yours,” said organizing committee chair and WWALS President Sara Jay Jones.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman said, Continue reading →